DM News Editor in Chief Resigns
After a stormy four months under new owner Haymarket Media, DM News’ editor-in-chief Mickey Alam Khan resigned earlier today, Magilla Marketing has learned.
According to multiple well-placed sources, Alam Khan and Haymarket have been like oil and water ever since the trade publisher bought DM News from its founder Adrian Courtenay in February.
The situation apparently came to a head during a heated meeting on Friday.
According to sources, Alam Khan walked out of the meeting after Haymarket executives offered him the title editor-at-large and told him he’d have to choose whether or not he wanted to be a reporter or an editor, but that he couldn’t be both.
Alam Khan reportedly called in sick yesterday, and resigned today.
Alam Khan could not immediately be reached for comment at his home.
Cara Wood, DM News’s managing editor, declined comment and referred questions to editorial director Julia Hood.
Hood did not immediately return a voice mail.
Full disclosure: I worked for DM News for six years and was Alam Khan’s editor for a number of years.
Alam Khan was named editor-in-chief of DM News in April 2006 just after previous editor-in-chief Tad Clarke resigned to take the top editorial position with MarketingSherpa.
Between April 2006 and the present, DM News’s suffered an exodus of senior editorial staff and long-time freelancers. As a result, the majority of the publication’s reporters have been there a little more than a year.
