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The Daily Telegraph’s search for a deputy editor to replace Sarah Sands, who has been moved over to edit its Sunday sister title, has taken an interesting twist.
The Telegraph Group has appointed headhunters Four6one to draw up a shortlist of candidates, according to senior industry sources. Leading headhunter Valentine Feerick is carrying out the search, and answering directly to Telegraph chief executive Murdoch MacLennan.
The company has used the firm before; and is listed as a client on Four6one’s website, but it’s unusual for newspapers to employ headhunters to fill an editorial role, albeit an executive one, in an industry that is notoriously incestuous.
The fact that the Telegraph has done so suggests that Martin Newland, who won plaudits for editing the title skilfully when the paper was being auctioned off last year, may not be as involved with the selection process as he might like.
That is also surprising, since he has reportedly impressed the Telegraph owners Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay since they bought the title. And the decision to turn to headhunters could also be bad news for internal candidates such as home affairs editor Neil Darbyshire, managing editor Sue Ryan, and Stephen Robinson, comment editor. Searching for outside candidates suggests they may miss out on the job, which will not involve editing the Saturday edition, as it did for Sands.