Di Stefano will join the FT’s media and consumer team led by Alex Barker, global media editor, to cover the intersection of media and technology. He takes up the new role in January 2020.
“Mark is a tenacious reporter who pursues original, agenda-setting stories,” said Lionel Barber, editor of the FT. “I am delighted he is joining the FT.”
News editor Matthew Garrahan said Di Stefano would add a new dimension to the FT’s coverage. “The media and tech worlds are colliding and Mark is going to be a real asset for us. He has a bursting contacts book and he loves to break scoops.”
Barker’s media and consumer team includes US media correspondent Anna Nicolaou, telecoms correspondent Nic Fildes and media reporter Patricia Nilsson. Di Stefano will also work closely with Malcolm Moore’s tech team and the FT’s Westminster team, led by political editor George Parker.
Di Stefano joins from Buzzfeed UK where he has covered media and politics reporter for the past two years. He was the first news hire for BuzzFeed Australia in 2014, working for three years as political editor. Before that, he worked at ABC News in Sydney and Darwin.
Di Stefano was named Young Journalist of the Year and Journalist of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards in 2016 and 2017. His campaign diary about the 2016 Australian election “What a Time to be Alive” was published by Melbourne University Press.
