It is a year this month since the Daily Telegraph went back on the market. And still it sits there without a committed buyer, like a yellowing cabbage at the back of the greengrocer’s. Regardless of how you may view its politics, the Telegraph deserves better.
The title, which turns 170 this year, is a key player in the regulated, resourced media that is essential for British democracy to function. And it makes money – revenue for the year ending December 2022, before recent difficulties, was £254m – and has healthy subscriber numbers. And yet without an owner it is unable to invest or set a long-term strategy. It is stuck in publishing purgatory. “We feel utterly dejected,” one staffer said. “There is no plan and no direction. And no sign this is going to get fixed any time soon.”
The latest mooted bid comes from the Chelsea Football Club co-owner Todd Boehly and media-mogul-wannabe David Montgomery. Boehly is the man Chelsea fans have been protesting about, chanting: “Bring back Abramovich.” He recently told a press conference: “The one thing I’ve learned about the British press is they exaggerate a lot and leave stuff out.” Meanwhile, Montgomery has a reputation as a ruthless cost-cutter. He needs Boehly to bid for his publishing company National World – which runs more than 100 regional titles including the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post – or he will be forced to accept a hostile bid that is expected to clear the Irish competition commission within days.
Even if they pulled off the National World deal and together bid for the Telegraph, their chances of success seem slim. The United Arab Emirates-backed investment firm Redbird IMI, which took the Telegraph on in return for settling debts of the Barclay brothers, the paper’s previous owners, insists it won’t take a penny less than £500m. Even though the latest bidder at that sum – the New York Sun boss Dovid Efune – couldn’t get backers for that price. Because £500m is around £150m more than the Telegraph is worth.
Who could possibly have been involved in brokering such a fraught sale? Step forward one George Osborne, now working for the investment bank Robey Warshaw, which has advised Redbird – and coincidentally helped Boehly bid for Chelsea. They really are, as Osborne liked to say, “all in it together”.
The Telegraph’s best hope is that the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, refers the case to the Competition and Markets Authority, which could force a sale. Even that is problematic until the government resolves exactly how much foreign investment is acceptable in British media.
Boehly and Monty may not be a dream ticket. But at least they might at last end this long-running nightmare.
The Reach chief executive, Jim Mullen, has left the company by “mutual agreement” after six years – and with last year’s £1.25m pay and bonus jackpot in his back pocket.
For full transparency, Mullen was my boss when I was editor of the Mirror, until I chose to quit the job I loved last January.
There’s no denying these are tumultuous times for the tabloid and local news markets, with Big Tech gobbling up advertising revenues and readers reluctant to pay for subscriptions. Reach also has pension-fund problems thanks to the antics of Robert Maxwell, and faced big bills for what are euphemistically called “historic legal issues” – hacking claims stretching back to the early 1990s.
But staff this week told how Mullen, who was often fond of a football analogy, lost the dressing room long ago with journalists disappointed by a strategy focused on increasing clicks, with little thought for growing engagement and protecting brands. Journalists felt print decline was accelerated with continual price increases, and redundancies never far from view.
Despite all this, good journalists continue to create great stories on Reach titles. Never has a strong local media been more vital to countering misinformation and sustaining a sense of community. The company’s chief revenue officer, Piers North, has been appointed CEO; let’s hope this is a new beginning for Reach.
President Trump’s constant assaults on the US media are beyond a joke – so much so that the annual comedian booking at the prestigious White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been canned. The comedian Amber Ruffin, known for her anti-Trump material, had been agreed for the gig, which is the biggest night of the year in the American journalism calendar. But Ruffin was dropped by organisers concerned the event – which is screened on TV – would increase polarisation.
Laughter is a potent weapon in any battle with oppression – and the US media is being oppressed.
Ofcom has fined Fenix International – the parent company of the 18+ content platform OnlyFans – £1m for failing to provide the regulator with accurate information about its age checks. Penalising the British-based firm for a compliance issue sends a message to the global industry that breaches will no longer be overlooked. Or at least, that’s what we hope.
Still, £1m is a mere rounding error for the subscription service, which made $1.3bn in revenue in 2023. Who said sex doesn’t pay? Ah, right: No one ever.
[See also: The conviction of Marine Le Pen]
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This article appears in the 02 Apr 2025 issue of the New Statesman, What is school for?