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The ''Express & Star'' is a regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
, England, and covers the
West Midlands county West Midlands is a Metropolitan county, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the larger West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. A landlocked county, it is bordered by Staffordshire to the north ...
and
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
. Currently edited by Martin Wright, the ''Express & Star'' publishes six editions a week between Monday and Saturday. In 2007 the newspaper had a daily circulation of 174,989 by June 2014 it was 73,473, then 55,373 in 2016, 38,690 in 2019 and by 2021 was 19,683. In 2022 figures from JICREG (Joint industry Currency for Regional Media Research) show that 17,973 papers are printed each day and there are 51,403 readers. Online expressandstar.com has 1.64 million monthly unique users with 8.9 million monthly page views. The Express & Star features a mixture of regional and national news and has a strong following for its sports coverage of
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, particularly local teams
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
,
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
, and
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
. The ''Express & Star'' is one of the few independent newspapers still operating in the UK, having been under the continuous ownership of the Graham family almost since its inception. It is owned by the
Midland News Association The Midland News Association (MNA Media) is an England-based newspaper publishing company. Established in 1874, the Midland News Association is still one of Britain's largest independent media agencies. It publishes one of the UK's biggest-sel ...
(MNA), which also owns the '' Shropshire Star'' newspaper. In January 2013, Adrian Faber announced his decision to step down as editor after 11 years at the ''Express & Star''. He was replaced by ''Shropshire Star'' editor Keith Harrison in April 2013, who remained at the helm until leaving the newspaper late in 2018. Harrison was replaced by ''Shropshire Star'' editor Martin Wright, who became Midland News Association editor-in-chief, editing both the ''Express & Star'' and ''Shropshire Star''.


History

The origins of the ''Express & Star'' lie in the ''Evening Star'' – a liberal newspaper founded in Wolverhampton in 1880 as a rival to the existing
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
''Evening Express'', itself founded in 1874. In 1882 the ''Star'' was bought by wealthy Scottish-American philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
, encouraged by his friend and fellow
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...
-born liberal (and by then prominent Wolverhampton councillor) Thomas Graham. The combination of Carnegie's finance and Graham's organisational ability saw the paper flourish and within two years the ''Star'' had taken over the ''Express'' under the editorship of another Dunfermline native, editor Andrew Meikle. The combined newspaper adopted its current name in 1889. Carnegie severed his links with the paper and its parent company the
Midland News Association The Midland News Association (MNA Media) is an England-based newspaper publishing company. Established in 1874, the Midland News Association is still one of Britain's largest independent media agencies. It publishes one of the UK's biggest-sel ...
in 1902, leaving Graham in full control until his death in 1909. The following decades saw a steady expansion under Graham's descendants, with the paper's influence spreading out from its native Wolverhampton to cover the entire Black Country. An office in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
was opened and later closed. The 21st century saw a drop in circulation and advertising revenues, in common with most other newspapers, leading to the company shedding around 50 jobs through a voluntary redundancy scheme in April 2006, with further cuts announced in January 2007. Printing plants in
West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...
, Wolverhampton and Ketley, Telford were closed in 2009, 2011 and 2021. The ''Express & Star'' is printed by Newsquest at their Deeside office. In April 2011 the ''Express & Star'' introduced paid-for access to selected online content – including photo galleries, football match analysis and traffic and travel – under the banner of ''Express & Star 24''. A print, online and smartphone package was offered for £2.34 a week, which included delivery of the newspaper. However, the paywall was scrapped after just nine months. The digital edition of the Express & Star was re-launched in 2021 and allows readers to access news, sport and analysis on their mobile or tablet. In September 2023, the paper was sold by the family-owned Claverley Group to National World.


Online media

The ''Express & Star'' publishes breaking news and sport content online each day, in addition to regular blogs and unique video content. Its websit
expressandstar.com
was launched in 1997. As of 2012 it was the fastest growing website among the leading regional publishers. August 2012 saw the website re-launched in a
responsive web design Responsive web design (RWD) or responsive design is an approach to web design that aims to make web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes from minimum to maximum display size to ensure usability and satisfactio ...
alongside its sister titl
shropshirestar.com
– believed to be the first of any other regional newspaper websites in the UK. An ''Express & Star'' App for
iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
and
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
was launched in January 2012, using page-turning technology to mimic the look and feel of the actual newspaper. Further apps for Android and
Kindle Fire The Amazon Fire, formerly called the Kindle Fire, is a line of tablet computers developed by Amazon. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was first released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS tech ...
were released in February 2013. The website also offers free access to the weekly ''Chronicle'' series.


Leveson Inquiry

On 20 March 2012 ''Express & Star'' former editor Adrian Faber appeared as a witness at the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards. He told the inquiry that regional newspapers are different from national titles, relying far more on trust. Faber said the ''Express & Star'' had never hacked a mobile phone, never paid a public official for a story and saw trust as integral to its role.


Awards

The ''Express & Star'' was awarded ''Midland Newspaper of the Year'' in 2012 by the
Midlands Media Awards Birmingham Press Club is a press club based in the English city of Birmingham. Established in 1865, just six years after :de:Presseclub Concordia, Concordia Press Club in Vienna, became the second oldest organisation of its type in the world. The ...
. The ''Express & Star'' was awarded ''Daily/Sunday newspaper of the year (above 25,000)'' at the Regional Press Awards for 2013.


Editors

* Martin Wright (2018–present) * Keith Harrison (2013–2018) * Adrian Faber (2002–2013) * Warren Wilson (1995–2002) * Keith Parker (1977–1995) * Mark Kersen (?-?) * Clement Jones (1960–1970) * Andrew Meikle (1885–1922)


Notable former contributors

*
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
did work experience at the ''Express & Star'' when he was a trainee journalist on ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' in the 1980s. * Broadcaster Sybil Ruscoe began her reporting career at the ''Express & Star''. *
Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...
wrote for the Express & Star as well as its sister paper the Shropshire Star, which he says launched his career as a motoring columnist.


Editions

*
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
*
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...
and Stone *
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
*
Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough ...
*
Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...
and Wyre Forest *City (
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
) *A weekly ''Express & Star'' edition in Kidderminster was launched in October 2012 to replace the ''Kidderminster Chronicle''.


See also

*'' Shropshire Star'' *
Midland News Association The Midland News Association (MNA Media) is an England-based newspaper publishing company. Established in 1874, the Midland News Association is still one of Britain's largest independent media agencies. It publishes one of the UK's biggest-sel ...


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Express and Star 1889 establishments in England Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom Mass media in Wolverhampton Newspapers published in the West Midlands (county) Newspapers established in 1889