Former Vice senior executive Katie Drummond has been appointed Wired’s next top editor, a role in which she will lead the publication’s global tech coverage.
Drummond left her senior executive role at Vice Media at the beginning of August, a day after the media company was acquired by Fortress Investment Group in a post-bankruptcy sale. Drummond served as the senior VP of global news and entertainment, where she oversaw Vice News and the company’s various digital brands.
The publisher of Wired, Condé Nast, announced Drummond’s hire as global editorial director on Thursday. The former Vice executive will replace Gideon Lichfield, who announced his departure from the role in May.
Drummond will assume the position at Wired starting Aug. 28. The former Vice executive will be the second woman to lead Wired, after Katrina Heron, who succeeded founder Louis Rossetto.
“Interning at Wired in 2009 was an opportunity that kickstarted my entire career,” Drummond said in a statement. “Wired is where I learned the ins and outs of great journalism.”
Drummond continued, “To come back as Wired’s global editorial director is the honor of my career.”
Anna Wintour, Condé Nast’s chief content officer and Vogue editorial director, said in a statement that “Katie is exactly the right editor to lead Wired at a time where the worlds of technology and culture are shifting and colliding every single day.”
Drummond is “driven, direct, a journalist first and foremost,” Wintour continued. “But also a highly original thinker who is full of ideas about how to build new audiences, tell compelling stories, and earn trust.”
“I’m thrilled she’s coming to Wired,” Wintour concluded.
Drummond left Vice after the $350 million sale closed to a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group. The media company has seen a stream of high-profile departures in the last few weeks.
