Two senior editors leave Toronto Star newsroom

TORONTO – Two senior editors have left the Toronto Star newsroom in the last few days.

Spokesman Bob Hepburn said Monday that managing editor Jane Davenport has transferred to a different role at her own request. He said she will remain an employee of parent company Torstar Corp. and that details on her new job will be announced soon.

The move comes after the departure last week of Jon Filson, the head of the paper’s StarTouch tablet project. Hepburn confirmed Friday that Filson was no longer with the organization, but did not say why.

He declined to say whether the two changes were connected.

Filson had been overseeing the paper’s StarTouch tablet app since October as assistant managing editor of tablet development.

The company invested $14 million in the project last year and $5.1 million in the last quarter. The Star’s parent company, Torstar Corp., has said it expects StarTouch to break even in 2017.

Filson’s other positions with the Star over a 16-year career included sports editor, features editor and food writer.

Davenport has held senior editorial roles with the Star since joining the paper in 2008, including deputy national editor and news editor.

She was named to the managing editor post in 2012.

Torstar holds an investment in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with a subsidiary of the Globe and Mail and the parent company of Montreal’s La Presse.