News

Perry moves on from Telegraph sports job

Keith Perry, sports editor at the Daily Telegraph, is leaving the job to take a promotion at the company.

Perry became sports editor four years ago, succeeding David Welch, having been deputy sports editor for almost a decade.

Perry’s departure was the talk of the tables at the SJA Sports Journalism Awards on Monday. Perry was away on holiday and unavailable for comment. Further senior appointment announcements involving the Daily Telegraph sports desk were expected.

Perry’s departure comes less than a month after Jon Ryan left his job as sports editor on the Sunday Telegraph.

Ryan, 59, a member of the SJA committee since 2006, had lined up for himself the “high salaried” (according to Jim McGrath in the Telegraph) post of Communications Director of the British Horseracing Authority, where he is due to start in April.

“The BHA will be anxious to call on Ryan’s skill as a communicator to put some positive spin on racing coverage, much of which has presented the sport in a poor light in the past,” McGrath wrote.

No replacements had been named for Ryan or Perry at the Telegraph group, where Mark Skipworth had recently been appointed as executive editor (sport) for the two titles and their website.

â–  At The Guardian, Russell Thomas, the long-standing sports reporter and sub-editor, has retired. Thomas, a regular football writer and occasional tennis reporter, had worked at The Guardian for more than 25 years.

According to the Press Gazette, around 19 senior journalists are expected to leave the title in the coming months, to be replaced by other staff with online skills as The Guardian heads towards an integrated 24/7 operation when it moves to new offices in Kings Cross.


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