Campaign's most controversial list of the year is undoubtedly its
scandalously salacious, ill-informed farrago of inaccuracies and willful
mischief, the ten most talked about editors.
So congratulations to Keith "chopper" Kendrick, who topped the list.
Having arrived as the editor of Loaded, he proceeded to take an axe to
his staff as he sought to make the magazine less of an intellectual
title for preening, style-obsessed aesthetes.
But despite being a lawyer magnet (Note to editors: best advertising
lawyers are listed separately for your convenience on p46), the list
disappointingly fails to prove the commonly held media theory that
editors are only interesting when they are being sacked or when they're
doing the sacking.
Hats off especially to the Daily Star's Peter Hill and the Daily Mail's
Paul Dacre, who scrape in at number eight and nine respectively, merely
for doing their jobs quietly and efficiently. Yawn.
Still, there's plenty on the Campaign list to confirm the wildest of
prejudices.
Squint through your fingers as you read of Colin Myler and Sunday
Mirror-gate - the disastrous coverage of the Leeds United-gate trial of
the footballers Lee Bowyer-gate and Jonathan, er, Woodgate.
Let your mind boggle as you attempt to imagine Phil Hall, the sacked
editor of the News of the World, editing Hello!.
As one source didn't tell Campaign: "There is only one thing in the
world worse than being a talked about editor, and that is not being a
talked about editor."
- Most talked about editors, p6.
