How did Lord Hartwell lose his newspaper empire

A.� Lord Hartwell, born Michael Berry, was proprietor of The Daily Telegraph from 1954 to 1985. He died on 2 April 2001, aged 89. The short answer, to James's question, is that he failed to modernise the paper quickly enough.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� Why

A.� The Telegraph's readership was dying out. By 1985 the circulation was quarter of a million down from its peak: the older readers were not being replaced with new ones. It was a splendid newspaper, packed with stories, but it had little appeal to the younger people.

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Q.� And the equipment was old-fashioned

A.� Oh yes. In common with most other national newspapers, they had been run by the printing unions, which wielded much power, sometimes corruptly. More advanced equipment would mean lost jobs, so unions opposed it. But the rise of such newspapers as The Independent, which used new technology, and the move of Rupert Murdoch’s titles to a print-union-free Wapping put the old Telegraph in the shade.

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Q.� So Hartwell decided to modernise

A.� Yes, but it needed money. That meant new shareholders. By 1983 he had signed contracts that committed the business to spending �140 million, mainly on printing plants in London's Docklands and Manchester. Hartwell thought�- wrongly�- that the banks, which had been always lent to him in the past, would cover the huge cost of computerisation and modern printing plants. But he neglected to secure the money first.

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Q.� Oh dear.

A.� Quite. He was under pressure. Then an apparent white knight called Conrad Black rode to the rescue. He offered �10 million of equity to cover immediate needs. Black, however, inserted a clause that he should have an option on any future equity raised. The business deteriorated so quickly that Black became majority shareholder within months. Hartwell retained his titles of chairman and editor-in-chief, but the real power passed to younger men.

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Q.� And what then

A.� The Telegraph moved from its old base at 135 Fleet Street to the Docklands in 1986 and Lord Hartwell didn't move with them. In 1994 the bulk of his family's shares in the business were sold to Conrad Black's company, Hollinger.

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Q.� But what of the man himself

A.� Very interesting. He was probably the last old press baron who was a journalist. His father was Bill Berry, born in a modest home in Merthyr Tydfil who went to London for a career in periodical journalism. By the 1920s he and his brother Gomer had built up an empire of magazines and regional and national newspapers. Bill became Lord Camrose; Gomer was made Lord Kemsley. Young Michael started on the paper owned by Camrose in Aberdeen in the 1930s.

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Q.� And he worked his way to the top

A.� Yes. After war service, when he became a lieutenant-colonel, and was made an MBE, he took over as editor-in-chief. He was created Lord Hartwell in 1968. Berry decided his readers wanted was lots of hard news and presented impartially.

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Q.� It worked

A.� Yes, it was a winning formula that advertisers and readers liked. But the world changed. The rise of The Times under Murdoch put pressure on the Telegraph's revenue, even if the Telegraph sold far more than the Thunderer. Hartwell's days were numbered.

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By Steve Cunningham