Arthur David Banks (13 February 1948 – 22 February 2022) was a British newspaper editor and broadcaster.

Early life

Banks was born in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

on 13 February 1948. He attended the local Boteler Grammar School.

Career

Banks worked in journalism through the 1970s, and developed a friendship with

Kelvin MacKenzie Kelvin Calder MacKenzie (born 22 October 1946) is an English media executive and a former newspaper editor. He became editor of '' The Sun'' in 1981, by which time the publication was established as Britain's largest circulation newspaper. Aft ...

. By 1979, Banks was assistant chief sub-editor at the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'', then went to work with MacKenzie at the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

''. In 1981, Mackenzie returned to the UK, and Banks became managing editor of the ''Post'', but in 1983 followed MacKenzie back to work at '' The Sun'' as assistant editor. He led

strikebreaker A strikebreaker (sometimes called a scab, blackleg, or knobstick) is a person who works despite a strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who were not employed by the company before the trade union dispute but hired after or during the st ...

s during the

Wapping dispute The Wapping dispute was a lengthy failed strike by print workers in London in 1986. Print unions tried to block distribution of ''The Sunday Times'', along with other newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's News International group, after production wa ...

. In 1986, Banks returned to New York as editor of the '' Daily News'' but, the following year, he moved on to become deputy editor of ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', then in 1988 editor of the ''

Sydney Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', also nicknamed ''The Tele'', is an Australian tabloid newspaper published by Nationwide News Pty Limited, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. It is published Monday through Saturday a ...

''. In 1992, he returned to the UK to become editor of the ''Mirror'', then in 1994 became editorial director of the Mirror Group, consultant editor of the '' Sunday Mirror''. Later in the 1990s, Banks presented breakfast shows on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

and then Talk Radio UK. In the 2000s, he wrote a regular column for the ''

Press Gazette ''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Publis ...

''.

Personal life and death

Banks married Gemma Newton in 1975 in Wales. The couple had a daughter (born 1978) and a son (born 1982). Banks died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

on 22 February 2022, days after his 74th birthday.

References

External links

Press Gazette April 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, David 1948 births 2022 deaths British newspaper editors Daily Mirror people English radio presenters People educated at Boteler Grammar School People from Warrington