MEDIA STUDIES
At the Express and the Indie, nearly everyone's now in the wrong job
STEPHEN GLOVER
even weeks ago Tony O'Reilly and his Irish Independent group got complete con- trol of the Independent. For the first time for many years the future of that paper looked relatively bright. Andrew Marr, sacked as the Independent's editor some weeks before, returned in triumph as edi- tor-in-chief. He and Rosie Boycott, who had displaced him as editor, swore eternal love to each other at what was by all accounts a pretty nauseating press confer- ence. They were 'the dream team'.
Now Ms Boycott has gone off to edit the Express, and suddenly everything looks grim again. Can the Irish hack it? It was obvious that these two people could not operate in tandem. Each had a very differ- ent idea of the newspaper. Mr Marr over- ruled Ms Boycott on a number of crucial issues. He was supposed to be in charge of the comment pages but had some ill- defined sovereignty over her news pages. Only two or three weeks after their press conference Ms Boycott was nosing around for new opportunities.
A search has started for another editor to work alongside Mr Marr. I would be sur- prised if the Irish got someone who is first class. Mr Marr's presence as editor-in-chief is bound to act as a disincentive. The notion of two editors was dreamt up by the former Washington Post editor, Ben Brad- lee, a non-executive editor of the Indepen- dent and a great admirer of Marr. That is how they order things in America, but the last thing the Independent needs at its time of trial is two disputatious editors with their hands jointly on the tiller.
The Irish seem inexplicably in love with Mr Man. His title is absurdly overblown. Editors-in-chief were once grizzled veter- ans who would typically have edited a newspaper for ten or 20 years. Mr Marr is a 38-year-old former political columnist one of the best — who edited the Indepen- dent for a couple of years, not especially well in my opinion, before making a hash of a relaunch last September. For reasons dif- ficult to fathom, the Irish think that he is the fountainhead of quality journalism.
Whom will they get now? Brendan Hop- kins, UK managing director of Indepen- dent Newspapers plc of Ireland, speaks of making a very exciting appointment. I won- der. About four weeks ago, Jeff Randall, editor of the recently relaunched Sunday Business, was telephoned by Roy Green- slade, the Guardian's media pundit. Would he be interested in having lunch with Bren- dan Hopkins? It may seem a bit odd that Mr Greenslade, a commentator who fre- quently writes about the Independent from an apparently neutral standpoint, should be making calls on behalf of its Irish owners, but no matter.
Mr Randall and Mr Hopkins duly had lunch. Mr Randall remains unsure as to whether or not he was being sounded out for the editorship of the Independent. He has been a great success as editor of the revived Sunday Business. But that does not make him an ideal editor of the Indepen- dent. He is a former Sunday Times City edi- tor and sports editor with robustly Thatch- erite views. Although he could no doubt shake up the Independent's somewhat anti- business business pages and breathe life into its depleted sports pages, would he feel at home, and would the readers feel at home, if he were its editor? Mr Randall says he never wanted the job. The Irish deny they ever offered it to him.
Nothing that has happened does enor- mous credit to their judgment. But if things are in a mess at the Independent, they are in almost as great a mess at Express newspa- pers, where Ms Boycott is already installed. It seems that an approach was made on her behalf to Lord Hollick, chief executive of United News and Media, which owns the Express titles. The go-between was almost certainly Philip Gould, a Blairite pollster who runs a consultancy that comes under Clive Hollick's umbrella, and is a friend of Ms Boycott. Mr Gould has often inter- vened on Lord Hollick's behalf in the affairs of Express newspapers.
There was one tiny impediment, which is that the Express had an editor, Richard Addis, a mild-mannered man who was once a trainee monk. During his two-and-a-half- year tenure Mr Addis had done some good things, such as introducing an excellent sports section and a moderately alluring Saturday magazine, and he had slowed the long-term decline in sales, at any rate of the Monday to Friday Express. He also made what was in my view an unwise decision to incorporate the old Sunday Express into the `Even I can't stand you, Will. And I'm your best friend.' Daily Express, making one seven-day paper called the Express.
Lord Hollick was persuaded to give the heave-ho to this faithful servant. Enter Rosie Boycott, a radical, left-wing, feminist ex-druggie who fervently believes that cannabis should be legalised. If, with her populist and self-publicising instincts, she was not perfectly suited to the Independent, she has now wandered on to entirely the wrong film set. Lord Rollick has centre-left views but Express readers, or at any rate those who remain, incline the other way. Most of them would probably run a mile if they encountered the real Rosie Boycott.
Even at the last election 49 per cent of those of its readers who voted plumped for the Tories, as against 29 per cent for Lab- our. Mr Addis had judiciously edged the paper in a Blairite direction; Ms Boycott plans a campaigning paper which champi- ons left-wing causes that will have Mr Blair and Mr Mandelson tossing and turning in their beds, never mind the poor readers. She says the one thing she cannot imagine doing is supporting the Tory leader. Even now she is busy hiring radical journalists, possibly including the 'big-haired' colum- nist Suzanne Moore from the Independent. Ms Boycott is as miscast editing the Express as Mr Randall, a Thatcherite, would have been editing the Independent.
Surveying these characters one is struck by how many of them are in the wrong jobs, as though they cannot appreciate their true talents. I don't say Mr Addis would have been happier as a monk, but I can't make out why he set his heart on editing the Express. Mr Man should be concentrating on a political column, where he could establish a great reputation. One cannot help wondering whether Mr Hopkins, a for- mer marketing man at Boots, is ideally suit- ed to running a quality national newspaper. His boss, Tony O'Reilly, should be in Lon- don to help sort out the mess. Ms Boycott would be better employed running a maga- zine — she was an admirable editor of Esquire — rather than a conservative, mid- dle-market paper. Lord Hollick shouldn't be in charge of a title he doesn't love or understand.
I think all this may explain why the Inde- pendent and the Express are in such trouble. There is no great mystery. They are not in the hands of the right people. If they were, they might flourish. As it is, unless or until things change, they will continue to decline.
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