All change at the Mail on Sunday as the Sun’s Dan Jones takes over the Consumer and Tech beat

Dan Jones has been the Consumer Editor at the Sun for more than a decade, next week he starts as the Consumer Affairs and Technology Editor at the Mail on Sunday.

Yesterday, he spoke exclusively to MHP + Mischief’s James Rollinson at a breakfast event at the Ivy Club in Soho.

His top tips:

1. The cost-of-living crisis is going to be the big issue of 2022. The brands that get positive cut through will be those that are doing something to help their customers.
2. But if you do have difficult news, don’t hide. A price rise is better handled if you are open and are willing to put it into context.
3. Campaigns are a priority for the Mail on Sunday. Dan wants to work with brands on issues that affect his readers – but remember to think big.
4. Come to a Sunday journalist early in the week to secure your place in the paper. An email on a Monday means he can take it into Tuesday morning conference.
5. Good news. Journalists want to get back to meeting in person again. Zoom calls are fine for 20-minute interviews and briefings but nothing beats an honest conversation in person.

Keep an eye on our website, Twitter and LinkedIn for a more detailed report and video from Dan’s interview.

Personal finance is the order of the day for national media

It’s not just the Mail on Sunday that is focusing on the cost-of-living crisis, writes Alan Tovey the former Industry Editor of the Daily Telegraph who has joined MHP + Mischief’s Capital Markets team.

The Daily Telegraph business desk wants at least one personal finance story on the front page each week and the Sun says personal finance stories are regularly the most read stories online.

This demonstrates the power of stories about what is hitting people’s pockets. The BBC has gone even further, renaming its Business and Economics unit to Money and Work as it decamps to Salford.

The new name is deliberate. You don’t talk about business and economics in the pub, but you do discuss work and money, which as ever is the key to any good news story.

Being an editor ‘makes you a monster’ admits MailOnline chief

In a 15-minute leaving speech, MailOnline chief Martin Clarke revealed he ‘thought he was being shafted’ when he was given the role, writes former Daily Mail news editor Keith Gladdis.

Many at Northcliffe House were shocked when Clarke announced he was leaving after 13 years in charge of the website, but there were a few raised eyebrows when he joked.

“Being an editor does make you a monster, or in my case more of a monster.”

Next week the quietly brilliant and non-monster like Danny Groom will become Acting Global Editor.

ITV looks for more human-interest stories as it extends early evening bulletin

The shake-up at ITV News will lead to major new opportunities to pitch stories to them. Part of their new hour-long evening news programme will have a dedicated slot from 7pm to do more longer-form exclusive pieces. They are interested in all sorts of stories but ITV is a very consumer-focused in their coverage so there should be a human interest angle – it has to mean something to real people.

Also, as Covid restrictions come to an end broadcast and print media outlets have quietly declared Covid dead and so is their coverage of it. Health journalists at The Sun, The Telegraph, Daily Mail and the ITV News have this week all told us their organisations are no longer interested in stories about the pandemic. They instead want to people focused human interest health stories and to explore all the topics that have been ignored while their attention was elsewhere over the last two years.

Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel quit the BBC, who’s next?

Charlotte Grant former ITN presenter and now broadcast consultant at MHP + Mischief and ex-political editor Ian Kirby look at what the departures mean for the BBC.

After losing the likes of Andrew Marr, Andrew Neil and Rory Cellan-Jones, there has been talk of a brain drain at the BBC.

It was claimed Maitlis and Sopel were frustrated at the BBC’s impartiality rules or simply wanted more money. Perhaps what motivated them more was the chance to work again with Dino Sofos and his podcast production company.

But what is the future for another podcast star Laura Kuenssberg? Her stint as Political Editor ends at Easter. Friends say she’s keen to ease off the daily news agenda and focus on documentaries. If the BBC can’t create a vehicle for Laura, one of the producers she rates the highest is…Dino Sofos.

30toWatch – the biggest awards scheme for young journalists, is back

Entries are now open for 30toWatch 2022 Young Journalist Awards.

Previous winners include the Sun’s Political Editor Harry Cole, Sophy Ridge of Sky News and Ollie Shah the Associate Editor at The Sunday Times, writes Keith Gladdis.

This year our judging panel will be led by Richard Sambrook the former Director of News at the BBC. He will be joined by top journalists including Pete Clifton the Editor in Chief of PA Media and former 30toWatch winners including John Stevens the Deputy Political Editor of the Daily Mail, Kat Lay the Health Editor at the Times and Peter Campbell of the Financial Times.

It’s free to enter. To enter click 30toWatch 2022 or to nominate a young journalist please email [email protected]