The conquest of administrative news suites by European editors, who experts claim provide a “killer impulse” to news gathering, and somewhat downgrading the diversity quotient in news leadership, are two unanticipated outcomes in a very short time.
American players are gaining a significant foothold in the U.S. media market with the visit of Will Lewis as editor and CEO of the Washington Post and his most recent reform plan, which included the appointment of Fleet Street-bred editor Robert Winnett as senior editor after the election.
These latest U. K. natives arrive only months after a growing record of others — CNN’s CEO Mark Thompson, The Wall Street Journal Editor- in- Captain Emma Tucker, Bloomberg News Editor- in- Chief John Micklethwait, The Daily Beast’s information chief Joanna Coles and the outlet’s fresh executive editor Hugh Dougherty.
” In media, everybody is floundering. As legacy media takes continual hits, everybody is looking for the magic ticket that appeals to consumers and advertisers”, said Mark Borkowski, a London- based British publicity, image and crisis consultant, told TheWrap. It’s about how people perceive success, and whether or not doing something similar will result in similar success.
But, as UK media execs are being handed some of the biggest jobs in U. S. journalism, some question whether the choices are what America’s democracy needs. ” Everybody’s screaming about how we have a crisis in local news”, said Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor at CUNY. ” It’s a crisis in national news, especially at this time when fascism is reigning.”
British journalists have headed U. S. media organizations before, notably top editors like Tina Brown, who led Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, Anna Wintour, the legendary editor of Vogue, and Thompson, who previously led The New York Times through a successful digital transformation.
However, the number of Brits occupying leading positions at American media companies is a result of the news media’s shift from local paper readers to global digital audiences. Publishers are looking for solutions to British approaches to media management and news gathering, which can come across as aggressive or even unethical, according to analysts told TheWrap.
British editors “have news in their veins” and” their expertise is in understanding that there are now no country barriers to news brands”, George Pascoe- Watson, founding partner of Schillings Communications, told TheWrap.  ,” Digital media means no borders”.
Many editors of the more prestigious titles wo n’t admit it, but they all have an eye on the success of the British tabloid Daily Mail Online, which has grown to be the largest English-language news website in the world, reaching over 225 million unique monthly visitors from the United States, 75 million of whom are from the United States. Dougherty, now at The Daily Beast, was formerly an editor at the New York Post and Daily Mail.
Media executives with expertise in Fleet Street’s notoriously pick-up and scoop-driven style may have influential effects on the country’s media landscape, particularly in the upcoming election year. The mainstream U. S. media views British executives as having a “killer instinct”, like former News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch’s “attack dogs” at publications like The Sun, which might be preferable in a tough financial environment for the industry, but a potential long- term concern, Borkowski said.
David Clinch, a consultant at Media Growth Partners, told TheWrap that he does n’t think British media leaders will impact editorial coverage, but it could shake up the leadership style at individual publications. That could either be a “needed’ fresh eyes ‘ impetus” for some, or a “disruptive’ outsider on top ‘ issue for others”.
However, Clinch contends that the leaders chosen so far, notably Thompson as the choice for CNN CEO following his success at The New York Times, have “proven their chops in ways that make their being British if not irrelevant, then next to irrelevant.”
Jarvis worries about the aspiring influence of Murdoch-owned publishers and the media professionals trained there. He called Murdoch outlets— which include Fox News, New York Post, and a host of British and Australian newspapers and tabloids — “dubious institutions”.
Matt Murray, an American and former editor-in-chief of the Murdoch-owned WSJ, has been appointed to lead the newsroom until the 2024 presidential election, as the Washington Post did after Sally Buzbee was abruptly fired on Sunday.
Clinch contends that Murray’s interim position at the newspaper and his continued involvement in post-election coverage “might balance out” the Post’s influence on the country’s coverage.
Jarvis disagrees. Lewis said,” Will Lewis has a sleight of hand here to have an American in charge of the newsroom until the election.” ” But it’s also somebody who comes from Murdoch”.
After the election, Murray will transition into running the Post’s so-called” third newsroom,” which Lewis hazily characterized as being focused on attracting nontraditional news consumers through service journalism and social media content. Murray will be replaced by Winnett, who currently serves as an editor at The Telegraph.
” The fact that the Washington Post is now being run by two people who have been at Murdoch and at the Telegraph… that’s troubling”, Jarvis said.
Journalist James Fallows expressed a similar sentiment on social media, tweeting,” Many Americans hear’ British journalism’ and think’ Oh, like the BBC.’ More useful to think’ oh, like Fox News with a different accent.'”
Many Americans hear” British journalism” and think “oh, like the BBC”.
More useful to think “oh, like Fox News with a different accent”. Murdoch has spawned a number of right-wingers in the WSJ. Now Bezos with WaPo. ( Background on current CEO: https ://t.co/HkLd1nTzAv ) https ://t.co/PNe7HcrIzT
— James Fallows ( @JamesFallows ) June 3, 2024
Then there is the premise that no British media outlet or journalist is firmly reliant on checkbook journalism, which is viewed negatively in America.
At The Telegraph, Lewis oversaw the 2009 coverage of the scandal involving expense accounts of members of the British Parliament. A source brought the story to Winnett on a computer disk, and then Lewis agreed to purchase it for around 110, 000 pounds ($ 140, 000 ) — after other newspapers refused to pay for the information. According to The Telegraph’s investigation, taxpayer funds were used to pay for politicians ‘ personal mortgage payments and home improvements, like moats.
The incident caused the British political establishment to lose ground, causing the resignations of several ministers and the House of Commons speaker. Because the Metropolitan Police believed the revelations were in the public’s best interest, there was no investigation into the leakage of the files.
Lewis won journalist of the year at the 2010 British Press Awards, receiving praise for his bravery to run the story when other outlets had declined, and The Daily Telegraph was named the year’s U.K. newspaper.
Lewis was then tasked with clearing up the mess caused by the phone hacking scandal, in which journalists were accused of illegally breaking into celebrities ‘ cell phones and government officials, when he joined Murdoch’s News U.K. empire, which is a British subsidiary of News Corp. Around this time, millions of emails were deleted from the News ‘ U. K. servers. Lewis became an executive member of the Management and Standards Committee, an independent division of News Corp. in 2011 and was given the mandated by the board to cooperate fully with all authorities looking into allegations of wrongdoing at News International.
According to court documents, NPR journalist David Folkenflik reported that Lewis was charged with allowing the deletion of millions of emails. Lewis refuted the accusations and claimed that he was hired to clear up a mess rather than to destroy evidence. Lewis told the Washington Post in 2023,” I did whatever I could to maintain journalistic integrity. Lewis was awarded the political and public service knighthood in June 2023.
I do n’t really understand why people think the British media is keeping secrets.
Jeff Jarvis, journalism professor at CUNY
Globalization of the media industry
The largest English-language news market outside the United States is the United Kingdom news market, and” there are executives with very relevant experience from across the business model and political spectrum who emerge from that market,” Clinch wrote on social media.
U. K. journalistic practices may come across as” unabashedly commercial” compared to the U. S. media, which could be” appealing to biz leaders who know unpopular cuts and hard decisions galore ahead,” as the industry continues to struggle, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, the outgoing director of the UK- based Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, noted on social media.
The Post announced in May that the company lost$ 77 million over the previous year and that traffic has fallen by half since its 2020 high as news publishers struggle to retain readers. After Buzbee’s exit this week, Lewis said it would be” nuts” to continue to operate the same business model that contributed to the losses at an all-hand staff meeting. We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it: it needs turning around,” Lewis said.
Pascoe- Watson is not surprised that U.S. news publishers have been drawn to using British editorial and executive talent because they come from “brands with more than a century of history, of understanding audiences, staying ahead of trends, and adapting to societal changes.”
Editors like Winnett, he said”, understand the importance of impartiality, focus on the story, clarity of message and putting the reader central to everything.”
But Jarvis does n’t think that’s the solution to the financial challenges of the media industry”. Not as if we went to Britain to learn how to “make the news business profitable,” he said.
” The Telegraph is a disaster”, Jarvis said, noting that the publication remains mired in heavy debt after Jeff Zucker and RedBird IMI, and its Abu Dhabi backers, provided a series of loans valued at$ 1.5 billion to previous owners the Barclay family, who had lost control to its lender, Lloyd’s Banking Group. The title is now back up for sale after the British government effectively halted the sale to a foreign country.
“News Corp is a shadow of what it was and it’s run by Murdoch,” Jarvis continued. “The Standard just went out of business and there’s no local newspaper covering London anymore. So I do n’t really understand why people think the British media is keeping secrets.
” Neither do we, but neither do they”, Jarvis added.
Analysts claim that the Washington Post’s implementation of a British-heavy leadership style underscores a lack of diversity in the executive suite, particularly a lack of female leaders at the newspaper following Buzbee’s departure.
” We lost another top female newsroom leader” at a high- profile publication, Borkowski said, while saying he also approved of the “very personable” Lewis.
It’s obvious that the four most powerful people at the Washington Post are all white men, according to Jarvis.
TheWrap published its first article The Brits Invade US Newsrooms With a” Killer Instinct” and Fleet Street Ethics.
