New editor appointed to The Independent
Simon Kelner is to be replaced by Chris Blackhurst as editor of The Independent after 13 years in the role.
According to Roy Greenslade’s Guardian blog, Kelner will now be appointed editor-in-chief to the newspaper, but will hold no responsibility in the day to day running. The blog also stated that the appointment was announced to the company in an email by Evgeny Lebedev, the chairman of The Independent.
He told staff in the email: “I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Blackhurst as the new Editor of The Independent.
“As many of you already know, Blackhurst is an award-winning City Editor and columnist on the London Evening Standard.
“Inevitably this means Simon Kelner will be stepping down as Editor of The Independent and i. Simon's contribution to The Independent over the past 13 years has been considerable. I am sure you will agree that he has been a powerful and impressive force for the paper and I would like to say how grateful I am to him for all he has done.”