The process to appoint the next editor-in-chief of the Guardian and Observer will include a vote by journalists on the papers and theguardian.com.  Liz Forgan, the chair of the Scott Trust, which is the ultimate owner of the titles, has outlined the procedure for choosing the successor to Alan Rusbridger – including an indicative ballot which would guarantee the winner a place on the shortlist for the job.  The vote is similar to that staged in 1995 when Rusbridger received the overwhelming backing of Guardian staff when appointed editor, the first time such a ballot was carried out. However, the role has expanded exponentially as the editor-in-chief now oversees editorial content across both Guardian News & Media newspapers and its global website, theguardian.com.  “The Scott Trust retains the right to choose a candidate irrespective of the result of that vote,” Forgan said in an interview. “The views of the staff are very important, but the duty of the trust is to think about the Guardian in perpetuity and that is to look beyond the interests of the current generation of journalists … Global stakeholders include readers from all over the world who have come to look to the Guardian for their understanding of the world, which is why it’s so important to open up this process.”  In a meeting with staff on Friday afternoon, Forgan will announce that the job will be openly advertised for the first time and a firm of headhunters will sift through the initial applications. A shortlisting committee of four members of the Scott Trust will then select up to five candidates. Those candidates can either choose to be put forward on the ballot to be run by the National Union of Journalists, or to remain anonymous.  The job will be advertised by the end of the year with the closing date for applications likely to be the start of February. The staff ballot is expected to take three weeks, with shortlisted applicants interviewed by the Scott Trust by the end of February or in early March. The trust aims to make its final decision by the end of March.  Forgan, who admits she is “ambivalent” about a staff ballot, said not only had the ballot when Rusbridger was appointed set a sort of precedent but that it reflected the unique and open nature of the Guardian.  “Obviously it’s a good way of establishing the level of support for different candidates but it’s also very divisive in a newsroom which is actually still supposed to be producing a newspaper,” she said. “It also makes it impossible for anybody outside who doesn’t want their name known to apply. And thirdly it can lead to misunderstandings about who’s making this appointment. The trust is making the appointment. The NUJ ballot is an indicative one. It will be one of many things which the trust must take account of in making this appointment.  “The Guardian is a completely different entity to what it was 20 years ago, let alone 40. We are no longer a little wonderful local newspaper but a global digital enterprise with a footprint across the world. The scale of that means we really had to have a completely fresh look at the process of appointing Alan’s successor.”  The board of Guardian Media Group, the commercial body behind the newspapers, will also have the chance to meet the shortlisted candidates, but again the views of the board and Andrew Miller, group chief executive, will only be indicative. Having studied the history of the newspaper going back to 1821, Forgan said: “From time to time the managing director has been part of the process, which seems to me to be absolutely not right in terms of the constitutional delicacies of the Guardian.”  Rusbridger himself, who is to replace Forgan as chair of the trust in 2016, after standing down as editor-in-chief next summer, will have no vote in the appointment of his successor. He will however be “consulted” by Forgan, who said: “What Alan says about the candidate I will listen to very carefully,” before adding that it was “conceivable” that the trust could choose a candidate who wasn’t the one recommended by the award-winning editor.  The Guardian is highly unusual in allowing staff to hold any sort of vote on their next boss. Le Monde is the best known example of a newspaper in which the staff elect the editor although this model is not to be adopted at the Guardian, which has only had 10 editors since its foundation in 1821.  Forgan has chaired the trust since 2003. Rusbridger will replace her after taking up a new role as principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.  Along with Rusbridger, Forgan urged potential editors not to indulge in any overt campaigning. “The editor needs to be somebody who can demonstrate that in their conduct and demeanour they are mature people so for the internal candidates who will be caught up in office politics, the way they handle themselves in that will be a consideration.  “We want to make sure we don’t lose really good Guardian people … because something in the process has made their job impossible.”  When Rusbridger’s predecessor, Peter Preston, was appointed in 1975, the journalists’ union “elected staff nominees on the sub-committee” advising the trust, according to the former editor himself in the Observer last week.  Brian Williams, father of the NUJ chapel at the Guardian as he was back in 1995, agreed that the ballot would be indicative but added: “Ultimately if you are going to be an effective editor here, of all places, you need the backing of the majority of journalists. Without any shareholders the staff are probably the biggest stakeholder in the organisation.”  Asked if she would be in favour of the Guardian appointing the first woman to the role, Forgan said: “Personally I’d be delighted but if it’s a woman it will be because she’s the best person for the job … My overwhelming concern is that we get the best possible candidates for this very important job.”  The trustees on the shortlisting committee are Forgan; Will Hutton, the former editor-in-chief of the Observer; Alex Graham, the co-founder and former chief executive of Who Do You Think You Are? producer Wall to Wall; and Observer economics editor Heather Stewart.
Winning staff ballot will guarantee place on shortlist, but ultimate decision on who replaces Alan Rusbridger will be made by owners Scott Trust