Alton Indie.
The Independent has announced its new editor. This is the man, as described by Nick Davies in Flat Earth News:
Whatever you think about the Independent, the one thing it certainly is in the UK newspaper market is unique. Its front page campaigning can at times seem odd in line with the other stories of the day that seem much more worthy, then on another it can capture the mood entirely, something that neither its old-broadsheet rivals or the tabloids, much more used to grabbing attention, manage to do.
The omens are certainly not good, as Alton's own comments today suggest:
If the vacuity seems familiar, it's because Alton and his political editor at the Observer, Kamal Ahmed, grasping for an angle to impose on the paper, jumped on the Blairite bandwagon and even now seems not to have abandoned it just as it's gone out of fashion. While some of the allegations in FEN are disputed, what certainly isn't is Alton's influence in the Observer supporting the Iraq war, a mistake which it still can't be honest with itself about. That Alton has fallen for the biggest joke of them, that somehow left and right are now obsolete terms, something which only those devoted to the dead end of "radical centrism" or who aren't interested in politics still cling to, ought to suggest that he's not cut out for editing the Independent. While the Guardian might find the prospect of the Independent abandoning the left as a opportunity, for the British media to be even further distorted towards the right will do little for its vibrancy as a whole.
Roger Alton has never claimed to be a political animal. His style is too intense, bordering on manic, at best full of charm, at worst eye-wateringly clumsy. His passions are far from government, much closer to sport and women, both of which he pursues with obsessive energy. In newspaper terms, he is a desk man, a brilliant subeditor who can project stories on a page, a good commissioner of interesting tales. But not political.
This was reflected in a story that went around the Observer newsroom after he was appointed editor in July 1998 and found himself being invited to Downing Street for a quiet chat with the prime minister. 'Fuck,' said Alton, who swears when he breathes. 'I can't meet the Prime Minister. I'm just a fucking sub.'
In his anxiety, so the story goes, he turned to the Observer's then political editor, Patrick Wintour, and persuaded him to come with him to help him handle the conversation. So it was that a few days later Alton turned up in Downing Street with Wintour by his side, and waited nervously outside the Prime Minister's study. David Miliband, then running the Prime Minister's policy unit, walked by and said hello to Wintour, who introduced him to his new editor.
'So, what sort of changes do you plan to make to the paper?' asked Miliband, who was evidently looking for some kind of political insight.
Totally bereft of an answer, Alton reverted to type, stammering: 'Bit more sex on the front page. More sport. That kind of thing.'
Whatever you think about the Independent, the one thing it certainly is in the UK newspaper market is unique. Its front page campaigning can at times seem odd in line with the other stories of the day that seem much more worthy, then on another it can capture the mood entirely, something that neither its old-broadsheet rivals or the tabloids, much more used to grabbing attention, manage to do.
The omens are certainly not good, as Alton's own comments today suggest:
The Independent will be neither a leftwing nor a rightwing paper under Roger Alton's stewardship, the incoming editor said today.
"Left and right are effectively meaningless terms now. I wouldn't define myself by those terms and I don't think a newspaper should either," Alton said.
"The great opening up of Britain during the past decade under New Labour wasn't a particularly leftwing or rightwing thing. It was a progressive thing to do," he said.
If the vacuity seems familiar, it's because Alton and his political editor at the Observer, Kamal Ahmed, grasping for an angle to impose on the paper, jumped on the Blairite bandwagon and even now seems not to have abandoned it just as it's gone out of fashion. While some of the allegations in FEN are disputed, what certainly isn't is Alton's influence in the Observer supporting the Iraq war, a mistake which it still can't be honest with itself about. That Alton has fallen for the biggest joke of them, that somehow left and right are now obsolete terms, something which only those devoted to the dead end of "radical centrism" or who aren't interested in politics still cling to, ought to suggest that he's not cut out for editing the Independent. While the Guardian might find the prospect of the Independent abandoning the left as a opportunity, for the British media to be even further distorted towards the right will do little for its vibrancy as a whole.
Labels: Flat Earth News, Independent, Nick Davies, Roger Alton
| Permalink
