The Word on the Street: History of the Telegraph; Remember the editor's husband; Lord Winston on the Mail

Christopher Howse, the man with the most luxuriant beard in Fleet Street, is to move from his post of comment editor at The Daily Telegraph. He will be succeeded by Sam Leith, a former editor of the Telegraph's Peterborough column. Howse has been asked to write a history of the Telegraph to commemorate its 150th anniversary. Staff there are eager to know how Howse's book will judge the current editor, Charles Moore. Howse is a determinedly objective historian, but Moore pays his wages. It's a tricky one.

¿ Staff on Londoner's Diary at the Evening Standard have forgotten the first rule of modern journalism: there's only one person more important than the editor, and that is the editor's husband. Tom Bower, writer and hubby of the editor of the Standard, Veronica Wadley, gave a story tip to Londoner's Diary. It failed to use it, and the story later appeared in another paper. Wadley, after making her displeasure known, has now ordered all members of the diary to supply her with a list of recent scoops. Hint taken?

Rory Bremner, compering the Evening Standard theatre awards last week, failed to get a laugh from the top table when he mischievously referred to the paper as the "Evening Daily Mail". Hint taken?

¿ Meanwhile, the Daily Mail took a passing swipe from an eminent scientist and occasional Mail contributor. Professor Robert Winston gave a talk on human instinct at the Natural History Museum, in London, last week. In his lecture, he remarked that the Mail had pandered to the public's "deep-rooted atavistic instincts" in its anti-GM food coverage.