Editor of The Times resigns after realising Newscorp’s boss Murdoch wants him out
During economic upswings, in the business sector the innovators and builders are desired most. But when conditions turn, capital – accountants, managers – takes a tight hold. James Harding, 43, editor of one of the world’s great newspapers become the latest casualty of these times. He is expected to be replaced by an SA-born Newscorp colleague. Here’s the text of Harding’s resignation.
Resignation speech to staff by James Harding, editor of The Times of London.
It has been made clear to me that News Corporation would like to appoint a new Editor of The Times. I have, therefore, agreed to stand down. I called Rupert [Murdoch] this morning to offer my resignation and he accepted it.
This job is a constant privilege and I hope you will, like me, look back with a sense of achievement at the work we have done. I am proud of the campaigns we have run on family courts, adoption and cycling, as well as the investigations we have done, among other things, into tax avoidance and child sex grooming.
I believe in our unflinching foreign coverage, driven by as fine a foreign editor as this newspaper has ever had. I bask in the reflected glory of our brilliant columnists. Where we have moved the position of the paper – on the deficit, gay marriage, industrial policy, climate change – I hope even the readers who don’t agree with our judgment will respect our thinking. In uniquely difficult circumstances, I hope we have covered the story that has swirled around us with the integrity and independence that readers of The Times expect of us.
We have pioneered a revolution in digital that I hope will help safeguard the future of newspapers beyond print. We have cut the editorial budget, but expanded what we do. Our coverage of the Jubilee and the Olympics was outstanding. And, judging by our sales figures for those amazing days – indeed, on balance, throughout the year – readers thought so, too.
I would like to thank Rupert for the great honour he did me in appointing me five years ago. And I have been supported by successive chief executives of News International who have been vigorous champions of The Times at extremely difficult times for the business.
Anoushka Healy has managed the paper with patience, understanding, thoughtfulness and strength. And, as I have said before, most of the good things that we’ve done as a paper in the past few years have been [Deputy Editor] Keith [Blackmore]’s idea. More than that, he is a man of decency, judgment, taste and an extraordinary appreciation for all types of talent, except his own.
I will be leaving at the end of the year and a new Editor will be appointed in due course.
I know that for all of us it is a privilege and a point of pride to see our work appear beneath the masthead of The Times, the greatest name in newspapers in the world. This paper has an unrivalled history and, I am extremely confident, a long and impressive future ahead of it. It is also something else: a wonderful place to work, full of smart, warm, extraordinary people. I will miss it, but most of all you.
* James Harding became the youngest person to edit The Times of London when he was appointed in 2007. He was the 38 years old and had joined the newspaper two years previously as its Business Editor. He is expected to be replaced by Johannesburg-born John Witherow (60) who has edited the stablemate Sunday Times since 1994. Witherow’s family migrated to the UK in the late 1950s.
