'Daily News' EIC: Actually, I Have a New Contract

Hold on there, Sparky! New York Daily News editor in chief Martin Dunn says he's not going anywhere, whatever the Post may be suggesting.

"I signed a new contract last year," he says. "We were working on it from last September. There wasn't a great deal of rush because I wasn't going anywhere, anyway. So I'm definitely tied in for the next couple of years, at least, and probably longer."

In fact, he says, when I called him last month to check on the status of his contract talks, "we had already got it done. We were just crossing the 't's and dotting the 'i's."

So what's all this about Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman trying to recruit British newspaper editors?

"The simple reason is we've got some big announcements coming up in first part of this year -- major announcements which are going to cause huge amounts of extra work," he says, declining to elaborate prematurely.

But he does confirm that his new contract has him continuing as editor in chief, not moving back into an editorial director role.

Dunn takes issue with one other aspect of today's Post story: its assertion that he earns $1.2 million a year as editor of the News.

"Trust me, if I was smart enough to get $1.2 million, I don't think I'd be a journalist," he says. "That's not saying I'm not worth it, and if Mort reads this, I'm more than happy to take it."