When Colin Myler was appointed the 25th editor of the News of the World he couldn’t in his darkest imaginings have guessed that he would also be its last.
Despite all the technological and economic upheaval of the last decade – we have not lost a national newspaper in this country since Today in 1995 (which was also owned by News International). And it had only been launched in 1986.
Myler was brought in as a safe pair of hands in 2007 following Andy Coulson’s resignation in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
In terms of scoops he has carried on the paper’s tradition as a getter of sensational splashes admirably, most recently with the amazing Sarah Ferguson cash-for-access to Prince Andrew story and the Pakistan cricket match-fixing revelations.
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But he also steered the paper into choppy waters with its coverage of Max Mosley’s extra-marital orgy with five paid dominatrices which cost it around £1m in damages and legal costs. Mr Justice Eady ruled that it was an invasion of privacy and that the NoW was wrong to allege that the orgy had a Nazi theme.
Myler will probably be remembered as someone who did a good job in extremely trying circumstances. But questions remain over if he could have done more to tackle the fallout from the hacking scandal.
In evidence to MPs in July 2009 he insisted he could find no evidence that anyone at the paper other than royals editor Clive Goodman had been involved in phone-hacking.
Here’s a list of all the News of the World’s 25 editors:
- 1843 – 1855 John Browne Bell
- 1855 – 1877 John William Bell
- 1877 – 1891 Walter John Bell
- and Adolphus William Bell
- 1891 – 1941 Sir Emsley Carr
- 1941 – 1946 Dr Percy Davis
- 1946 – 1947 Robert L Skelton
- 1947 – 1953 Arthur Waters
- 1953 – 1959 Reginald Cudlipp
- 1959 – 1970 Stafford Somerfield
- 1970 – 1973 C. J. Lear
- 1973 – 1975 Peter Stephens
- 1975 – 1980 Bernard Shrimsley
- 1980 – 1981 Kenneth Donlan
- 1981 Barry Askew
- 1981 – 1984 Derek Jameson
- 1984 – 1985 Sir Nicholas Lloyd
- 1985 – 1987 David Montgomery
- 1987 – 1989 Wendy Henry
- 1989 – 1993 Patricia Chapman
- 1994 – 1995 Piers Morgan
- 1995 – 2000 Phil Hall
- 2000 – 2003 Rebekah Wade
- 2003 – 2007 Andy Coulson
- 2007- 2011 Colin Myler
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