Paul Dacre

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2004

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is one of Britain's most powerful newspaper men - Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail. He was brought up in a household where news, and the coverage of it, was a daily topic of debate - his late father was a correspondent on the Daily Express - working variously as showbusiness editor, New York correspondent and foreign editor. His father's influence was tremendous and Paul Dacre says he can't remember a time when he didn't want to be a journalist and, in truth, an editor. He studied English at Leeds University but confesses to missing lectures in Anglo Saxon in favour of working on the student newspaper. Paul Dacre edited the student paper while Jack Straw was president of the students' union and, after graduating, he joined the Daily Express in Manchester. He became New York correspondent for the Express before being poached by the Daily Mail. He went on to edit the Evening Standard and turned down the editorship of The Times to take up the editorship of the Daily Mail. Away from the hectic world of newspapers, Paul Dacre spends his time at home, tending his garden and enjoying family life. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Theodora by George Frideric Handel Book: The RHS A-Z encyclopaedia of Garden Plants by Christopher Brickell Luxury: A subscription to the Guardian newspaper for one year

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Cresti Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive for rights reasons
0:06.0	We've had to shorten the music
0:08.0	The program was originally broadcast in 2004 and the presenter was Sue Lolley
0:30.0	My cast away this week is a newspaper editor
0:32.0	He enjoys great influence over his six million readers and his success at capturing their mood has brought criticism from those who think his editorial stance
0:41.0	Pandas to middle-class conservative prejudice
0:44.0	It doesn't worry him a bit
0:46.0	A journalist from a journalistic family and ferociously hardworking he's a man in love with newspapers
0:52.0	He served his apprenticeship on the daily express was editor of the London Evening Standard
0:57.0	And turned down the top job at the times in favour of his present position
1:01.0	He leads from the front confident that his own free market views chime naturally with that of his readership
1:07.0	He could be right certainly circulation has increased during his editorship
1:11.0	An editor he says has to have the courage to say no I'm not going to follow the fashionable liberal consensus
1:18.0	You must be true to your instincts
1:21.0	He is the editor of the Daily Mail Paul Daker
1:24.0	So the Daily Mail's view of the world Paul Daker is a view of the world that is yours
1:30.0	Can we be sure of that? It's from your gut instinct is it this paper is born
1:35.0	To a certain extent I must say I am the conductor of a very considerable orchestra of talents
1:41.0	And the Daily Mail is a representation of the broad views of some very very clever journalists and executives
1:48.0	And their consensus and their views
1:50.0	But your very hands on hands on hands on from the beginning to the end of the day you're there for the duration
1:58.0	I'm there 1450 hours most days from the morning meeting until you put the paper to bed at night
	...

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