Jason Seiken leaves Daily Telegraph after 18 months

Jason Seiken, the digital expert hired to shake up the Daily Telegraph, is leaving the newspaper after 18 months.

Mr Seiken, well regarded from his time at the Washington Post and US broadcaster PBS, had encountered resistance from some senior journalists. There was also confusion internally about how his role of "chief content officer and editor-in-chief" interacted with those of other editors.

The Daily Telegraph is the UK's biggest-selling and most lucrative quality newspaper, with operating profits near £60m a year. However, employees past and present say that it has struggled to develop a coherent strategy for maintaining profitability, as readers move online. Several editors, chief information officers and other digital strategists have left the company in recent years.

Mr Seiken arrived at the newspaper in October 2013 and moved centre-stage three months later, when Tony Gallagher, the Telegraph's old-school editor, was sacked.

He outlined an ambitious vision for the newspaper, telling reporters that it would become less hierarchical and more innovative. However, he was sidelined months later into a strategy role, a change that one former employee described as a "coup".

The Telegraph, a bastion of British conservatism, has been subject of allegations of censorship by Peter Oborne, its former chief political commentator. None of Mr Oborne's allegations relates to the period between January 2014 and September 2014, when Mr Seiken was the key editorial figure. Two former employees told the Financial Times that Mr Seiken did not interfere on commercial grounds, being more interested in setting an overarching editorial strategy.

Mr Seiken had been working on a new strategic plan to be presented to Aidan Barclay, the Telegraph's chairman.

His daily presence at the Telegraph had become less noticeable since his move into a strategy role. "Nothing changes here," said one employee, commenting on Mr Seiken's departure.

In a statement, Mr Seiken said he was "proud of how the Telegraph has become a digital leader". Murdoch MacLennan, chief executive of Telegraph Media Group, said he understood "Jason's regrettable decision to move on to new opportunities now that he has completed his work here".

The Telegraph is likely to see another high-profile departure soon, with Henry Winter, its football correspondent, expected to join The Times, its Rupert Murdoch-owned rival, according to two people familiar with the situation.

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