Alan rusbridger

Yesterday the four internal candidates vying to succeed Alan Rusbridger as the Guardian editor-in-chief took part in hustings for the role ahead of a staff ballot, which will see one of them guaranteed a final interview. Mr S’s mole says it could only be described as a ‘good day for external candidates’ as all four editors-in-waiting put on an underwhelming performance at the event. However, one candidate in particular made an impression for the wrong reasons. After they were asked about politics, their own and that of the Guardian‘s, Janine Gibson, Katharine Viner and Emily Bell all made vague mutterings about Guardian values. Wolfgang Blau, however, took the bold step of

Mr S was a guest at last night’s Paul Foot Award, the investigative journalism prize co-hosted by the Guardian and Private Eye. While Alan Rusbridger was unable to attend the Piccadilly bash, his co-sponsor Ian Hislop made sure the departing Guardian editor-in-chief’s presence was felt. ‘Alan’s not here. He is retiring as you know, he’s very retiring, he never mentions the Pulitzer prize,’ he said to roars of laughter from the audience. Next in Hislop’s firing line was Hugh Grant, with the Private Eye editor taking aim at the Love Actually actor for his recent claim in the Guardian that it was Hacked Off who saved the press from police spying. ‘Interestingly Hugh Grant wrote a

The statements are in. The four Guardian employees to make it to the staff ballot in their bid to become the publication’s next editor have released their manifestos, and there are some startling declarations. First Mr S sees that the only male horse in the race, Wolfgang Blau, has taken the bold step of acknowledging that he is not, in fact, a woman. ‘I want to acknowledge the obvious: I am not a woman and I have not grown up in the United Kingdom. I can only promise to you that as the Editor-in-Chief – should you vote for me and should the Scott Trust choose to appoint me – I will do everything

The names for the Guardian‘s staff ballot are in, and judging by the shortlist the publication could be close to following in the footsteps of the Economist by appointing its first female editor. Of the four candidates on the list, three of the candidates are members of the fairer sex. The four names selected for the ballot are: Emily Bell, former director of digital content for Guardian News and Media Katharine Viner, deputy editor of the Guardian Janine Gibson, editor in chief of the Guardian website Wolfgang Blau, director of digital strategy at the Guardian Rather surprisingly executive editor Jonathan Freedland, who had been a bookies’ favourite, is not on the list. Neither is the publication’s political editor Patrick Wintour.

One of the highlights of my week comes on a Saturday morning, when I make myself a cup of fair-trade coffee and settle down to read the letters page of the Guardian. My wife usually joins me — it’s a sort of date thing, romantic in its own way — and we sit there cackling, our cares and woes forgotten for a while. Sometimes it is the smug little commendations of some earnest article that has uncovered the suffering of an hitherto unreported minority of the population — that stuff is quite funny. But then all newspapers print letters from readers telling them how good they are. Much more fun

The FT’s Lucy Kellaway likened the sycophantic Twitter response from Guardian journalists to Alan Rusbridger’s resignation as their editor to the plot of Shakespeare’s King Lear. ‘I couldn’t help thinking of the warring sisters when I read the competing tweets from two of the most hotly tipped successors to Mr Rusbridger. First to declare her love for her departing editor was Janine Gibson. “Alan Rusbridger: Once in a generation editor; best boss ever; good at surprises,” she tweeted. Her rival for the top job, Katherine Viner, followed suit with her paean in 140 characters or fewer: “Alan Rusbridger — for 17 years my inspiring editor: never afraid, always pushing us to

When Alan Rusbridger announced his departure from The Guardian, two questions presented themselves. The first was: who will succeed him? And the second — admittedly far less interesting — was: which Oxbridge college will he end up dumped in? The answer, we now learn, is Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford. Lucky old them. It’s a sign of the phenomenon which The Spectator’s Peter Oborne outlined: the inexorable rise of the media and political classes. Rusbridger is no academic — he was a chorister at fee-paying Cranleigh School and then he read English Literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge. But aside from that, he’s spent most of his life on Fleet Street. But it

Alan Rusbridger’s announcement that he will stand down in summer 2015 as Guardian editor after 20 years has fired the starting gun on one very long succession battle. Current online boss Janine Gibson is a firm favourite with Kath Viner the struggling US editor not far behind. Other wannabes include Jonathan Freedland –  the newly anointed head of comment – Emily Wilson from Guardian Oz and Deputy Editor Paul Johnson, if he is interested. Mr S would tip Political Editor Patrick Wintour, a journalist with a solid pedigree, as the dark horse. Former deputy editor Ian Katz would have once upon a time been top of this list, but his departure to

Professor turned campaigner Brian Cathcart, executive director of Hacked Off, wrote a comment piece for the Guardian this week where he asked: ‘Does it show double standards to condemn David Miranda’s detention without criticising the arrest of journalists suspected of illegal phone hacking and bribery? There are news organisations that want us to believe it does.’ Brian, I’m afraid they are right. I remember bringing up this exact issue with Brian when I was still working at Hacked Off. I asked him if we should not react to the fact the MSC (Management Standards Committee set up by Rupert Murdoch to hand over evidence to the Met Police) might have

The Washington Post has had a crack at Mr Steerpike’s favourite game: trashing the Guardian. Full marks to them for a knock out job. The Post describes Britain’s most sanctimonious rag as ‘a newspaper that’s small and underweight even by British standards’. ZAP! Then the Groaner really gets it where it hurts: ‘… the Guardian has its own sacred cows. Unlike its American media cousins, which have traditionally sought neutrality in their news reporting, the Guardian hews to the British model of identifying with a political party. The paper has been liberal since its founding by Manchester mill owners and cotton merchants; in the last British elections it supported the minority Liberal Democrats. BOOM! And it gets

Look out for Steerpike in this week’s Spectator — here is a taster of what Alan Rusbridger has been up to: Rending of raiment and gnashing of teeth at the Guardian. I’m told that the paper’s veteran editor, Alan Rusbridger, is tipped to take over at the Royal Opera House once the BBC’s director-general designate, Tony Hall, relinquishes control. Quite a wrench for Rusbridger, who has stewarded the profit-averse newspaper since 1995. Last year alone he amassed losses of £44 million, so he’ll be relieved to know that the Opera House comes with an annual subsidy of £28 million from the Arts Council. Rusbridger was coy when Steerpike asked him about making a move