Moore To Step Down As Daily Telegraph Editor
Charles Moore has confirmed that he is to step down as editor of the Daily Telegraph after eight years in charge of the title.
Moore will remain at the paper as a columnist and group consulting editor, but plans to devote more time to his forthcoming biography of Lady Thatcher. He will be succeeded by Martin Newland, former home editor of the Daily Telegraph and former deputy editor of the National Post of Canada.
Commenting on his decision to retire, Moore said: “It has been an honour to edit the Daily Telegraph for eight years. It is the greatest newspaper in this country. I am delighted to be able to continue in my new role and leave the paper in excellent condition and the editorship in very capable hands.”
Chairman of the Telegraph Group, Lord Black, added: “Charles Moore has been an outstanding and successful editor and we part with him with reluctance. He led the newspaper to a successful outcome of the price and circulation war, and to a substantial modernisation, while being faithful to the newspaper’s best traditions.”
Speculation surrounding Moore’s position intensified after the Daily Telegraph saw circulation drop below the 1 million mark last year following its decision to end the practice of bulk sampling and reduce the number of overseas sales (see Telegraph Group Puts An End To Bulk Sales).
It is also understood that there have been complaints that his strong views were sometimes seen as unorthodox by the paper’s readers and were hindering its attempts to attract a younger audience.
The paper’s US-based publisher, Hollinger International, has also been under increasing financial pressure and recently announced that advertising revenues at the Telegraph Group were down by 6.5% in the first quarter of this year, rising to 11.8% in the three months to June 2003 (see Financial Probe Impacts On Hollinger Profits).
The latest ABC results for the six months to August 2003 show that the Daily Telegraph has seen its circulation decline by 7.9% year on year to 924,555, down from in 1,003,697 the same period the previous year.
Analysis of circulation over a longer ten year period shows that the title has been in gradual decline since the late nineties, when circulation peaked at more than 1.1 million. However, the Daily Telegraph is still the UK’s most popular broadsheet newspaper and sells significantly more copies than its broadsheet rivals.
Earlier this week The Independent attempted to revive its waning fortunes with the launch of a tabloid edition of its daily newspaper for commuters in the London metropolitan area looking for an upmarket read in a smaller size (see Independent Reveals Details Of Tabloid Launch).
Telegraph Group: 020 7538 5000 www.telegraph.co.uk
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