NYDN editor axed, replaced ‘as needed’

The New York Daily News ousted its top editor in an unexpected shake-up on Monday, with insiders blaming ruthless cost-cutting by the paper’s new hedge fund owner.

The 102-year-old paper, in a memo to staffers, said its editor-in-chief, Robert York, is being replaced on an interim and “as-needed” basis by Andrew

Julien, the editor and publisher of its sibling publication, the Hartford Courant.

Julien will remain top editor of the Courant while a search for a permanent editor takes place, the company said. Daily News owner Tribune Publishing didn’t return requests for further comment on the surprise shuffle.

According to a source, York’s departure is the latest signal that the Daily News’ new owner, the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, isn’t looking for a powerful editor or publisher to run the paper. Instead, Alden appears set on making do with “a few dozen minions” that report to a “corporate manager,” the source said.

“York already was more of a publisher than an editor-inchief,” the source said. “He wasn’t setting the course of the coverage. He wasn’t a huge factor in our lives.”

The insider predicted York’s replacement will likewise be occupied more with the business side than the editorial, which is effectively run by managing editor Robert Dominguez.

Even so, some of York’s decisions did ruffle the feathers of the 70-plus-person staff.

Journalists complained that he put video advertising at the top of online stories, making the reading experience “jarring.”