Reality Sets In, Digital Is Everything And Old People Are In The Way

Michael Hedges November 29, 2021 - updated December 3, 2021 Follow on Twitter

British tabloids are renowned. Public outrage, business cycles and technology onslaught have merely bruised, never quieted them, mostly. They are enduring, immortal, perpetual. Their publishers, editors and writers have developed an amazingly effective spinner of money through spinning yarns. Indeed, UK tabloids are their own story.

After a brief respite, Paul Dacre has returned to the Daily Mail, the UKs most read - and “most feared” tabloid, wrote the Economist (November 27). After several years as a Daily Mail reporter and correspondent, he was named Daily Mail’s editor in 1992, then editor-in-chief in 1998. In 2018 he was bumped up stairs to chairman and editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers, Daily Mail publisher and subsidiary of Daily Mail and General Trust. Mail on Sunday editor-in-chief Geordie Greig was immediately named editor-in-chief of Daily Mail.

For reasons that will certainly be “revealed” tabloid-style in time, Mr. Dacre made application to become chairperson of UK media regulator Ofcom, which oversees everything from 5G to the BBC, soon to put a thumb on social media platforms and, perhaps, pursue the rather unpopular move to privatize Channel 4. Alas, a hardly-independent commission examining applications ruled him “not appointable,” reported the Financial Times (November 19). By a simple twist of political fate the “selection procedure” was reopened: with changes in expected qualifications. That ignited not a few suggestions of PM Johnson “manipulating” the system to secure a fellow-traveler a thumb on media regulation decisions, not to forget uneasy glances over “ethical” missteps. Perhaps to assuage conflict of interest claims, Mr. Dacre resigned his positions with Associated Newspapers, part of DMG Media, in early November.

It was too little, too late. A bit more than a week ago Mr. Dacre “pulled out of the running” to become chairperson of UK media regulator Ofcom, reported the Times (November 19) and every other UK news outlet. It seemed rather abrupt and out of character for the gentleman who relishes in the unsettling belied reality. Success through the second nomination to the Ofcom position had become less than certain with the UK Conservative Party challenged by embarrassing political errors of their own led by the gaff-prone prime minister Boris Johnson.

In his open letter in the Times on Sunday (November 19), notifying one and all of his displeasure Mr. Dacre wished “Ofcom all the luck in the world as it faces the awesome challenge of trying to regulate the omnipotent, ruthless and, as we’ve learnt, amoral tech giants without damaging freedom of expression — a freedom I spent 28 years fighting for both publicly and privately with ministers.” He said his appointment was defeated by “the blob” and he would soon announce an “exciting new job in the private sector.”

Mr. Dacre - as well as the right-wing political party - found relief from Jonathan Harmsworth, Lord Rothermere, owner of Daily Mail and General Trust, the Daily Mail’s publisher, offering face-saving at the least. Mr. Dacre returns to the role of editor-in-chief for DMG Media, publisher of Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Mail Online and others. It is less than a hand-on position. “Although he will not be involved in day-to-day editing, he will be taking an active role advising me and the editors,” said a statement from Lord Rothermere.

The digital reality for UK newspapers is abundantly clear, not just in the shuffling of Mr. Dacre into a retirement position. The quiet and discrete Lord Rothermere is moving forward with privatizing DMGT with a particular digital-first strategy for DMG Media. Mail Online executive Rich Caccappolo, who works from New York, was named DMG Media chief executive this month, replacing Kevin Beatty. Failing to win that plum job, Geordie Greig chose to exit.

In several metrics noticeable to investment bankers, Mail Online is the company’s big success. Cost considerations certainly loom; hence, positions duplicated among Daily Mail, Mail or Sunday and Mail Online are disappearing. With nudging from Telegraph owners, the Barclay Brothers, a strategic acquisition is quite possible in time. David Barclay passed away earlier this year and brother Frederick is 87, almost the same age as Rupert Murdoch. Removing DMGT from public shareholding tends to simplify decision making. Everything else just gets in the way.

Update (December 3) - Startling UK media observers Martin Clarke abruptly resigned as DMG Media publisher and Mail Online/dailymail com chief executive and chief editor. He will exit, according to his statement, at the end of February. DMG Media is a subsidiary of Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT).

MailOnline is an important part of the DMGT portfolio, Mr. Clarke credited for much of that development, including US and Australian versions. It reaches 250 million readers each day, more than one-third coming from the US. Unlike other DMG Media titles - Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday - MailOnline is available to all sans paywall.

DMGT principal Jonathan Harmsworth, Lord Rothermere is in the process of taking the company private. Recent executive changes (see above) are seen in that light, meaning raising the company’s digital strategy. “Our view,” wrote well-known UK media consultancy Enders Analysis quite recently, quoted by advertising business news portal CampaignLive (December 3), “is a lucrative and sustainable future for the Daily Mail brand is more likely to be a membership model, centred around a premium subscription product, rather than an advertising-led model.”

Mr. Clarke’s duties will be absorbed by Rich Caccappolo, recently appointed DMG Media chief executive who replaced Kevin Beatty. According to his statement, Mr. Clarke indicated a desire to alter career choice to Lord Rothermere earlier this year. “This has been a once-in-a-lifetime ride and there is simply no other job with DMG Media I would rather have,” quoted by Press Gazette (December 3).

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