Murdoch aims to restore power of Sun with Tony Gallagher appointment
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Version 0 of 1. Tony Gallagher is expected to bring his long experience as a senior executive at the Daily Mail to bear as editor-in-chief of the Sun, as he aims to restore Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid to its position as Britain’s most powerful popular newspaper. The Mail deputy is the sort of editor who believes strong journalism makes for the best strategy online and commercially. He is expected to make the Sun more “comprehensive” than upmarket with the mix of politics, human interest news and huge number of features typical of the Daily Mail. Out will go endless stories about the stars of The Only Way is Essex, as well as any remains of Page 3, and in will come more scoops and hard-hitting features. He is also known to be a huge fan of Kelvin MacKenzie, the former Sun editor brought back as a columnist by Rupert Murdoch in January. Mail insiders say the newsdesk scours every MacKenzie column for stories. Related: Rebekah Brooks' return confirmed as Tony Gallagher is named Sun editor By appointing Gallagher alongside Rebekah Brooks, the veteran media mogul is signalling that, above all else, he wants the paper he created to return to the forefront of British newspapers. Tired of its focus on gossip and minor TV celebrities, Murdoch has let it be known for months that he is unhappy with the paper’s lacklustre performance – both in sales and online – lambasting editors and executives ahead of May’s general election and after. The Sun’s political coverage will be key. Gallagher is less party political than his Daily Mail boss, Paul Dacre, and was no fan of the Tory party’s election strategy, but will want his paper to stir up its political reporting. Gallagher recognises that too much politics is boring to many readers. He was instrumental in keeping daily politics off of the Mail’s front page during the election, for example, unless the story genuinely warranted it. Any attempt to imitate the Mail is not unfamiliar to Gallagher either: during his previous break from Dacre, he edited the Daily Telegraph. During that time, the broadsheet quickly became known the ‘Maily Telegraph’, so similar had it become to the paper’s mid-market rival from where he had come. With ousted News UK chief executive Mike Darcey blamed for the decision to put the Sun’s content behind a paywall – a decision that the company has already started to row back on and is now expected to largely abandon – Murdoch has put his faith in two professionals known for their journalistic, rather than digital or even business nous, to rally the Sun. Despite the Sun’s continuing healthy print circulation lead, the Mail not only packs a political punch but also manages to run lighter material without compromising its cachet as a “proper” newspaper. The problem for Gallagher is whether he can edge the Sun upmarket without alienating the paper’s traditional readers. Enthusiastic and extremely hard-working, Gallagher can also be abrasive and will not suffer fools gladly, as he proved when he confronted staff who he felt were not pulling their weight during his tenure at the Telegraph. Nor does he restrict his barbs to those below him. He was fired after falling out with the Telegraph Media Group’s chief executive, Murdoch MacLennan, who he believed had adopted the wrong strategy by hiring a so-called digital guru in Jason Seiken. He has never worked with Brooks or Murdoch before, but he was among the first appointments made by William Lewis, then editor of the Telegraph and now chief executive of Dow Jones, the Murdoch-owned newswire service. Lewis would have given the Mail man a huge vote of confidence when asked by Murdoch and News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson about the appointment. Murdoch – known to call his chief executives at least once a day and his editors regularly – and his London-based boss, the News UK chief Rebekah Brooks, are likely to be far more hands on than Gallagher’s previous bosses and it remains to be seen how their relationship unfolds. |