Telegraph editor Chris Evans has been described as “the most hated man on Fleet Street”, “horrifically rude” and “the biggest bastard at the Telegraph”. Yesterday he addressed the paper’s remaining staff, telling them “it’s been a difficult week, I’m here to talk about the future”. The changes are wholesale…

Evans told the newsroom the paper would be streamlined so it consists of just five departments, answerable directly to him. The home and foreign news teams – historically both hugely respected in their own right – will now be merged into one department. Personal finance, traditionally one of the most important sections of the paper, will be merged with the City and Tech pages into a Money department. Lifestyle, Motoring and Gardening will become another department. Weekend editor Ian MacGregor – long loathed by Evans – is now the Culture editor as well, the fourth department. This is not a demotion says the TMG press office. The fifth department is Sport. Evans tried to spin senior job losses as meaning hacks would have to deal with “fewer chiefs”… 

‘Digital media director’ Malcolm Coles has been given a new desk in the middle of the newsroom – he will be in charge of “innovation and search engine optimisation” and answer to the editor. Evans said Coles will be “at the heart of the new strategy and the new newsroom”. As you can see from his Twitter, Coles’ main interests lie in ‘viral content’, gifs and animal pictures.

During the half-hour address Evans is said to have lost the room. At one point a disgruntled journalist confronted him and asked: “How are we supposed to produce quality journalism if we keep firing people?”. Evans replied: “By doing everything I’ve just explained to you”. He will go down as the editor who changed the Telegraph beyond all recognition, from the paper of Bill Deedes and Charles Moore to cheap clickbait about child pole dancers…

UPDATE: The Telegraph Media Group’s press office write: “We have not merged departments.” Our newsroom source says “they definitely have”.