Examination of Witnesses (Questions 2623
- 2639)
TUESDAY 20 MAY 2008
Ms Sly Bailey and Mr Paul Vickers
Q2623 Chairman:
Welcome both of you. You have been sitting there, patiently throughout,
listening to the questioning, so I think you have got some broad
idea of where we are coming from and what we are trying to do.
We are looking at the issue of ownership and the impact that that
has upon news. To begin with, could you just briefly outline the
structure of the Trinity Mirror Group and, perhaps, explain the
responsibilities of the board? Just the structure of the Group.
Ms Bailey: Trinity Mirror is the leading newspaper
business but our overall strategy is very much about building
a growing, multi-platform media business. We love our newspapers
and we shall continue to nurture, develop and, indeed, launch
new newspapers, as we have been doing, but building our business
physically (because that is where our readers and advertisers
will also be) is a very important part of what we do. So, essentially,
we are repositioning our business from being a purely newspaper
business into a multi-platform business. We publish a number of
national newspapers, both UK and Scottish national newspapers,
and we are the UK's largest regional newspaper publisher with
a share of around 15%. We have also been launching, and indeed
acquiring, digital businesses to that strategic aim that I talked
about earlier of building a multi-platform media business. That
is the way that the company is structured.
Q2624 Chairman:
Thank you very much. Just for the sake of completeness, the role
of your chairman, Sir Ian Gibson—he is a non-executive Chairman,
is he?
Ms Bailey: He is.
Q2625 Chairman:
So, day-to-day, power really rests with you, as Chief Executive?
Ms Bailey: Shall I talk a bit about the board
responsibilities and the division of responsibilities between
the Chairman and the Chief Executive, upon which we are very clear?
Q2626 Chairman:
Okay.
Ms Bailey: Our plc board comprises five non-executive
directors, including the Chairman, and three executive directors,
including me, as CEO, and Paul Vickers, my colleague here, who
is our Group Legal Director. I, working with my senior team, formulate
the strategy for the Group and its businesses, and I then recommend
that strategy to the board, who discuss, debate, agree—or
not—its implementation. I then implement that strategy and
am responsible for driving the performance of the business. The
board monitors performance regularly. The board, of course, has
a key role in ensuring good corporate governance (we are a public
company), ensures that the control environment is appropriate
and that the risks that the company might face are appropriately
considered, monitored and managed, and then there is a formal
list of matters that are reserved for the board, in decision-making
areas like the annual budget of the Group, treasury, mergers and
acquisitions, disposals, capital expenditure and certain litigation,
and through its committees the board also deals with issues such
as executive remuneration and audit. Those are the responsibilities
of the board.
Q2627 Chairman:
That is a fairly standard plc structure.
Ms Bailey: Absolutely. The role of the Chairman.
We have a formal document that splits out the differing roles
of the Chairman and mine, as CEO. As we have already covered,
I am the most senior executive within the business formulating
the strategy for the Group. The Chairman, as we have said, is
non-executive; he is responsible for ensuring good corporate governance,
he runs the board and he sets the agenda of the board; he ensures
that the directors receive accurate and timely information—clear
information—on the Group and its businesses; he ensures
that there is effective communication between the company and
its shareholders (though, of course, I am the main day-to-day
contact for our shareholders); he monitors the development needs
of directors, both non-executive and executive; he ensures that
the overall structure of the board and its committees is effective,
and he ensures that there are proper systems and processes in
place to deal with succession planning. So, essentially, the CEO
runs the company and the Chairman runs the board.
Q2628 Chairman:
Thank you. Let us go to the question of editorial independence,
because you run, as you rightly say, both regional newspapers
(the biggest group in the country) and powerful national titles
as well. Do you give your national editors absolute independence
in what they say?
Ms Bailey: We do.
Q2629 Chairman:
You do not interfere in any way, shape or form?
Ms Bailey: It depends on what you mean by "interfere".
We are here to run a business; we are here to run a successful
and profitable business. The national newspaper editors report
directly to me. I work with them and the managing directors of
our businesses in setting the strategy for our businesses, the
market positioning of our titles, and it is then down to the editors
to determine the appropriate content that will maximise their
position in the market. So do I get involved pre-publication?
Very rarely. I talk to my editors very, very frequently; there
may be issues that they want to discuss with me, they may want
a sounding board, and I am certainly there for that for them,
but the content of our newspapers is down to them.
Q2630 Chairman:
Talking specifically about the national editors, if your national
editor of, say, The Daily Mirror ran a campaign which you
thought was foolish or you simply did not agree with, or if it
took a political stance which you did not agree with, would you
actually intervene at that point?
Ms Bailey: My personal politics have nothing
to do with our newspapers. Indeed, I run a news organisation;
I think it would be highly inappropriate for me to discuss those
with our editors, because the voice of the The Mirror,
for instance, is important and the voice of The Mirror
as a reflection of where its readers are is important. So it is
immaterial what I think or do not think. However, in having a
very clear understanding of our readership then I am able to discuss
with our editors the direction of our newspapers. I think it is
also in the hiring as well. My job is to ensure that we have the
right people in post who have the skills to do the job. I think
it is then important, as with any executive—which is what
editors are—that they are clear about objectives, and if
they are clear about objectives they can then get on and edit
(to use your word, my Lord Chairman) free from interference.
Q2631 Chairman:
You do not get involved in politics at all?
Ms Bailey: I would occasionally see a minister
or host a dinner or a lunch, for instance, for our regional newspaper
editors because I could invite someone along to the company that
it would be more difficult for our regional newspaper editors
to see at that time on their own, and I do that often as a way
of us understanding a certain perspective or giving them an opportunity
to present or ask the questions that they think are important
to them locally. However, hanging out with politicians does not
put a penny on the share price, and that is what I am here to
do.
Q2632 Chairman:
We noticed in previous evidence that the first person the new
Minister, Mr Andy Burnham, actually called upon was none other
than yourself.
Ms Bailey: Actually, it was me that asked to
see him—I should clarify that point. Again, as I said, from
time to time—
Q2633 Chairman:
What did you talk about?
Ms Bailey: He is our minister and, in the way
that I knew Tessa Jowell before, I would see him. It may surprise
you to know that we had David Cameron in for lunch not long ago,
we have George Osborne coming in for lunch in the next couple
of weeks, and we had dinner with the Prime Minister before Christmas.
Q2634 Chairman:
Mr Burnham said you had a discussion (and I quote): "about
the changing nature of the world". It seems a pretty broad
discussion you were having.
Ms Bailey: Yes. Our world is changing. It is
important that we discuss these things.
Q2635 Chairman:
Your point being that you actually entertain and talk to all the
political parties, or all the political leaders, really.
Ms Bailey: Yes, absolutely.
Q2636 Chairman:
What about the appointment of the editors themselves? Who does
that? Do you do that?
Ms Bailey: The appointment of the editors of
The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and The People
is a matter for the plc board to approve following a recommendation
from me. I appoint the editors of The Daily Record and
The Sunday Mail in Scotland after consultation with the
MD of our Scottish national newspapers, and the appointment of
our regional editors is mainly a matter for their local MD—so
in Newcastle, Birmingham, or wherever it might be—in consultation
with the MD of our regionals division. I may be consulted.
Q2637 Chairman:
So the editors for The Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and The
People—that goes to the board?
Ms Bailey: Yes, to approve. I recommend and
they approve.
Q2638 Chairman:
Do you do that by yourself? Do you make your own choice or do
you do it through a nominations committee, or what?
Ms Bailey: No, that would not go through a nominations
committee; I would do that. But I would certainly do it in discussion
with colleagues—for instance, the managing director of the
business—and I would certainly consult my Chairman.
Q2639 Chairman:
The Daily Mirror is a Labour-supporting newspaper, and
has been for many years past. You would expect the editor to be
a Labour-supporting editor, would you not?
Ms Bailey: Yes. In all of our newspapers we
look for talented journalists with a vision for their newspaper,
its readership and its market, and a very clear understanding
of that. We look for an ability to inspire and lead what is often
a very large team of people and to be able to manage that team
on a day-to-day basis operationally as well as to lead them, and
who can do that across print and digital (because for all of our
titles that is a very important part of securing their future
prosperity), and we look for people with a very big capacity for
work, because editors are under constant and relentless pressure,
and their coping mechanisms, therefore, are a very important part
of the job.
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