A Brief History of Daily News Editor Martin Dunn as Told by Keith Kelly

by Nate Freeman

DUNN DONE, SNOOZE LOSES, ETC.

Yesterday Martin Dunn ended his seven-year tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the New York Daily News. Surprised? You wouldn’t be if you’d been reading New York Post media columnist Keith Kelly, who was the first to report word of Dunn’s exit. Repeatedly. Over the course of many years. Let’s look back!

May 26, 2004 — NEW SNOOZE LOOKS LIKE OLD ; MASTHEAD SHIFT SHUFFLES DECK, BUT DOESN’T DEAL NEW BOSS
“The deck has been shuffled at Mort Zuckerman’s embattled Daily News, but there are few signs of new life at the paper. Editorial director Martin Dunn, who returned to the paper in October after several years in his native London, finally unveiled his new lineup — which looks a lot like the old lineup.”

June 3, 2005– BEA BILLY AT $5M — WARNER BOOKS SETS HIGH HURDLE FOR ‘700 SUNDAYS’
“Insiders say there is tension mounting between the two top British editors at the Daily News, Editorial Director Martin Dunn and Editor-in-Chief Michael ‘Footsie Monster’ Cooke. The two were seen having what to some newsroom sources appeared to be a heated argument last week. Dunn was gesticulating wildly, said one, and Cooke appeared to be listening glumly.”

August 10, 2005-IS DUNN DONE?
“Mort Zuckerman, the mercurial Daily News owner, generally doesn’t keep his top editors around for more than a few years.

As the News editorial director and associate publisher Martin Dunn closes in on his two-year anniversary, the rumors that he might soon be heading back to his native England were rekindled after a lengthy interview he gave to the London-based Independent newspaper earlier this week.”

‘Within a year or two, Dunn will want to return to Britain where his wife and his family remain,’ says the Independent.”

December 15, 2005 — OFF THE RADAR — POP CULTURE MAG, WEB SITE FADE OUT
“At the Daily News, Zuckerman yesterday subbed his editorial director Martin Dunn as editor-in-chief, to replace Michael Cooke. In the past six months, the Daily News’ circulation has tumbled to its lowest level since the Great Depression.”

December 28, 2005 — DAILY DEFECTION — POST PARENT POACHES NEWS’ TOP DOG GOODSTEIN
“That successor, insiders said, is unlikely to be Martin Dunn, the paper’s deputy publisher and editor-in-chief.

Dunn’s tenure has been marked by a series of high-profile gaffes, including a botched Scratch n’ Match promotional contest that wrongly ‘awarded’ $444 million in false jackpots to thousands of readers and sparked a wave of lawsuits.”

November 1, 2006 — MORT BLOWS NEWS’ FUSE — STAFF FEARS RESPONSE BY ‘PANICKY’ PUBLISHER
“Dunn, who is pulling in $1.2 million a year as the editor-in-chief, has about another year to go on his contract. Given Zuckerman’s penchant for canning editors, most think Dunn is the most vulnerable to the whims of the mercurial owner.”

June 6, 2007 — SNOOZE’S DUNN MAY BE NEWS
“IT could be that time is growing short for Editor-in-Chief Martin Dunn at the helm of Mort Zuckerman’s struggling Daily News… Dunn’s current contract expires at the end of the year, and talks about a new contract have not even begun.

Nobody is expecting that they will.”

June 8, 2007 — DUNN WRONG: NEWS BOUNCES 2 EDITORS
“Some see the shakeup as a last-ditch attempt by Dunn to prove himself to Zuckerman before his contract expires in the fourth quarter of this year.”

June 13, 2007 — FORMER SNOOZER: IT’S NO DUNN DEAL
“Dunn’s contract expires in October — so the heat is on to inject new life into the struggling paper, which during Dunn’s watch has lost its circulation lead to The New York Post. Both Dunn and Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman are said to be unsure if there will be a new contract. Talks between the two have not started yet.”

June 27, 2007 — PARIS NON GRATA FOR US AND MIN
“As Dunn scrambles to save his own job and try to prove to the mercurial owner, Mort Zuckerman that he is till capable of shaking things up at the floundering tabloid.”

January 5, 2008 — A BRIT DISS FOR SNOOZE
“The job offer to Wallace seems to raise anew questions about Martin Dunn, the incumbent editor-in-chief.

It had been widely reported that his contract was set to expire in October, 2007 and the belief was that he hoped to return to his native Britain.”

July 21, 2010 -Â NEW DAILY NEWS CHIEF
Martin Dunn is out as the editor-in-chief of the Daily News, ending a seven-year run as the top editorial person in the Mort Zuckerman-owned paper.”