This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/aug/11/new-daily-mail-editor-will-strike-tolerant-brexit-note
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| New Daily Mail editor: we want the least damaging Brexit | New Daily Mail editor: we want the least damaging Brexit |
| (30 days later) | |
| The incoming editor of the Daily Mail has indicated that he will only gradually tone down the strident pro-Brexit agenda espoused by his predecessor when he takes the helm at the powerful rightwing tabloid at the beginning of next month. | The incoming editor of the Daily Mail has indicated that he will only gradually tone down the strident pro-Brexit agenda espoused by his predecessor when he takes the helm at the powerful rightwing tabloid at the beginning of next month. |
| Geordie Greig has told staff not to expect an immediate change in political coverage when he takes the reins from Paul Dacre, who spent 26 years in charge, for fear of alienating readers and because the wider political situation is so uncertain. Instead the focus will be on ensuring that the country achieves the least damaging form of Brexit and developing a more nuanced editorial line by next spring, a shift in emphasis that will be welcomed in Downing Street, where Theresa May is battling to control a revolt from the right of her party. | Geordie Greig has told staff not to expect an immediate change in political coverage when he takes the reins from Paul Dacre, who spent 26 years in charge, for fear of alienating readers and because the wider political situation is so uncertain. Instead the focus will be on ensuring that the country achieves the least damaging form of Brexit and developing a more nuanced editorial line by next spring, a shift in emphasis that will be welcomed in Downing Street, where Theresa May is battling to control a revolt from the right of her party. |
| Greig, 57, held a leaving party on Wednesday for staff at the Mail on Sunday, which he edited for six years before being promoted by Lord Rothermere, the Mail’s proprietor. There, he praised them for being part of a “modern, tolerant and tough paper”. | Greig, 57, held a leaving party on Wednesday for staff at the Mail on Sunday, which he edited for six years before being promoted by Lord Rothermere, the Mail’s proprietor. There, he praised them for being part of a “modern, tolerant and tough paper”. |
| He praised their efforts as “tireless and fearless” as well as “imaginative and persevering” and in particular “collegic” – an emphasis on team working not associated with Dacre, famed on Fleet Street for pursuing an aggressively hierarchical approach. | He praised their efforts as “tireless and fearless” as well as “imaginative and persevering” and in particular “collegic” – an emphasis on team working not associated with Dacre, famed on Fleet Street for pursuing an aggressively hierarchical approach. |
| Greig had been due to take over in November following a handover period, although it was not clear how that would work, given the political and personal differences between the two men. But now Greig will start early in September, while Dacre is on holiday and will not return to his third floor editorial-floor office which is already being renovated for the new man’s arrival. | Greig had been due to take over in November following a handover period, although it was not clear how that would work, given the political and personal differences between the two men. But now Greig will start early in September, while Dacre is on holiday and will not return to his third floor editorial-floor office which is already being renovated for the new man’s arrival. |
| Paul Dacre warns against softening Daily Mail's Brexit stance | Paul Dacre warns against softening Daily Mail's Brexit stance |
| No 10 will be relieved it has an early opportunity to cultivate relations given that May’s leadership rival Boris Johnson is now signed up to the Daily Telegraph, where his last column on fully veiled Muslim women was so controversial that it dominated the political conversation for a week. While it was criticised by high-profile party liberals, it was popular with many members, already unhappy with May’s Chequers Brexit compromise. | No 10 will be relieved it has an early opportunity to cultivate relations given that May’s leadership rival Boris Johnson is now signed up to the Daily Telegraph, where his last column on fully veiled Muslim women was so controversial that it dominated the political conversation for a week. While it was criticised by high-profile party liberals, it was popular with many members, already unhappy with May’s Chequers Brexit compromise. |
| Part of Greig’s initial thinking is that, by next March, when Britain is due to leave the European Union, some of the heat will have come out of the leave/remain debate – or at least it will become less binary and more complex, a discussion about where the country should head next. | Part of Greig’s initial thinking is that, by next March, when Britain is due to leave the European Union, some of the heat will have come out of the leave/remain debate – or at least it will become less binary and more complex, a discussion about where the country should head next. |
| But it is also influenced by a desire not to give Dacre any satisfaction that his approach accurately reflected the mood of a large section of the nation. The tabloid campaigned relentlessly for leave during the referendum, characterising the opposing campaign as “Project Fear” and attacking anybody it perceived as frustrating Brexit, branding three high court judges “enemies of the people” after they ruled that parliament had to vote to trigger article 50. | But it is also influenced by a desire not to give Dacre any satisfaction that his approach accurately reflected the mood of a large section of the nation. The tabloid campaigned relentlessly for leave during the referendum, characterising the opposing campaign as “Project Fear” and attacking anybody it perceived as frustrating Brexit, branding three high court judges “enemies of the people” after they ruled that parliament had to vote to trigger article 50. |
| A week after Dacre’s departure was announced, he fired a warning shot to Greig in the Spectator, writing: “Support for Brexit is in the DNA of both the Daily Mail and, more pertinently, its readers. Any move to reverse this would be editorial and commercial suicide.” | A week after Dacre’s departure was announced, he fired a warning shot to Greig in the Spectator, writing: “Support for Brexit is in the DNA of both the Daily Mail and, more pertinently, its readers. Any move to reverse this would be editorial and commercial suicide.” |
| The tabloid sold 1.26 million copies a day in June and while sales in recent years have fallen in line with all printed newspapers, it remains Britain’s second-bestselling title after the Sun and is arguably its most politically influential. Greig knows that Dacre, who will be based on the sixth floor, where Rothermere has his office, will be studying the sales figures closely. | The tabloid sold 1.26 million copies a day in June and while sales in recent years have fallen in line with all printed newspapers, it remains Britain’s second-bestselling title after the Sun and is arguably its most politically influential. Greig knows that Dacre, who will be based on the sixth floor, where Rothermere has his office, will be studying the sales figures closely. |
| Greig has assembled a small group of loyalists to help him to assert his grip on a paper where almost everybody owes their career to Dacre. Gerard Greaves and Tobyn Andreae, who have previously worked on the Mail on Sunday, will be his deputies, while the City editor, Ruth Sunderland, is also being brought over. | Greig has assembled a small group of loyalists to help him to assert his grip on a paper where almost everybody owes their career to Dacre. Gerard Greaves and Tobyn Andreae, who have previously worked on the Mail on Sunday, will be his deputies, while the City editor, Ruth Sunderland, is also being brought over. |
| The most significant appointment, however, is that of the Mail on Sunday’s political editor, Simon Walters, as assistant editor. He moves after 19 years in Westminster to the paper’s Derry Street headquarters, where he will become Greig’s chief political commentator and adviser. Walters, a seasoned story chaser who is well known across all wings of the Tory party, is not regarded as an ideologue in the Brexit debate. But he has long been carefully attuned to Greig’s thinking and will be used by the new editor to help assert the emerging editorial line. | The most significant appointment, however, is that of the Mail on Sunday’s political editor, Simon Walters, as assistant editor. He moves after 19 years in Westminster to the paper’s Derry Street headquarters, where he will become Greig’s chief political commentator and adviser. Walters, a seasoned story chaser who is well known across all wings of the Tory party, is not regarded as an ideologue in the Brexit debate. But he has long been carefully attuned to Greig’s thinking and will be used by the new editor to help assert the emerging editorial line. |
| Greig’s editorship ended on a melancholy note, however. He rushed off early as he finished his final edition of the Mail on Sunday to be at the bedside of his friend, writer VS Naipaul, who died shortly after he visited him yesterday. | Greig’s editorship ended on a melancholy note, however. He rushed off early as he finished his final edition of the Mail on Sunday to be at the bedside of his friend, writer VS Naipaul, who died shortly after he visited him yesterday. |
| Geordie Greig | Geordie Greig |
| The Observer | The Observer |
| Daily Mail | Daily Mail |
| Brexit | Brexit |
| Paul Dacre | Paul Dacre |
| Mail on Sunday | Mail on Sunday |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |