Kelner, Alton feature in Indy reshuffle

by John Reynolds, Media Week 10-Apr-08, 08:00

LONDON - Independent Newspapers has announced that editor-in-chief Simon Kelner will take on an expanded managing director role with former Observer editor Roger Alton replacing Kelner as editor of The Independent.

Kelner will have a bigger role than current managing director Terry Grote, who is retiring in May this year. Kelner will retain his editor-in-chief role and will oversee the newspapers’ marketing operations.

The newspaper publisher has also announced that former Observer editor Roger Alton will replace Kelner as editor of The Independent. Alton left the Observer at the end of 2007.

The reshuffle comes as Independent Newspapers’ owner, Ireland-based Independent News & Media, grapples with a power struggle between its chief executive Tony O’Reilly and Denis O’Brien, the billionaire businessman who has amassed a major stake in the company. O’Brien wants to sell-off the loss-making UK newspaper arm, prompting O’Reilly to brand O’Brien a “dissident” shareholder.

Kelner became editor-in-chief of the Independent in 1998 after two years editing the Mail on Sunday Night and Day Supplement.