Richard Addis (born 23 August 1956) is a British journalist and entrepreneur. He is currently chairman and Editor-in-Chief of ''
The Day''. He is a former
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, ...
of the ''
Daily Express'' newspaper and a former novice
Anglican monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
.
Addis was educated at
West Downs School
West Downs School, Romsey Road, Winchester, Hampshire, was an English independent preparatory school, which was established in 1897 and closed in 1988.
History Founding
The school was founded by Lionel Helbert (1870–1919), with help from h ...
,
Rugby School
Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
and
Downing College, Cambridge, graduating with a
BA and an
MA. Between attending Rugby and Downing he spent two years as a novice at the Anglican priory of the
Community of the Glorious Ascension in Watchet,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, lor ...
.
His started in journalism as deputy editor of ''Homes & Jobs'' magazine where he was rapidly promoted to editor and, to save money, wrote the entire magazine under various pseudonyms. It was there where he first demonstrated his flair for design when his insisted that his staff should all wear a different colour each day and sit next to each other so their clothes and the editorial floor were colour-coordinated. When the title went bankrupt he got a job as a reporter on ''
Marketing Week
''Marketing Week'' is a website focused on the marketing industry, based in London, that grew out of what was a weekly, and latterly monthly, print magazine.
History and profile
''Marketing Week'' was launched in March 1978. Its co-founders were ...
'' where he remained for two years. His career took off when he was hired as a reporter on ''
Londoner's Diary'' of the ''
London Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'' in 1985. He went on to become Editor of ''
Londoner's Diary'' and Assistant Editor (Features).
In 1989 he was appointed Deputy Editor of ''
The Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings.
It is the sister paper of '' The Daily Telegraph'', also published by the Tele ...
''. In 1991 he was appointed features editor at the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' where his downhome and informal style of dress was admired and often imitated. In 1995, he was appointed editor of the ''
Daily Express'' and a year later became editor-in-chief of the ''Daily'' and ''
Sunday Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
''. While on the Express he regularly invited the paper's
astrologer
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...
Jonathan Cainer
Jonathan Cainer (18 December 1957 – 2 May 2016) was a British astrologer. He wrote astrological predictions six days a week for the ''Daily Mail,'' and forecasts for three Australian newspapers: the ''Sydney Daily Telegraph'', the ''Melbour ...
to join editorial conferences to give them an added perspective. He left the ''Express'' in 1999 to move to Canada as editor of ''
The Globe and Mail'' in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
, a post he held from July 1999 – July 2002. In 2002 he returned to London as Assistant Editor in charge of design at the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...
''. He was promoted to Editor of ''Weekend FT'' shortly afterwards while retaining his design duties, remaining there until 2006.
Overall he has taken his turn at editing seven ‘national’ newspapers (''Evening Standard'', ''Sunday Telegraph'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Daily Express'', ''Sunday Express'', ''The Globe and Mail'' and ''Financial Times'') which is believed to be a record among living British journalists.
Richard Addis left newspapers in February 2006 to launch his own media consultancy, Shakeup Media, working with publishers in Africa, the Middle East and
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
. For five years he attempted to launch various media start-ups including the UK's first hand-written newspaper (''The Manual'') and the UK's first quality free daily newspaper (''The Day'') which received investment support from backers including
Associated Newspapers
DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at Northcliffe House in ...
before running into the
credit crunch
A credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit cr ...
of 2008. He wrote an award-winning book about the ethics of the global economic system (''Good Value'', Penguin, 2009) with
Stephen Green.
In January 2011 he finally launched ''The Day'' in a new incarnation as a daily online news title for "schools, colleges and inquiring minds". Claiming to be the "world's first current affairs teaching and learning website", 18 months after launch ''The Day'' had subscribers in 21 countries and a daily reach of over half a million teenagers.
From March 2014 to July 2015 he worked with Newsweek to launch a fully independent European edition as its first European editor-in-chief.
Addis lives in London with the British actress
Helen Schlesinger
Helen Schlesinger (born 1967) is a British stage and television actress. She was born in London, and raised near Windsor, Berkshire, UK. In film and on television, she has appeared in '' 24 Hour Party People'' (2002), Rose and Maloney (2004), ...
with whom he has two children, Theo and Sebastian. He was previously married to the artist Noonie Minogue with whom he has three children.
External links
Richard Addis on Newsweek's relaunchA newspaper that goes back to the futureEx-editor confirms launch of ''The Day''''The Day'' website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Addis, Richard
1956 births
Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge
English male journalists
Living people
People educated at Rugby School
People educated at West Downs School
Daily Express people
The Globe and Mail editors