When James Forsyth set up Coffee House ten years ago, we imagined there being a big difference between blogs and magazine articles. We soon worked out that readers didn’t really distinguish. They read a great article on The Spectator website, and that was that. They’d share, and subscribe to read more. Over the years Coffee House has developed into a live comment section boasting up some of the best names in British journalism: Nick Cohen, Douglas Murray, Isabel Hardman, Brendan O’Neill, Alex Massie, Rod Liddle and more.
And, soon, two more. I’m delighted to announce that James Kirkup, of the Daily Telegraph, will be joining Coffee House as a regular columnist. I doubt anyone who visits these pages will need an introduction. He is, quite simply, one of the very best political writers in this country. He is leaving the Telegraph to run the Social Market Foundation but, I’m delighted to say, he is not leaving journalism. He’ll be untangling the knots of policy and politics for us, writing on Fridays.
We have also signed up Stephen Daisley, a brilliant young Glasgow-based writer – who was a bit too brilliant for the SNP. After the party complained about him, his writing stopped appearing on the Scottish Television website. Nick Cohen took up his case (see here) and he has now quit, to pursue a writing career. His range is remarkable (writing about A&E, book reviews, interviews and general politics).
We have also made two other appointments to strengthen the Spectator team:-
· Katy Balls becomes political correspondent, joining James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman in the House of Commons. She has been with our Steerpike column for a few years now, and will be filing regular dispatches from Parliament.
· Will Heaven, a former a Telegraph comment editor (and, briefly, a civil servant) has joined as managing editor. It’s a new senior position, created to help The Spectator change as fast as our industry is changing. And it involves pretty much everything.
Last week, we announced that sales of The Spectator rose by 10 per cent last year – the strongest figure reported by any newspaper or magazine. We’re now a few pages in to the most successful period in our 189-year history – and mindful that a publication is only as good as the people it has working for it. So we’re delighted to announce these changes.
The overall standard is set by the magazine itself which, under Freddy Gray, Mary Wakefield, Sam Leith and Igor Toronyi-Lalic – is thriving, and has never been more popular. You’d think, in this digital age, that digital-only sales would be taking off. The Spectator does offer a cheaper digital-only subscription. But no; all of our growth last year was accounted for by the print and digital package. The number of digital-only subscriptions actually fell, as readers upgraded. As one remarked recently, Coffee House is great but there’s no greater joy than turning up to a real coffee shop with a copy of The Spectator. Coffee House is a gateway drug for the magazine.
When we started, we let anyone read the blogs; now, most of what we do (including Coffee House) comes under our metered paywall. So our strategy is not to maximise the number of clicks, but maximise the number of people who think our journalism is worth paying for. All told, a subscription to The Spectator is now better value than ever. So if you haven’t joined us, then do consider subscribing – from just £1/week.
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