John Bryant, former editor-in-chief of Telegraph Media Group, has defended the company’s decisions to axe 54 jobs and move its newspapers to a state-of-the-art office in Victoria.
Bryant, 62, left the job two weeks ago after just over a year in the post. Telegraph Group has since revealed that the post has now been axed.
He stressed that the decision to leave was ‘mutual’between himself and TMG chief executive Murdoch MacLennan.
He said: ‘It was a terrifically taxing year there and I worked pretty much round the clock. It was a terrific job and I’ve got no regrets. What I did was to get the Telegraph back to punching its weight as a respected paper. It’s a great paper.’He said he had no future plans but did not rule out another high profile job in the industry. He said: ‘After doing that for a year working flat out… I feel that there other challenges for me to take.’Bryant defended the group’s move to a ‘converged’newsroom, claiming that critics should move with the times.
‘Throughout my career in Fleet Street everybody has been saying that newspapers are finished, particularly if they don’t adapt,’he said. ‘I’ve seen a lot of changes and I will see lots more. Newspapers have got to adapt or they will die. But it’s an exciting time.’And as for the 54 people who lost their jobs as a result of the move, Bryant said: ‘Newspapers are always tough. You just have to accept that sometimes changes have to be made. All you can do, is do the best you can.”
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