Yesterday another website carried what purported to be details of Dan Hodges’s departure as a New Statesman blogger. Much of what was reported was untrue and a misrepresentation of private conversations.
For the record:
- Dan Hodges resigned as one of our freelance bloggers, he was not sacked. Moreover, we asked him to stay and to continue blogging
- He wasn’t being “rested” from the magazine for the simple reason that he is not a regular contributor to it. Like all other would-be contributors to the magazine he was invited to pitch ideas directly to the editor.
- No article or column intended for the magazine was “spiked” because no piece was commissioned for the magazine.
- We did choose not to run a piece he filed for the website during the week of the Labour party conference. Dan had already contributed four blog posts that week (as agreed, and double his usual output). A fifth post that went over much of the same ground as the previous posts therefore was deemed redundant. As with all other magazines and newspapers we have occasion to “spike” pieces. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last.
Dan Hodges was brought on to NS.com at the beginning of 2011 because he was — and remains — a fine blogger. He was also well connected to various parts of the Labour party and gave us another take on Labour party politics.
His blog description reads “The grit in the oyster of the new politics” so we knew what we were getting from the outset. He caused trouble, he broke stories and wasn’t afraid to be highly critical of the Labour leadership. All good. Alongside our Liberal Democrat and Conservative bloggers, as well as our in-house team, he formed part of a lively – and plural – range of voices.
When Dan expressed his desire to “call it a day” during a private conversation in Manchester a week ago, I asked him to reconsider. Sadly, he didn’t change his mind and NewStatesman.com has lost a valued contributor.
We wish him well.
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