New Loaded editor Martin Daubney said his ?rst priority would be to put some “rocket fuel in the pipes” and improve the calibre of girls on the covers, writes Ruth Addicott.
Former News of the World journalist Daubney, previously Loaded’s deputy editor, was promoted to editor this week. “It’s certainly going to be revamped,” he said. “We need to get a bit of rocket fuel in the pipes. We need to work hard on the covers – that’s the number one thing.
“We’ve got a great present but average wrapping paper. Maxim has got great wrapping paper but there’s a stale pair of socks inside. This market is a battleground and covers are the big guns.”
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Daubney said he was looking for a “big hitter” to pull in the big covers. “It’s not so much the raunchiness, it’s the calibre of the cover girl. Getting the right girl is the biggest task. We need somebody kicking down doors and being absolutely mercenary about it. We need them to be on the front line delivering shells,” he told Press Gazette. Daubney joined Loaded six months ago, claiming he had “a year’s worth of ideas stacked up”.
He takes over from editor Scott Manson, who has quit to concentrate on a youth project, having joined in April 2001. Daubney will be Loaded’s ?fth editor in under three years. The news of Daubney’s appointment comes just two weeks after the magazine suffered a year-on-year fall of 15.2 per cent to 261,937 in the latest ABCs.
He was co-founder of the Sin Bin page in the News of the World’s sports section, which he edited until January 2003. Prior to the NoW, he was editor of Page3.com for The Sun and features editor on FHM. He has also worked for Maxim and Bella.
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Daubney will take over as editor next month.
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