Red Rag

A short while ago, Gareth mentioned that Brian Rogers had resigned as editor of the West Australian. At the time, not much was known about his reasons.

The Media liftout of today’s Australian fleshes the story out a bit. Unfortunately, the story is not on their website, so if you want to read the whole thing you’ll have to cough up for a hard copy. Here’s an extract:

Rogers left the building before anyone but a few close colleagues knew that he had quit. Stunned journalists who gathered around senior editorial executive David Hummerstein were told their boss would not return. …

The assumption by most was that Rogers had either been forced to resign or discovered that a replacement was in the wings. The quiet newsman was blamed for plummeting circulation and a noticeable frop in quality. …

It has emerged Rogers offered his resignation more than a month ago, before going on a holiday in Europe, and was convinced by managing director Ian Law to reconsider. … Maybe it just got too difficult for Rogers, who was growing tired of the constant derision.

But the settlement suggests that the real reason may be more interesting, and that it may never be revealed: the company gave Rogers an undisclosed sum in exchange for signing a confidentiality agreement. He could not explain his actions even if he wanted to.

There is some speculation that Rogers refused to force redundancies on editorial staff, but the newspaper denies that job cuts are planned.

I wonder what role Ironbar Tuckey played in all this? He was vocally opposed to Rogers’ appointment as editor, and supported CEO Ian Law for the editorship. The Australian doesn’t mention Law in its list of candidates for the editorship, but does suggest that the “ultra-conservative” board exerts significant influence on the editorial direction of the paper:

Rogers recently promoted his preferred candidate, Karen Brown, from chief-of-staff to deputy editor. Brown, who was in Sydney when Rogers resigned, has now taken the reins as acting editor.

Another front-runner [is] business editor Paul Armstrong… However, it is believed 33-year-old Armstrong’s chances at the top job may be affected by attempts by Law to address complaints over Armstrong’s coverage of big business players Burswood Casino and BankWest bank.

Brown’s co-deputy editor, Mike Polkinghorne, is another possible candidate. While he would be an unpopular appointment among journalists, the long-time senior executive would be seen as easily managed by the ultra-conservative board. …

External candidates could include The Australian’s Canberra press gallery journalist and columnist Matt Price, a former Perth bureau chief. …

Journalists at the beleaguered newspaper appeared this week to have little faith in the appointment process, believing the board of big-business directors prefers compliant editors to robust ones.

Which pretty much rules out the left-leaning Matt Price. Unfortunately.