‘Daily Mail’ returns to “tough over toff” in ousting Geordie Greig and bringing back “daily hater’s” favourite’s bruiser Paul Dacre
The ongoing power play at the Daily Mail’s parent company took another Succession-like twist yesterday with the return – after just a few weeks away from the company – of Paul Dacre as editor-in-chief of DMG Media, the trust’s media arm.
Coming just days after “toff over tough” Geordie Greig’s ousting as editor of the Daily Mail, “tough over toff” Dacre’s reappointment will no doubt annoy the likes of Polly Toynbee, a woman whom once described him as a “bully” who “targets underdogs, imposing on the country racism, homophobia and philistinism, and shunning complexity and evidence.”
“Highly influentially politically” Dacre – a man with a house in Belgravia, a Sussex cattle farm, a house in the British Virgin Islands and a vast 17,000 Scottish estate – had previously sought to become chair of Ofcom, but was firmly rejected as “not acceptable.”
In a letter to The Times, of the interview process orchestrated at Ofcom, Dacre declared it was an ““infelicitous dalliance with the blob” and added:
“To anyone from the private sector, who, God forbid, has convictions, and is thinking of applying for a public appointment, I say the following: the civil service will control (and leak) everything; the process could take a year in which your life will be put on hold; and if you are possessed of an independent mind and are unassociated with the liberal/left, you will have more chance of winning the lottery than getting the job.”
Of Dacre’s reappointment in an email to staff, DMGT chairman Lord Rothermere commented:
“I am delighted to announce that Paul Dacre, who has a huge and distinguished history with this company, is being appointed editor-in-chief of DMG media.”
“Although he will not be involved in day-to-day editing, he will be taking an active role advising me and the editors.”
Going further, DMG publisher Martin Clarke added:
“Nobody has done more to make the Mail titles what they are today than Paul Dacre and I am honoured to be working with him.”
“His journalistic courage and judgment are beyond equal and editors and executives the length of Fleet Street can testify personally to how much they owe to his encouragement and counsel. DMG Media is extremely lucky to be able to draw on such a legendary talent.”
Now, as Lord Rothermere also moves to end DMGT’s 90 years as a listed company and seeks to retain the Daily Mail’s position as Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper, the return of “old bruiser” Paul Dacre marks one thing: “Geordie Greig’s nicer school of journalism” is about to be chucked out with the bathwater.
Pictured top: Paul Dacre – a man once described as a “poisoner in chief” and known for giving his readers “a daily hate.”
