John MacFarlane will be retiring from his position at The Walrus at the end of the year. MacFarlane has been the editor and co-publisher since 2008.

“More than five years ago, I came on board as interim editor for six months, and suddenly it’s five years later,” Macfarlane said in a statement on The Walrus website. “The world of journalism has changed in the last five years, and although I’ve enjoyed every minute here the time has come, as the Walrus said, for a new kind of editor—an editor of all Walrus platforms. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and decided the timing is right—for me and for the organization.”

Although his time at the magazine is coming to a close, executive director Shelley Ambrose stated that they would be discussing the possibility of MacFarlane still having some form of involvement with The Walrus Foundation.

Prior to The Walrus, MacFarlane has held many positions in the industry including, editor of Toronto Life, managing director of news, features and information programming at CTV, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Financial Times of Canada, entertainment editor of the Toronto Star and editorial writer at the Globe and Mail.

Searchlight Recruitment Inc. will be conducting a search for the new position of editor-in-chief, content platforms at The Walrus Foundation. A job description will be posted online in September, however interested candidates can forward their cover letters and resumes to thewalrus@searchlightcanada.com.