Is Ian Katz plotting a return to ‘snooooozepapers’?

With Katharine Viner guaranteed a final round interview to be the next Guardian editor-in-chief after winning a staff ballot, rumours are circulating that her former colleague Ian Katz is the other horse left in the race.

Hot goss: final two in race for Guardian editorship are now @iankatz1000 and @KathViner, insider tells me.

— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) March 13, 2015

Katz left his role as deputy editor of the Guardian to join the BBC as Newsnight editor in 2013. At the time, it was reported that he had grown tired of waiting for Alan Rusbridger to step down as editor.

If it is the case that Katz is in the final two, his interview with the Scott Trust should be an interesting one. Katz made some rather indiscreet comments about the newspaper industry after his first Newsnight episode aired. He accidentally tweeted to his followers a private message in which he called Rachel Reeves ‘boring snoring’ before going on to claim that ‘telly MUCH netter (sic) than snooooozepapers innit.