Is the eight-year reign of Piers Morgan at the Daily Mirror drawing to a gentle close? Last October I wrote, ‘My bet is that in six months’ time the Mirror will not belong to Trinity.’ Mmm. More than six months have passed and the newspaper has not been sold – yet. An approach to buy it was made before Christmas by the venture-capital groups Apax Partners and Candover, but rebuffed by the board of Trinity Mirror. Since then the condition of the group has worsened, with the sales of the Daily Mirror and its sister titles falling further, and several senior executives being asked to walk the plank.
Readers may be inclined to receive my predictions about the future of Mr Morgan with scepticism. Nonetheless, I believe his day is drawing nigh. This would not have been credited six months ago. Then he was still the darling boy of Sir Victor Blank, chairman of Trinity Mirror, despite having masterminded an expensive and unsuccessful relaunch of the Daily Mirror. But things have changed. The loss of sales has quickened alarmingly, largely because Mr Morgan’s ferocious anti-war stance seems to have repelled some loyal Mirror readers. In April circulation stood at 1.92 million, a fall of some 7 per cent year-on-year. Even this might not have mattered if Mr Morgan’s nemesis had not walked through the door in the shape of a blonde, fortyish new chief executive improbably called Sly Bailey.
I don’t imagine that Ms Bailey has any more idea of what to do with the Mirror than Mr Morgan has. In fact, she probably has rather less. But she is now in charge. Mr Morgan formally reports to her, the managing director of national newspapers having been given the heave-ho.
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