Amol Rajan is the first non-white journalist to run a UK national newspaper.
Amol Rajan was appointed as the editor of The Independent on Monday, marking it as the first instance of a non-white journalist to run a UK national newspaper.
Independent owner Evgeny Lebedev, confirmed his appointment in a tweet on Monday morning, reported UK based newspaper The Guardian.
At 29, Rajan is also the youngest national newspaper editor in recent memory, second only to Piers Morgan who was named editor of the News of the World in 1994 at the age of 28.
Rajan was born in Kolkata before moving to London as a three-year kid.
He grew up in Tooting, south London, and went on to read English Literature at Cambridge University.
After graduating, Rajan worked briefly for the Evening Standard and Channel 5, before moving to the Independent where he rose through the ranks from news reporter.
Two years later, he joined the Independent as a news reporter, later moving on to stints as sports news correspondent, assistant comment editor and deputy comment editor.
Rajan also launched the Independent’s Voices comment section, of which he was named editor four months ago.
He inherits one of Fleet Street’s smallest editorial teams, at a time when they are being asked to multitask and screen test for sister title the Evening Standard’s London Live local TV service, due to launch next year.
Also, the Independent title’s ultimate owner, Egveny’s father Alexander Lebedev, faces a possible jail sentence in his native Russia – although he has insisted the funding of his UK papers is secure.
A well-liked and energetic editorial figure, Rajan has enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks at the Independent, from rank and file news reporter to one of Lebedev’s closest confidantes.
In a tweet after his appointment on Monday, Rajan said: “Really don’t care how trite this sounds: best thing about my new job is leading the most fantastic team of journalists in Fleet St.”
Source: The Daily Star
