A Mixed Bag: Britain's National Newspapers - Roger Williams
Millionaires, trusts, conglomerates - and Rupert Murdoch. The British Press has a mixed bag of owners.
Around 12 million people in Britain buy a newspaper every day, according to the ABC audit of the press. It lost its bestseller, the News of the World, in July 2011, a place initially taken over by the Sunday Mirror whose sales reached 2.6 million following its closure, but on February 26, 2012, the new Sun on Sunday was launched, claiming an initial 3.25 million sales. As in the newspaper industry worldwide, sales overall are declining, and the publishers of the national dailies, listed here, are constantly looking at ways to cut costs.
The Popular Press
- Associated Newspapers publishes the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and the freesheet Metro. This is the remnant of the newspaper empire started by Alfred Harmsworth, Lord Northcliffe, and his younger brother Harold, Viscount Rothermere, at the end of the 19th century. Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, has been the company chairman since 1998, and his family is worth £608m, according to The Sunday Times Rich List (2010). The company’s sister group, Northcliffe Media, has 115 local regional titles in the UK and Europe. Mail Online is the most visited newspaper website in Britain.
- News International Ltd is the British arm of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. It owns The Times, Sunday Times and The Sun and Sun on Sunday. The papers’ move to Wapping in 1985 broke the back of the print unions and began the mass migration of newspapers out of Fleet Street and into new technology. In 2011 The Times became the first on-line newspaper to introduce a blanket pay wall. News International has a controlling 39.1 percent in Sky Television, the UK’s largest pay-TV satellite channel. In July 2011 it closed the News of the World, following a mobile phone hacking scandal.
- Trinity Mirror plc publishes the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, People, Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record, as well as more than 160 regional papers. The Mirror was launched in 1903 by Alfred Harmsworth, and aimed at women. The Sunday Mirror picked up 700,000 readers on the demise of Murdock's News of the World in July 2011.
- Northern and Shell Network Ltd publishes the Daily and Sunday Express, the Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday, as well as national magazines OK!, New! and Star! In 2010 it acquired Channel 5 terrestrial TV station, where Big Brother began again in August 2011. One of the largest independent publishing companies in the country, Northern and Shell is owned by Richard Desmond, known for his colourful language and his string of girlie magazines and adult pay-per-view TV channels. One of the wealthiest UK proprietors (worth £950m according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2010), he is also involved in charitable work, playing drums in a band with The Who’s Roger Daltry and other well known musicians.
The Heavweights
- Independent Print Ltd publishes The Independent and its quick-read sister i as well as London’s Evening Standard. It is owned by the Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny. Lebedev, a former intelligence officer, built up his $3.5billion fortune (Forbes) through finance and banking.
- Telegraph Media Group, owned by identical twins Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, publishes The Daily and Sunday Telegraph, which they bought in 2004 after the downfall of the former proprietor, Conrad Black. They also own The Business and Spectator magazines, and their UK business is run by Sir David’s son Aidan. Tax exiles, the brothers shun personal publicity, living on Brecquou, a secluded Channel Island in a fantasy castle designed for them by Quinlan Terry. The brothers, who are worth £1.8bn according to The Sunday Times Rich List (2010), made their money in retail and property. Their Shop Direct Group runs one of the largest online shopping websites in the UK.
- The Guardian Media Group, owned by The Scott Trust, created in 1936 to safeguard journalistic standards. It publishes The Guardian and The Observer newspapers as well as a number of trade and consumer magazines, and has shares in Emap and Seven publishing. Smooth Radio is one of its broadcasting outlets.
- Pearson plc, owners of The Financial Times, is a global media and education company. Its Saturday magazine, How To Spend It, reflects the wealth – and aspirations – of the paper’s readers. Its book publishing imprints include Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Rough Guides. It has a 50 percent share in The Economist. In 1997 Marjorie Scardino became CEO of Pearson, the first woman boss of a FTSE 100 company.
See also Rupert Murdoch and the British Press Barons
Copyright Roger Williams. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
