Ex NoW editor Myler takes the helm at New York Daily News
Colin Myler, ex-editor of the News of the World who lost his job when the title was closed amidst the outcry over phone hacking, is to take the helm of the New York Daily News.
Myler will assume the role of editor in chief at the title, a market rival to Murdoch’s New York Post, pitting him head to head with his former employer.
Martin Dunn, a former editor of the Daily News, said Myler was "obviously very upset at what transpired at News of the World. This will be a great opportunity for him to take his journalistic skills into battle with the Murdoch family in Rupert's own backyard."
Myler was flown in by Murdoch four years earlier in an attempt to turn round the fortunes of the scandal-racked News of the World
Myler and his team in fact had nothing do with the phone hacking - and the shutdown decision last year was widely criticised by British journalists.
In New York, he is replacing editor in chief Kevin Convey , according to a staff memo from the paper’s owner, Mort Zuckerman, which was disclosed by Capital New York.
Convey will be replaced next week by Myler
In the memo, Zuckerman thanked Convey for his editorial input at the Daily News, which he said “will only get better under the leadership of Colin.”
Myler is no stranger to New York. Before joining the News of the World, he was executive editor at Murdoch's New York Post.
Before that, Myler was an executive at the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror but resigned in 2001 after a judge ruled that an article in the Sunday Mirror jeopardised a trial involving assault allegations against two footballers.
According to Capital New York, Convey’s contract wasn’t set to expire until this summer, making his departure premature.
Although some staffers responded to the his departure with “shock” and “amazement,” wrote Capital, rumours of his leaving surfaced months ago.
Other newsroom sources told Capital that Convey, editor of the Boston Herald before going to the New York tabloid in 2010, “was definitely not ready for New York City” and “looked lost from the start.”