News

Telegraph gives Hadfield key online role

Greg Hadfield, the former Sunday Times news editor who became a dot.com millionaire, has been appointed by the Telegraph Media Group to oversee its online sports coverage.

Hadfield left Wapping more than a decade ago to launch the soccernet website, which he sold to Disney-owned cable sports channel ESPN in 1999 for £15 million.

As the Telegraph’s “head of digital development”, Hadfield will be responsible for “the integration of data and commercial partnerships”, according to the publisher.

“Greg has a track record as a top class journalist who is also a tremendous innovator,” Ed Roussel, Telegraph Media Group’s digital editor, said.

In October, the Telegraph group cut all long-standing casual subs, instead creating 40 jobs to work across its daily, Sunday and online platforms. However, last month, the group announced 50 job cuts across all titles, and this month it has instituted a cut in pagination because of the rising costs of newsprint.

This month, it has been reported that the Telegraph titles have outsourced the subbing and lay-out of some pages to an Australian company owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd which charges some clients £45 per page for the service.

The Daily Telegraph‘s sports desk is one department which has been particularly badly hit by job cuts in the past year, with the likes of Martin Johnson, Alison Kervin, Lewine Mair and Tom Knight all being made redundant of having the contracts ended.

More on the changes at the Telegraph

Mair and Knight leave Telegraph; Buckley goes from Obs

Martin Johnson latest to leave the Telegraph

Sports desk at centre of Telegraph concern

Mossop and Phillip leave Telegraph

Click here to see a timeline of journalism job losses


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