Bustle Lures Elle Editor

Bustle Digital Group has made another higher-profile hire.

The growing media company has lured Elle’s executive editor Emma Rosenblum to fill the newly created position of editor in chief for its lifestyle group, which includes Bustle, The Zoe Report, Elite Daily and Romper. She takes up the role in mid-July and will be overseeing all editorial operations, content development and “brand experiences.”

Before her roughly two years at Elle, Rosenblum was editorial director of Bloomberg’s Pursuits vertical, focused on luxury lifestyle and fashion, and also worked as a senior editor of Bloomberg Businessweek. She had earlier stints as an editor at Glamour and New York Magazine.

There were previously editors in chief at each of the BDG brands — Kate Ward just left the role at Bustle and Romper after six years; Kaitlyn Cawley was moved to editor at large for BDG after six years leading Elite Daily; Rachel Zoe gave up the title when she last year sold The Zoe Report. Now, Rosenblum will be in charge of all of the digital brands, but she said it gave her no hesitation, citing the “strong teams” already in place at each.

As for what drew her to BDG from the more established Elle, part of Hearst Magazines, and a career in more legacy media, Rosenblum said she’s been a fan of BDG for a while.

“The power and scale of their lifestyle brands, particularly, is unrivaled and I believe BDG is primed to be a leader on all fronts,” she said.

Bryan Goldberg, chief executive officer of BDG, is excited about the hire, the most high-profile for the group since Dan Peres in spring became editor in chief of the incubating Gawker 2.0.

“We spoke to a lot of people for this role and I think if anyone deserves the opportunity to step into such a large position, Emma is the person,” Goldberg said. “With the landscape changing so much, we wanted somebody who’s been at tier one publications of the print era and is ready to bring that polish and depth of reporting to the digital realm. She’s been able to elevate the editorial at every publication she’s worked at.”

Goldberg noted that he’s invested in the last year or so in digital issues, a “huge focus” for BDG going forward, along with more original reporting and features. He said Rosenblum “knows how to get to newsmakers” and can further that expansion. Asked whether Rosenblum’s experience with print publications meant there was some print in BDG’s future, Goldberg was coy but made sure to note his ambition for the company.

“There’s no doubt, no question,” Goldberg said,

“that we view ourselves as the successor to Condé Nast and Hearst.” — KALI HAYS