Mort Zuckerman named Colin Myler editor in chief of the New York Daily News and NYDailyNews.com, according to a memo sent out today, replacing current editor Kevin Convey after just a year and a half.
The e-mail went out while some staff were in an afternoon editorial meeting with Mr. Convey, according to a Daily News source.
“Not a word was mentioned,” the source said.
Whispers of Mr. Convey’s departure had been circulating for months. Sources said the former Boston Herald editor was well-liked and competent but lacked the blood thirst and command characteristic of News Corp. editors like his rival, Col Allan, and his predecessor, Martin Dunn.
“Colin Myler is a tough, take no prisoners tabloid journalist who will undoubtedly bring back the drive and energy that the Daily News has thrived on in the past,” said Mr. Dunn, who knows Mr. Myler from his own time on Fleet Street.
“He is investigation-driven and has the skills to execute that type of journalism,” he continued. “It will be great to see the Daily News become the important journalism force that it should be.
After serving as executive editor of rival New York Post, Mr. Myler was appointed editor in chief of News Corp’s London tabloid, News of the World, in 2007. He held the position until the paper was folded in July due to on going allegations of phone hacking among reporters.
The memo stressed that Mr. Myler was hired after the first phone hacking bust sent Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman to prison and forced then-editor in chief Andy Coulson to step down.
But it was already clear that Mr. Myler felt little loyalty to News Corp. After News of the World folded, Mr. Myler publicly accused News International chief James Murdoch of misleading MPs during Parliamentary hearings about the phone hacking charges.
That’s one way to jump start the tabloid wars!
Memo below:
Colin Myler has been appointed editor-in-chief of The New York Daily News and NYDailyNews.com. The Daily News is New York’s largest-circulation daily newspaper and NYDailyNews.com is the 12th largest news site in the U.S. according to Comscore. It serves 2 million unique monthly visitors in the New York metropolitan region and 10 million nationally.
Myler’s appointment as top editor is effective January 10.
“I am immensely proud and honored to be leading one of America’s great newspapers into a new era,” said Myler.
Over a 40-year career in journalism, Myler, 59, has held senior executive positions at leading British and American media companies, most recently as editor of the News of the World. He spent five years from December 2001 until January 2007 as managing editor and executive editor of the New York Post.“Colin Myler will lead our print and digital platforms into the next generation of newspaper publishing,” said Bill Holiber, President and CEO of the Daily News.
Said Daily News chairman and publisher Mort Zuckerman, “The New York Daily News is a great institution of American journalism which will only get better under the leadership of Colin.”
Zuckerman also praised outgoing Daily News editor-in-chief Kevin Convey. “Along with everyone else at the Daily News, I want to thank Kevin for his editorial input over the past year-and-a-half.”
Myler has edited four national newspapers in the UK. He returned to London from New York in 2007 after the hacking scandal resulted in the jailing of a News of the World Royal reporter and private investigator for accessing private voicemails.
Know more? kstoeffel@observer.com
