Guardian boss steps down in wake of power struggle
Annette Thomas to leave Guardian Media Group at the end of June following simmering tensions with editor Katharine Viner
Annette Thomas is stepping down as the Guardian s chief executive
The chief executive of the publisher of the
Guardian will step down after a power struggle with its editor over control of the title s future.
Annette Thomas will leave the Guardian Media Group (GMG) at the end of the month amid simmering tensions over finances and strategy with Katharine Viner, the editor-in-chief.
Ms Thomas joined the company in March 2020.
The Telegraph revealed last month that Ms Viner and Ms Thomas had clashed over “who calls the shots” and last week reported on plans for a boardroom shake-up at the title’s owner.
Ofcom under fire for BBC links in wake of Bashir scandal
Questions come as ministers prepare a fresh governance crackdown on the broadcaster
5 June 2021 • 9:54pm
The Martin Bashir scandal has prompted calls for the media regulator to overhaul a board scrutinising the BBC because more than half its members have links to the broadcaster.
Of the 17 members on Ofcom’s content board that advises the watchdog on TV and radio standards, 11 have previously worked for the BBC.
There is no suggestion the board has acted improperly, but its membership poses questions about the level of independent scrutiny of the organisation.
The BBC may be a threat, but there are far greater problems facing the local rag.
Online advertising – once the great hope for publishers – has failed to plug the financial hole left by dwindling newspaper circulation and falling print ad sales.
Newspapers now controlled by Montgomery commanded a value of £500m when owned by Johnston Press 13 years ago.
That figure has fallen drastically as millions of pounds in classified advertising income has been ceded to Google, forcing regional media groups to consolidate to survive.
Advertising operations have been condensed, printing presses shared and newspaper offices shut to keep local titles afloat.
Ofcom accused of stifling ‘criticism’ of Government’s Covid response
Regulator said ‘a lower number of cases in reality than is being reported’ was a ‘common piece of misinformation’
5 June 2021 • 6:00pm
The broadcasting regulator has been accused of stifling “rational criticism” of the response to Covid by labelling scepticism about Britain s approach to the pandemic as “misinformation”.
Amid major controversy over whether official statistics were overstating the prevalence of coronavirus, Ofcom described the idea that there were “a lower number of cases in reality than is being reported” as a “common piece of misinformation”.
It also emerged that the regulator warned broadcasters in the early days of the pandemic that it was prioritising investigations into programmes or news reports featuring advice which “discourages the audience from following official rules and guidance”.