Gallagher…fell foul of the digital hypistas

Telegraph Media Group announced to shocked staff on Tuesday morning that Tony Gallagher was leaving the company, apparently with no job to go to. Staff journalists invaded Twitter to express their shock at Gallagher’s abrupt departure, revealing that he had been “banged out of the newsroom” at short notice – with some staff reported to be in tears.

For myself, I greeted the news with great satisfaction: during his four years in charge, honefacker Gallagher and his Maily boat people had dragged the Torygraph further and further towards the gutter.

But now it seems my optimism at what might follow looks misplaced in the light of this:

The author of this drivel Michael Hogan works variously for The Guardian and the DailyTelegraph. This is a sample of the superficial profundity of his writings at Journalisted. It almost makes Robert Winnett look like a heavyweight.

The Telegraph’s assistant editor (news), Chris Evans took over as acting print editor of the paper with immediate effect. Evans is a fully-signed up Maily Telegrapher, and so perhaps this explains the deepening braindeath at the title.

The most likely scenario being put forward in Hackland is that Gallagher regarded the Telegraph’s grand fromage, American Jason Seiken, as a bit of a digi-speak management prat – and has now paid the price for failing to hide his views. Either way, one can’t help feeling that the Men from La Manche are heading rapidly towards digital tabloid status, in search of mass (aka mob) appeal along the lines of Newscorp.

The Hogan piece limbos with ease under the lowest common denominator with this subhead intro: ‘He’s a multi-millionaire, spends a lot of time in Barbados, and works alongside Cheryl Cole. Admit it: you’d like to be a bit more like Simon Cowell.’ Are you kidding chum? I went to Barbados once and found it’s lifestyle less engaging than watching a turd decompose. I cannot imagine many experiences worse than having to converse with an airhead like Cole, and if anyone at any time said to me I was becoming more like Cowell, I’d be that man looping the sturdy rope over the garage crossbeam. This extract from the column might explain why:

‘The Peter Pan of pop is now 54 but determined to stay youthful. Hence an elaborate health regimen which includes hundreds of press-ups per day, colonic irrigation, saucers full of tablets, exotic smoothies and weekly intravenous vitamin drips’.

FFS, as they say on Planet Twitter.

Earlier at The Slog: Hunt Jockey Jeremy mounts another Trojan Horse