By Dominic Ponsford
The
Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail have made major editorial reshuffles
ahead of what promises to be a hard-fought autumn sales push in the
national media.
At The Mail on Sunday, deputy editor Rod Gilchrist has left after 35 years working with Associated Newspapers.
At
the Telegraph, deputy editor Sarah Sands – who left in June to edit The
Sunday Telegraph – has been replaced by executive editor Neil
Darbyshire and new City editor William Lewis, who will jointly hold the
position. Lewis was set to join the Telegraph as City editor after
being poached from The Sunday Times.
Telegraph editor Martin
Newland said: “In Neil, we have a consummate news man and guardian of
indispensable Telegraph editorial values. In Will, we have a true
innovator with an eye for detail and structural change, attributes that
will help me continue to drive development at the title.”
In
response to The Guardian’s relaunch as the UK’s first full-colour
Berliner-size paper on Monday, the Telegraph has promised more pages
and more daily sections.
Managing editor Sue Ryan has been put in
charge of features at the Telegraph and will act as liaison between
editorial and commercial departments.
Telegraph Magazine editor
Michele Lavery is to become assistant editor for Saturday, and news
editor Richard Preston is to become home editor with a brief to provide
“better polished, more visually inviting news pages”.
Michael Smith, who joined the Telegraph from the Evening Standard a year ago, has been promoted to news editor.
Gilchrist
said he had been negotiating his departure from the Mail on Sunday for
18 months and added: “I’m very pleased that it is now possible for me
to leave to our mutual advantage”.
He is being replaced by Daily Mail number three Eric Bailey.
Gilchrist
added: “My experiences around the world on behalf of Associated, both
in journalism and broadcast, have been extraordinary.”
At the
Daily Mail, executive editor John Steafel – who is understood to have
been approached to join the Telegraph in a senior editorial role – has
been promoted from joint number three to joint number two as deputy
editor alongside Alistair Sinclair.Other changes at the Daily Mail
include the return of Martin Clarke as associate editor. He was
previously launch editor of Standard Lite. Editor of Femail, Lisa
Collins, remains in charge of that section but has been promoted to
assistant editor, as has news editor Tony Gallagher who has been
replaced by Chris Evans.
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