Tim Atkin MW moves with The Times

Tim Atkin MW, multiple award-winning wine columnist, is moving to The Times.

He will have a regular weekly page in The Times’ new Thursday food and drink supplement. His first The Times column will appear next week – Thursday 4^th March. Tim’s weekly wine recommendations will continue in the Observer until the end of March, when he will leave the Sunday paper.

Tim has written for the Guardian newspaper group since 1989 – first for The Guardian and then, since 1993, The Observer. As part of their ‘relaunch’ The Observer axed Tim Atkin’s column reducing him to just two wine recommendations.

Immediately the news broke freelance drinks journalist, Rebecca Gibb, set up a Facebook group – Save the Wine Column. It immediately attracted a lot of support and now has 1308 members.

Jim’s Loire understands that The Times approached Tim by email on Tuesday 16^th February – just eight days after the news broke that Tim’s long standing Observer column was being axed.

Atkin commented: “Partly because of the wonderful Facebook site I have been offered a new job on The Times starting next Thursday – they thought the support was pretty amazing! It’s a bit of a wrench leaving The Observer after 17 years but I’m delighted to be involved in The Times’ new supplement.

Jane MacQuitty’s column will continue in The Times on Saturdays .

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I'm delighted for Tim, especially after the shameful way he has been treated by The Observer – what a bunch of incompetents. Not only do they contrive to lose the UK's best wine columnist – especially from the number of awards Tim has won – but they have also 'relaunched' a widely criticised Observer magazine. With The Times Tim will get more exposure and I suspect will be paid more for his writing.

This also shows the power of Facebook – Save the Wine Column now has 1309 members.

See Tim's announcement about the move on his website. 

 

What Tim probably thinks of the current editor of the Observer Magazine

Tim Atkin 6 The Observer 0

Facebook: Save the wine column – now over 1000

Rebecca Gibb with Oz Clarke in November 2006 when she won the 2006 Young Wine Writer Award

The Facebook group founded on 8th February by freelance wine journalist, Rebecca Gibb, has just topped the 1000 mark. Rebecca set up the group following the news that Tim Atkin, one the UK's most respected and successful wine writers, was having his long standing column in the Observer slashed.

Attracting 1000 members in around 10 days is becoming a solid indication that The Observer has miscalculated – Tim is one of the bright points in the increasingly lacklustre paper, which this weekend is hoping to revive its fortunes with a relaunch. In ditching Tim's weekly column in the Observer magazine, the Observer's editor, John Mulholland and his management team have shown that they have chosen the wrong set of deckchairs to hurl overboard.

I fancy a fair few of the 1000 members may cease to buy The Observer if it does not have a proper weekly wine column. Also I gather that John Mulholland, the editor of the Observer, is aware of the growing row about the axing of Tim's column. At a conference to unveil the new look Observer he admitted that there was "an unholy row about the wine column"!

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