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November 18, 2004updated 22 Nov 2022 12:27pm

Brown ends hiatus to beef up Indy’s media

By Press Gazette

Brown: beefing up Indy’s media

Loaded founder James Brown has been brought in by the Independent as a consultant editor to strengthen its new Monday supplement Media Weekly.

Brown has been without a full-time job since he sold his magazine publishing company, I Feel Good, to Dennis Publishing for £5.1 million in July 2003.

He has already started at the national and will be working on the supplement three days a week. Ian Burrell is still the media editor.

Independent editor Simon Kelner said: “Brown will be coming up with ideas and adding energy and panache to it and a little bit of cheek.”

The Independent launched its 24-page media supplement in September to go head-to-head with the Guardian’s long-established Monday media section.

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Kelner is hoping to build on the inroads the Independent has already made into the Guardian’s readership since turning tabloid a year ago. Since then its circulation has increased from 218,567 to 266,038, while the Guardian’s has dropped from 394,304 to 378,426.

Kelner said of Media Weekly : “We are absolutely committed to it. We’ve been very pleased with the positive effect it’s had on circulation so far.

Obviously gaining advertising is going to be a long haul but we knew that from the start.”

Kelner added: “James said he might have a bit of time to devote to this, when someone like James becomes available you snap him up quickly.”

Brown is credited with helping invent the lad’s mag genre as founding editor of Loaded a decade ago.

He recently told the Observer that he could “retire tomorrow” from the proceeds of selling I Feel Good but said: “I don’t just work for the money. I like to do things that are inspiring.”

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By Dominic Ponsford

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

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