He’s probably the most powerful man in journalism you’ve never heard of, but last night Martin Clarke – the head honcho of Mail Online – handed over the reins at Northcliffe House. The chain-smoking journalist spent 13 years turning the online version of the Daily Mail into a journalistic powerhouse, ruling with an iron fist over a sprawling global tabloid with millions of daily viewers attracted by tales of gossip, celebrity and scandal. Truly, an inspiration to Mr S.
Unfortunately Clarke lost out in the recent power-struggle over on High Street Kensington. Geordie Greig, the editor of the Daily Mail, was axed and replaced by Ted Verity, his rival over at the Mail on Sunday. Various factors have been cited in Greig’s downfall but it is notable that the paper’s coverage of No. 10’s woes has been somewhat toned down since his replacement.
As one wag put it to Mr S: ‘Geordie’s hatred for Boris was the pathological kind only one Etonian can reserve for another.’ In the subsequent game of musical chairs, Greig’s predecessor Paul Dacre returned as editor-in-chief of the newspaper’s publisher DMG Media and Clarke announced his departure too.
Clarke admitted that ‘spoiler: being an editor does make you a monster – or in my case, more of a monster’
Last night was Clarke’s leaving drinks, with a legion of loyal Mail men and women gathering around to hear his final address. One celebratory balloon declared: ‘Congrats on leaving this hell hole’ while a new leaving card had to be purchased after someone wrote in it the traditional Mail Online exiting message: ‘Fuck off, MC.’
In an unusually personal address, the departing exec reflected on ’13 years of blood, sweat, quite a lot of cigarettes, quite a lot of booze’. Clarke said he had been ‘such a lucky bugger’ and noted how ‘all of you are coming back to the office, just as I’m buggering off.’
Clarke began reflecting on the front page his old boss David English created to mark Margaret Thatcher’s downfall at the hands of her colleagues: ‘Too damn good for the lot of them.’ A sign of his true feelings about the departure perhaps?
He continued by praising English and Paul Dacre before taking a swipe at the absent latter: ‘The only two editors I’ve ever really had and for my money the best two since the war. I don’t think either of them are here – at least David English has the good excuse of being dead.’
Clarke thanked his staff for giving him ‘the best professional years of my life’ before admitting that ‘spoiler: being an editor does make you a monster – or in my case, more of a monster.’ As he exited the room to frenzied applause, one hack was overhead joking: ‘It’s like Stalin’s Russia – the first person to stop clapping gets shot.’
Another long-serving Mail man, Danny Groom, has now been appointed as the interim successor. His title is ‘acting global editor’, whereas Clarke was ‘publisher’ implying a possible re-splitting of the CEO and Editor-in-Chief roles.
Clarke of course worked on the online side – but over on print things are little better. Steerpike’s spies claim that ‘everyone is trying to leave’ as despairing hacks are forced to navigate the demands of the semi-merged daily and Sunday papers.
Longtime showbiz columnist Baz Bamigboye and You magazine editor Jo Elvin have departed in recent weeks, while the newsroom has also been depleted. Indeed Mr S hears that Mail bosses want to get their own back on the Times for a string of recent hires.
Unfortunately they are yet to find a hack at London Bridge willing to play ball…
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