Pink Triangle Press, the publisher of LGBTQ2S+ outlet Xtra, has brought on Jennifer McGuire, former head of CBC News, as its chief content officer.

In her new role, McGuire will lead all of the teams in Canada the U.S. producing content for PTP. In addition to Xtra, PTP has also produced television projects like travel series Bump! and The Gayest Show Ever, as well as documentaries Small Town Pride and Unnatural Disasters.

McGuire was named general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News in 2009, leaving in 2020 as part of a digital restructuring. Under McGuire’s watch, CBC relaunched Newsworld as CBC News Network, transformed CBC Radio 2 into CBC Music and launched programming like The Current, Missing and Murdered, The Debaters, Q, O’Reilly on Advertising and The Signal. After leaving, she spent time as a visiting fellow at the Reuters’ Institute of Journalism at Oxford University.

In a statement, McGuire said she was excited to join a “mission-driven organization” at a time when it has bigger ambitions for further growth and impact of its existing content offering.

Over the last several years, Xtra has been transforming itself from a magazine focused on news affecting queer communities in Toronto and Canada, to a digital outlet providing news, analysis and feature writing on culture, politics, sex, relationships and health that is more relevant to a global LGBTQ2S+ audience.

According to figures provided to MiC by PTP, Xtra had just under 250,000 visitors in December, doubling from the same period in 2020. They generated 300,000 visits, a 2.5x year-over-year increase. The majority of its audience is also under the age of 35.

That transformation was led, in part, by Rachel Giese, who was named editorial director at Xtra in 2018 and whose previous duties are included in McGuire’s new role. Giese left Xtra prior to the holidays and began a new job as deputy national editor for health, education and families at The Globe & Mail this week.