Senior News UK executive David Dinsmore has argued that there is a place for the type of exposé broken by journalists like Mazher Mahmood, the undercover Sun reporter charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in September.
Speaking at the Society of Editors conference, the former Sun editor was asked if there was a place for journalists like Mahmood, known from his time at the News of the World as the Fake Sheikh.
“Absolutely there should be,” said Dinsmore, now the chief operating officer at News UK. “Look at the Lord Coke story [the Sun’s exposé on Lord Sewel]. It is classic old-school proper investigation. Finding those stories these days that build over a number of days are very difficult to come across.
“When we got the [Queen’s] Nazi salute picture, we thought we had one of the iconic pictures of the decade. Then seven days later we had Lord Sewell in an orange bra. What [these stories have] shown is even with the restrictions now on us, you can still come up with great stuff. You’ve got to keep pushing the envelope. The pendulum swings. It swung massively against us and [we are] now trying to move it back in to the middle ground.”
Mahmood has been suspended by the Sun but is still an employee, a fact mentioned by Dinsmore who went on to say in answer to the question: “There is still one there just now.”
In his first speech since being appointed News UK’s chief operating officer in a management reshuffle that included Rebekah Brooks’s return as chief executive, a year after she was cleared of all charges related to the phone-hacking scandal, Dinsmore also said Brooks’s return as chief executive of News UK has brought a “fantastic wave of energy” – although he admitted he is “sleeping even less” than when he edited the Sun.
Following his speech, in which he trumpeted the power and relevance of newspapers, he was asked about the “elephant in the room” of his relationship with Brooks since her return.
“Fantastic,” he said. “That’s not an elephant. Rebekah has brought a fantastic wave of energy to the building. Journalists are running the business which is really exciting. We have a huge amount of work to do. I’d have to say I’m probably sleeping even less than I was six weeks ago [when still editor of the Sun] because there is so much to do.”
He was also asked if the Sun’s decision to partially drop its digital paywall was proof that the ‘walled garden’ strategy had failed.
“I don’t think anything has failed yet,” he said. “But we are trying new things. Everything is an experiment. Advertising is not going to save you alone. The answer is probably a blend of revenue streams. Models to make [journalism] pay are constantly evolving and adapting. I dont think anyone has cracked the three tenets of growing audience, growing profitable revenue and maintaining purpose on all platforms. When you tick those three boxes … that’s it. No one in the world has got there. I don’t think [journalism] can survive on advertising alone.”
The thrust of Dinsmore’s speech was a defence of a newspaper industry he said he was tired of seeing “done down”.
“I went from newspaper editor to newspaper manager,” he said. “The manager has to catch the falling knife and somehow rediscover growth in a world that is being pulled like a moth to the digital flame. Having seen both sides of this coin, it is clear the moaning has to stop. The time has come to start celebrating the success we have got and reconnecting with the advertisers that want to be associated with the connection we have with our audiences.”
He said that with the repercussions of the hacking scandal over the last four years mostly behind News UK it was time to “rebuild”.
“It is worth reflecting on the last four years. Fifty operation Elveden charges layed against Sun journalists by the Crown Prosecution Service. One solitary [charge] was proven and is now being appealed. There is now a moment in time. We are through the worst and it is time to rebuild.”
