Paul Marshall's £100m bet on journalism | B2B title making news pay
And the BBC says it will explore legal process for recouping salary from Huw Edwards if necessary
Welcome to your daily newsletter from Press Gazette on Wednesday, 11 September.
Press Gazette’s Future of Media Technology Conference, the UK’s biggest and best event in the UK for media leaders, is tomorrow, 12 September in London. Secure your place at the conference here (tickets for the Future of Media Awards the same day are now SOLD OUT).
Who says journalism does not have a future?
196-year-old magazine The Spectator was just sold for £100m, a price tag which would take about 50 years to recoup based on past profits.
It is a huge bet on the future expansion of a strong brand beyond its currently growing paid weekly circulation of 108,000 (44,000 of which is digital) into new online platforms and geographical markets. Hedge fund manager Paul Marshall adds The Spectator to a stable of media interests which includes the news and comment website Unherd and, separately, right-wing TV station GB News.
Marshall is clearly motivated by ideology as much as money, but you don't get to be a squillonaire by spending your money rashly.
His investment is an endorsement of the value strong and established journalism brands still hold amid the chaos of a media landscape dominated by social platforms and ephemeral influencers.
Spare a thought this morning for outgoing Spectator chairman Andrew Neil who lamented on Twitter that nobody responsible for the title's success will "share in the upside" of the £100m sale. Welcome to the proletariat Andrew.
Today we catch up with the founders of UK-based B2B title Construction Enquirer who, 14 years on, are still making a tidy living out of the brand. They've achieved a mass audience in their sector by focusing on something which is often seen as a dirty word when it comes to profitable online content: news.
They publish news every day (and just news) and make money out of it by selling advertising. Sometimes the old ways are still the best.
And ahead of the sentencing of former BBC lead newsreader Huw Edwards on Monday, BBC director-general Tim Davie has spoken to MPs about his plan to recoup £200,000 of the salary paid to Edwards during the five months after his arrest but before his resignation.
Future of Media Technology Conference
Press Gazette’s Future of Media Technology Conference on 12 September in London. Other media conferences are available but this really has become the biggest and best event in the UK for media leaders.
Our speakers include:
DMG Media CEO Rich Caccappolo
Guardian chief supporter officer Liz Wynn
Politico deputy editor in chief Kate Day
News UK chief operating officer David Dinsmore
Harmsworth Media chair Nina Wright
Reach plc’s Live network editorial director Paul Rowland
Former head of news partnerships at Google Madhav Chinnappa
Head of technology at Haymarket Media Group Payal Sharma Sood
Times head of digital Edward Roussel
Mail Digital Publishing product director Simon Regan-Edwards
Telegraph chief commercial officer Karen Eccles
New from Press Gazette
Paul Marshall pledges to fix ‘underinvestment’ in Spectator as sale goes through
“As a long-term Spectator reader, I am delighted it is joining the OQS stable. The plan is for OQS to make good previous underinvestment in one of the world’s great titles.”
Former Emap pair hit £1m+ revenue for second year with free construction B2B title
“We knew that news was important in construction because it's always been a very news-driven industry, and when we saw the traditional titles going away from news going towards features and events - to be blunt, most of them became no longer media companies, they became events businesses. And we just sort of drove through the middle of that.”
BBC will ‘explore’ legal process to recoup pay from Huw Edwards if he refuses to return it
When asked about the situation, BBC chairman Samir Shah told the committee: “There’s nothing more important than public trust in the BBC, and we are custodians of that trust and what Huw Edwards did damage the reputation and the trust for the BBC so we take that very seriously indeed.”
‘One of Fleet Street’s good guys’ Alasdair Riley dies aged 78
Riley's working life included stints at the Londoners' Diary, as a TV correspondent, and a freelance travel writer.
News in brief
A Sunday World journalist has received two threats of attack in recent weeks. The NUJ said: "This is traumatic for any journalist and their family, and should not be happening – just because a journalist is bringing news and information to the public." (NUJ)
The NCTJ’s Journalism Skills Academy has launched an online training course to "tackle the escalating lack of confidence" in new journalists. It covers "picking up the phone, face-to-face interaction and dealing with difficult situations". (NCTJ)
Bauer's Greatest Hits Radio has been found in breach of Ofcom rules by giving "undue prominence" in a news bulletin to its ‘Face the Family’ campaign about defendants showing up for their sentencings. Ofcom suggested "differing views" should have been reflected. It echoes a previous Ofcom finding against GB News for coverage of its Don't Kill Cash campaign. (Ofcom)
The American Journalism Partnership and backers including Snap CEO Evan Spiegel's family fund have raised $15m to create a nonprofit that will build new, free news organisations in parts of Los Angeles currently lacking community coverage. (Axios)
The Foreign Press Association has repeated a call for access to Gaza, saying Israel's ban on journalists entering is "draconian" and its longest ever "information blackout" with no signs of a change in position. (Alex Crawford)
Previously on Press Gazette
Online overtakes TV as biggest source of news in UK for first time
Twice as many Brits got 2024 election news from TV as from social media, Ofcom finds
Business Insider names WSJ business editor Jamie Heller as next editor-in-chief
Telegraph Ukraine podcast presenter David Knowles dies aged 32
Google ad tech practices harming ‘thousands of UK publishers and advertisers’, watchdog believes
Press Gazette live
Our flagship event the Future of Media Technology Conference and Awards takes place on 12 September on the Hilton Bankside hotel in London. It provides publishers with a masterclass on the big technology themes impacting our business and is also an unrivalled networking opportunity.
Full agenda and booking details here.