Sunday, May 18, 2008

The New Statesman Gets a New Editor

Atticus in the Sunday Times brings the news that the New Statesman has a new editor - and it's not Steve Richards. The man with the poisoned chalice is the NS's former Literary Editor, Jason Cowley, who until recently edited The Observer Sport Monthly and now edits the very worthy literary magazine Granta. For those of us who think the NS contains quite enough 'kultscher' already, and not enough politics, it will be interesting to see what approach he takes in revamping the magazine. As far as I know, it's the first time a NS editor will not have come from a background in political journalism, but do correct me if I'm wrong.
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 18, 2008 2:06 pm

    Ian Hargreaves, editor of the New Statesman 1996-98 was not a political journalist. He worked at the Financial Times in several roles, but never the Lobby. He was director of news and current affairs at the BBC, and the editor of the Independent before taking over as editor of the "Staggers".

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  2. AnonymousMay 18, 2008 9:13 pm

    Cowley was also formerly literary editor at the New Statesman itself, so does know the territory.

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  3. Paul LinfordMay 19, 2008 8:53 am

    Hugh Stephenson was editor of the New Statesman in the early 1980s, having previously specialised in economic journalism. He was succeeded at the NS by Bruce Page, who headed the Sunday Times investigations team in its glory days under Harry Evans. Neither of these men, to my knowledge, ever worked in the Lobby.

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  4. Tim FMay 20, 2008 3:17 am

    Didn't Peter Wilby go direct from being the NS Lit Ed to the top job? I think his specialism was education.

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