Daily Express

• 1. Founding And Early Years

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  The first issue of the Daily Express appeared on the 24th of April 1900. Sir Arthur Pearson launched this broadsheet newspaper in London that same year. Pearson lost his sight to glaucoma in 1913 and sold the title to Lord Beaverbrook four years later. The paper was one of the first British publications to place news stories instead of advertisements on its front page. It also carried gossip, sport, and women's features alongside standard reporting. In 1927, the publication began printing operations in Manchester. A specially commissioned Art Deco building opened at 120 Fleet Street in 1931 for its London headquarters.

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• 2. Beaverbrook Era Dominance

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  Lord Beaverbrook transformed the newspaper into the largest circulation publication in the world during the mid-20th century. Sales figures climbed from two million copies in 1936 to four million by 1949 under editor Arthur Christiansen. Christiansen served as editor from October 1933 until his retirement in 1957. The paper featured Alfred Bestall's Rupert Bear cartoon and satirical work by Carl Giles starting in the 1940s. On the 24th of March 1933, a headline declared "Judea Declares War on Germany" regarding an Anti-Nazi boycott. Later that month, another front-page headline read "NO WAR THIS YEAR" before Britain entered World War II. During the late 1930s, the paper advocated Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policies due to Lord Beaverbrook's influence. At the height of his control in 1948, Beaverbrook told a Royal Commission he ran his papers purely for propaganda purposes.

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• 3. Tabloid Transition And Ownership Changes

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  The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid format in 1977. Richard Desmond purchased Express Newspapers in 2000 for £125 million through his company Northern & Shell. Many staff members left after the acquisition because Desmond also owned softcore pornography magazines. Editor Rosie Boycott and columnist Peter Hitchens departed during this period. Hitchens moved to The Mail on Sunday citing moral conflicts with Desmond's other publications. In February 2018, Trinity Mirror acquired the newspaper and its sister titles for £126.7 million. The purchasing group changed its name to Reach plc shortly after completing the deal. Hugh Whittow resigned as editor while Gary Jones took over as editor-in-chief soon after the purchase. The newspaper moved into 1 Canada Square in Canary Wharf in February 2018.

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• 4. Libel Controversies And Legal Battles

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  Express Newspapers lost prominent libel cases between 2008 and 2009 involving multiple high-profile individuals. The total damages paid reached £1,570,000 according to media commentator Roy Greenslade. The paper paid compensation to people involved in the Madeleine McCann disappearance case including the parents themselves. A front-page apology appeared on the 19th of March 2008 acknowledging there was no evidence supporting claims that Kate and Gerry caused their daughter's death. Another apology ran on the Sunday editions of the 23rd of March following a settlement at the High Court of Justice. The Scottish edition published an article titled "Anniversary Shame of Dunblane Survivors" on the 8th of March 2009 criticizing survivors of the 1996 massacre. This provoked complaints leading to a front-page apology two weeks later. The Press Complaints Commission described the original article as a serious error of judgement that no apology could fully remedy.

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• 5. Political Stances And Campaigns

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  The Daily Express has consistently supported the Conservative Party at every general election since World War II except for 2001 when it backed Labour. In 2011, the newspaper became one of the first UK media outlets to demand withdrawal from the European Union through its "Crusade for Freedom" campaign. Each edition of the 8th of January 2011 issue contained four cut-out vouchers allowing readers to sign a petition addressed to the prime minister. The first week of this campaign received around 370,000 signatures representing over half the daily readership. The paper launched a crusade against new EU rules on migrants from Bulgaria and Romania in October 2013 with headlines declaring Britain was full up and fed up. Romanian politician Cătălin Ivan expressed outrage at this campaign while UKIP Leader Nigel Farage signed the petition. An Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights statement mentioned the tabloid in accusations of producing hate speech regarding asylum seekers and refugees.

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