Paul’s appointment is being announced now to facilitate handover to the new editor of the Daily Mail, who will be named in due course. Paul will also step down as a Board Director of DMGT prior to the end of the financial year, says the company.
Paul Dacre said: “It is a joy to work for Lord Rothermere. He has given me two things that to an editor are worth more than all the riches of Araby – the freedom to edit without interference and the backing to assemble Fleet Street's greatest team of journalists.
“It's this team who have been behind our countless successful campaigns. Whether it has been justice for Stephen Lawrence and the Omagh bomb victims, plastic in supermarkets and in the seas, Dignity for the Elderly, thwarting Labour's plans for super casinos, or putting sepsis and prostate cancer on the map, we have shown that newspapers make a difference.
“Without the Mail, Gary McKinnon, Shaker Aamer and Marine A would probably be in jail and Afghan British Army translators, whose lives are now at risk, would not have the chance to live here.
“I look forward to continuing to do so in my new role in which I will endeavour to ensure that our company remains at the absolute forefront of a rapidly changing industry.”
Lord Rothermere, Chairman of DMGT, said: “I would like to put on record my and DMGT’s gratitude to Paul Dacre for his brilliant stewardship of the Mail and other titles within the Group over three decades.
“Paul is, quite simply, the greatest Fleet Street Editor of his generation not only for his huge circulation successes on both the Mail and Standard but also for the sheer power of his many campaigns, investigations and crusades that have held power to account, given a voice to the voiceless and often set the political agenda through six prime ministerships. He has done this while working tirelessly to defend press freedom to the benefit of our whole industry.
“I am absolutely delighted that Paul has agreed to continue to stay on after his 70th birthday as Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Associated Newspapers in addition to advising me and taking on other broader responsibilities in the company at a time of profound upheaval in the media landscape.”
