Telegraph editor says he 'was dealt such a dodgy hand'
Posted by Evan Fell on December 4, 2007 at 12:07 PM
Will Lewis, the editor in chief of the Telegraph has talked with Guardian about criticism, the hundreds of staffers who have left, and the changes for the future.
Dominic Lawson, former Sunday Telegraph editor accused editorial interference by Telegraph Chairman, Aidan Barclay and made other out of place remarks about chief executive Murdoch MacLennan at the House of Lords select committee on communications.
Lewis does not seem to hold a grudge against Lawson but does denounce his claims, saying that the owners have never interfered before and that he relies on Murdoch as his “hugely experience, very wise” boss.
When talking about changes at the Telegraph, Lewis talked about when he first signed on, saying "It was like 'jeepers, is it this bad?' It really was amazing. There was no innovation, there was no culture of improvement, there was no understanding of needing to perform, of needing to work with your colleagues rather than be at war with them. It was a shambles."
Now, the telegraph, after eight editors at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph in four years and the departure of hundreds of journalists, are ahead in digital integration. Lewis says now "There is a cohesive management structure with myself as editor in chief so there is not that 'you stole my story' thing."
However, many of the employees who have left the Telegraph were very upset with changes. Lewis says, "There are some people who seem to not like what we are doing. Frankly, we have got a mission, we believe in it, it is showing itself to be successful.”
Many people particularly showed discontent with new staff that has been recruited from the Associated Press, but Lewis is highly impressed with the new staffers.
One worry that Lewis has? The lack of women in the newsroom. He says that the staff will be talking about something that no one really knows about because they are all men and sometimes they need the input of a woman.
Lewis acknowledges that changes still need to be made, but will occur at a slower pace, starting with the integration of the Sunday, daily, and website business sections.
He says the future, which he has already started to plan for, will be the “show period” - pushing out content in thin silos, verticals and channels, to self-publishing sites and places such as US gossip website glam.com, which has 23 million global unique users.
Source : Guardian Unlimited
Lewis does not seem to hold a grudge against Lawson but does denounce his claims, saying that the owners have never interfered before and that he relies on Murdoch as his “hugely experience, very wise” boss.
When talking about changes at the Telegraph, Lewis talked about when he first signed on, saying "It was like 'jeepers, is it this bad?' It really was amazing. There was no innovation, there was no culture of improvement, there was no understanding of needing to perform, of needing to work with your colleagues rather than be at war with them. It was a shambles."
Now, the telegraph, after eight editors at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph in four years and the departure of hundreds of journalists, are ahead in digital integration. Lewis says now "There is a cohesive management structure with myself as editor in chief so there is not that 'you stole my story' thing."
However, many of the employees who have left the Telegraph were very upset with changes. Lewis says, "There are some people who seem to not like what we are doing. Frankly, we have got a mission, we believe in it, it is showing itself to be successful.”
Many people particularly showed discontent with new staff that has been recruited from the Associated Press, but Lewis is highly impressed with the new staffers.
One worry that Lewis has? The lack of women in the newsroom. He says that the staff will be talking about something that no one really knows about because they are all men and sometimes they need the input of a woman.
Lewis acknowledges that changes still need to be made, but will occur at a slower pace, starting with the integration of the Sunday, daily, and website business sections.
He says the future, which he has already started to plan for, will be the “show period” - pushing out content in thin silos, verticals and channels, to self-publishing sites and places such as US gossip website glam.com, which has 23 million global unique users.
Source : Guardian Unlimited
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