Daily Express

The Daily Express is a conservative, middle-market British newspaper, currently tabloid, and it is owned by Express Newspapers, which is currently owned by Richard Desmond. It has a circulation of just under 1million.

History

It was founded in 1900 by Cyril Arthur Pearson, publisher of Pearson's Own and other titles. Pearson sold the title after losing his sight and it was bought in 1914 by the future Lord Beaverbrook. It was one of the first papers to carry gossip, sports, and women's features, and the first newspaper in Britain to have a crossword. It moved in 1931 to 133 Fleet Street, a specially-commissioned art deco building. Under Beaverbrook the newspaper achieved a phenomenally high circulation, setting a new record for any newspaper several times throughout the 1930s. This came about due to an aggressive marketing campaign in a vigorous circulation war with other populist newspapers, with many making offers of insurance and free gifts for new subscribers. Beaverbrook also discovered and encouraged a gifted editor named Arthur Christiansen, who showed an uncommon gift for staying in touch with the interests of the reading public. It featured cartoons by Carl Giles and Alfred Bestall's Rupert Bear.

Related Topics:
1900 - 1914 - Lord Beaverbrook - Crossword - 1931 - Fleet Street - Art deco - 1930s - Arthur Christiansen - Carl Giles - Alfred Bestall - Rupert Bear

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The arrival of television and the public's changing interests took their toll on circulation, and following Beaverbrook's death in 1964, the paper drifted for several years.

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It switched from broadsheet to tabloid form in 1977 and was bought by United Newspapers in 1977, and was briefly renamed The Express in 1996.

Related Topics:
1977 - United Newspapers - 1996

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It moved from Fleet Street to Blackfriars in 1989. After its sale to Richard Desmond it moved to its present location in the City of London in 2004.

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