Editor of the Mail & Guardian, Howard Barrell, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he wanted to be closer to his family who live in the UK.
“My family has suffered as a result of my commitment to the newspaper, and it is long overdue that I rectify that,” he said.
“What makes it easier for me to do so is that the Mail & Guardian is now in the best hands possible. Trevor Ncube, its new owner, has the vision and energy to take this justly famous newspaper to new standards of excellence and, most important of all, to commercial success. I am proud to have been one of those who fought to have Trevor take over the newspaper, and to have been alongside him in making some decisions in recent weeks that have put the paper on course for profitability.
“I have also been fortunate to work with a group of very special people at the Mail & Guardian. They are remarkable for their intelligence, skills and humane outlook. It has been, genuinely, a privilege to work with them. They have taught me a lot,” Barrell said.
“I have suspected for some time now that a set of fresh editorial ideas may be necessary. I am now convinced that only a new editor can provide those. Perhaps my contribution to the M&G has been to have helped keep it on course through a difficult transition before Trevor’s takeover.”
Barrell added: “Because of the controversy that has sometimes attached to both the newspaper and to me, there may be suggestions that my resignation results from a disagreement of some sorts with Trevor Ncube, or from some adverse judgment of South Africa and its prospects. Neither would be true. Working with Trevor has been an exhilarating experience and I hold him in the very highest esteem. Moreover, while I do not underestimate the scale of the problems South Africa faces, the country continues to make remarkable progress in addressing them. I will always be a South African, and proud of it.”
Ncube commented: “Naturally, we are disappointed that Howard will not be with us to finish this great project of turning the M&G around. Like the rest of the staff Howard has been fully supportive of the changes that we have been making to turn this great newspaper into a commercial success. We are already seeing the positive effects of the changes we have made over the past six weeks. Howard shares my vision and passion for the Mail & Guardian. We would like to thank Howard for his contribution to the paper over the past five years. He has been a great fighter for Press Freedom in South Africa and did not shy away from taking principled positions. We respect his decision to be closer to his family. He will be sorely missed by management, staff and our faithful readers. We wish Howard the very best.”
Ncube said the position of editor for the M&G will be advertised internally and in the national media with effect from this week. Barrell leaves the M&G at the end of September.
Barrell became editor of the paper on January 1 2001. From July 1998 until December 2000, he served as political editor. Between the newspaper’s founding in 1985 (as the Weekly Mail) and late 1988, he was its Harare correspondent specialising in the affairs of the then-exiled liberation movement, of which he was then an undisclosed member.