Daily Express: Encyclopedia II - Daily Express - History

Daily Express - History

The Daily Express 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 new records for newspaper sales several times throughout the 1930s. Its success was partly due to an aggressive marketing campaign and a vigorous circulation war with other populist newspapers. 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. The paper also featured satirical cartoons by Carl Giles and Alfred Bestall's Rupert Bear.

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

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

It moved from Fleet Street to Blackfriars Road in 1989 and was sold to publishing mogul Richard Desmond in 2000. In 2004 it moved to its present location on Lower Thames Street in the City of London.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki