Katharine Sophie Viner (born January 1971)
[Katharine Vine]
"Dear diary ..."
''The Guardian'', 27 November 2004 is a
British journalist and playwright. She became the first female editor-in-chief at ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' on 1 June 2015 succeeding
Alan Rusbridger
Alan Charles Rusbridger (born 29 December 1953) is a British journalist, who was formerly editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' and then principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
Rusbridger became editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' in 1995, hav ...
.
["The World's 100 Most Powerful Women #80 Katharine Viner"](_blank)
''Forbes'', 6 May 2015/ref>["Guardian appoints Katharine Viner as editor-in-chief"](_blank)
''The Guardian'', 20 March 2015 Viner previously headed ''The Guardian''s web operations in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, before being selected for the editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
's position.
Early life and education
Raised in Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, Viner is the daughter of teachers. Her grandfather, Vic Viner, was an able seaman involved in the Dunkirk evacuation
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
. Viner was educated at Ripon Grammar School
Ripon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and day, selective grammar school in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. It has been named top-performing state school in the north for nine years running by ''The Sunday Times''. It is one of the ...
, where she was head girl.["Former Ripon Grammar head girl appointed first female editor-in-chief of the Guardian"](_blank)
Ripon Grammar School As a teenager, she joined Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...
(CND) and the Anti-Apartheid Movement
The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...
, although the nearest groups were 25 miles away, and read ''Spare Rib
''Spare Rib'' was a second-wave feminist magazine, founded in 1972 in the United Kingdom, that emerged from the counter culture of the late 1960s as a consequence of meetings involving, among others, Rosie Boycott and Marsha Rowe. ''Spare Rib' ...
''. Her first newspaper article, published in ''The Guardian'' in 1987 while she was still at school, was on the ending of the GCE O level
The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...
examinations, which were being replaced in the UK by the General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
(GCSE).[Dominic Ponsfor]
"New Guardian editor Katharine Viner's challenge: What to do with 964 staff and £850m"
''Press Gazette'', 24 March 2015 "Cramming five years of knowledge into two and a half hours does not seem to be a fair system", she wrote. Around 1988, Viner had a period of work experience at the ''Ripon Gazette'', her local newspaper.["Top editor gives inspirational talk at Grammar School speech day"](_blank)
, ''Ripon Gazette'', 9 November 2005
After A levels
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
Viner read English at Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...
. Just before her finals, Viner won a competition organised by ''The Guardian'''s women's page
The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as society pages and eventually morphed into ...
and was advised by Louise Chunn, then ''Guardian'' women's editor, to pursue a career in journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
. "I honestly thought journalism wasn't for me, I thought it was for men in suits in London", she remembered in 2005. During her 20s, Viner spent most of her holidays in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, a region in which she has a particular interest, spending time in Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and other locations.
Career beginnings
For work experience, Viner joined ''Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
'', a women's monthly magazine. The magazine retained her afterwards and she became features assistant, then news and careers editor; earlier, she had won another student competition involving a submission to the magazine. After three years at ''The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'', working as a commissioning editor and writer for its magazine. Viner joined ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in 1997. Following a period on the staff of the women's page, she became editor of the Saturday ''Weekend'' supplement in 1998. She became features editor in 2006 and deputy editor in 2008 at the same time as Ian Katz
Ian Alexander Katz (born 9 February 1968) is a British journalist and broadcasting executive who is currently Chief Content Officer at Channel 4, overseeing all editorial decision making and commissioning across Channel 4's linear channels, str ...
. Viner edited the Saturday edition of ''The Guardian'' from 2008 to 2012.
Laura Slattery in ''The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'', reviewing Viner's career up to March 2015, noted that she "has almost always been the person who does the commissioning, ather thanprovided the byline". Several ''Guardian'' pieces by Viner published during this period are reprinted in an anthology drawn from the ''Guardian'' archive entitled ''Women of the Revolution: Forty Years of Feminism'' (2010), edited by Kira Cochrane
Kira Cochrane (; born 1977) is a British journalist and novelist. She is the Head of Features at ''The Guardian,'' and worked previously as Head of Opinion. Cochrane is an advocate for women's rights, as well as an active participant in fourth ...
.
Australia and New York
In January 2013, Viner's relocation to Sydney to supervise a new ''Guardian'' digital edition in Australia was announced; this venture was launched in May 2013.["Guardian News & Media announces senior editorial changes"](_blank)
theguardian.com (press release), 6 March 2014
Viner delivered the AN Smith Lecture in Journalism at the University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
in October 2013.["A.N.Smith Lecture in Journalism 2013"](_blank)
University of Melbourne D. D. Guttenplan
Don David Guttenplan is editor of ''The Nation''. A former London correspondent of the magazine, he wrote ''The Holocaust on Trial'', a book about the ''Irving v Penguin Books and Lipstadt'' libel case while based in the UK's capital.
Early life ...
, London correspondent of the American ''Nation
A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...
'' magazine, wrote in March 2015 that "there is no one on either side of the Atlanti Ocean who has thought as deeply as Viner about the relationship between readers, technology and the future of journalism."[D.D. Guttenpla]
"The Changing of 'The Guardian'"
''The Nation'', 23 March 2015 Guttenplan Guttenplan is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Samuel Guttenplan (born 1944), editor-in-chief of ''Mind & Language''
* D. D. Guttenplan, London correspondent for ''The Nation''
* Alexander Guttenplan
Alexander Guttenplan ...
is not totally convinced by Viner's "eagerness to transcend print" in the move to digital media, but commenting about her 2013 speech in Australia, he writes that "her arguments for the importance of reader engagement, and for sustained, original reporting of information that someone, somewhere, wants to keep secret are compelling and convincing."
In the summer of 2014, Viner moved to New York City and became the new head of ''The Guardian''s American website in succession to Janine Gibson
Janine Victoria Gibson is a British journalist who has served as assistant editor of the ''Financial Times'' since May 2019. Before then, in the summer of 2014, she became deputy editor of Guardian News and Media and editor-in-chief of theguard ...
while remaining deputy editor of Guardian News & Media. While based in New York, Viner expanded ''GuardianUS''s coverage from a limited range of subjects, into areas such as the arts and sport; she also increased US staffing.
Editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian''
Appointment
In March 2015, Viner won a majority in the ballot of ''Guardian'' and ''Observer
An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment.
Observer may also refer to:
Computer science and information theory
* In information theory, any system which receives information from an object
* State observer in con ...
'' editorial staff as the favoured successor of Alan Rusbridger
Alan Charles Rusbridger (born 29 December 1953) is a British journalist, who was formerly editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' and then principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
Rusbridger became editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' in 1995, hav ...
as ''The Guardian''s editor-in-chief. Viner received 53% of first-choice votes from the 964 staff who participated, and was thus shortlisted for selection. Former deputy editor and rival, Ian Katz
Ian Alexander Katz (born 9 February 1968) is a British journalist and broadcasting executive who is currently Chief Content Officer at Channel 4, overseeing all editorial decision making and commissioning across Channel 4's linear channels, str ...
(editor of the BBC's ''Newsnight
''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
'' television programme 2013-2017), was also on the final short list of two.
Viner was appointed editor-in-chief on 20 March 2015, the first woman to be the editor of ''The Guardian'' in its 194-year history, and assumed her new post on June 1, 2015.[Stephen Castle and Ravi Somaiy]
"Guardian Names Katharine Viner as New Editor"
''New York Times'', 20 March 2015 She intends to make the "media organisation" a "home for the most ambitious journalism, ideas and events" which is able to reach "out to readers all around the world."
It has been suggested by author and former ''Guardian'' columnist Michael Wolff that another of Viner's rivals to succeed Rusbridger, Janine Gibson
Janine Victoria Gibson is a British journalist who has served as assistant editor of the ''Financial Times'' since May 2019. Before then, in the summer of 2014, she became deputy editor of Guardian News and Media and editor-in-chief of theguard ...
, suffered because of internal disquiet over the internal impact on ''The Guardian'' of the Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
revelations which Gibson edited in New York. Wolff said Gibson aligned herself with Snowden, promising more of the same, while Viner "pitched decidedly against Gibson and, in a sense, against Snowden". Peter Wilby
Peter John Wilby (born 7 November 1944) is a British journalist. He is a former editor of ''The Independent on Sunday'' and the ''New Statesman''.
Early life and career
Wilby was educated at Kibworth Beauchamp grammar school in Leicestershire b ...
, writing in the ''New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', preferred a different explanation: "Viner is a more charming, more inclusive and less threatening figure than Janine Gibson, who started as the bookies’ and Rusbridger's favourite."
Later developments
In March 2016, Viner and Guardian News and Media
Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...
chief executive David Pemsel announced cost-cutting measures, leading to the projected loss of 250 jobs, to reduce unsustainable losses in order to break even within three years. The following month, ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' reported internal tensions within the organisation as Rusbridger prepared to become Chairman of the Scott Trust
Scott Trust Limited is the British company that owns Guardian Media Group and thus ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'' as well as various other media businesses in the UK. In 2008, it replaced the Scott Trust, which had owned ''The Guardian'' s ...
, the ultimate overseer to ensure ''The Guardian'' survives "in perpetuity". Rusbridger's expansion of the company's operations was reportedly seen by staff as responsible for the decisions which Viner and Pemsel have made. Viner and David Pemsel successfully opposed Rusbridger becoming Chair of the Scott Trust Ltd and he dropped plans to take up the post.
Appeals to readers for donations have been successful. "We now get about the same amount of money from membership and paying readers as we do from advertising", Viner told 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, Nik ...
'' in May 2017. By the time ''The Guardian'' and sister title ''The Observer'' relaunched as a tabloid in January 2018, part of the cost-cutting exercise, revenue from readers exceeded advertising and the group expects to break even in 2018/19, for the first time since the 1980s, rather than continue to sustain heavy losses. As of 2018 this approach was considered successful, having brought more than 1 million subscriptions or donations, with the paper hoping to break even by April 2019. Industry specialists consulted by the ''Financial Times'' have continued to doubt whether the donation and membership model is financially viable in the long term.
In May 2021 ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' reported that there was serious conflict between Viner and chief executive of the Guardian Media Group Annette Thomas about finances and the direction the newspaper should take. The previous year ''The Guardian'' announced 180 job cuts. Thomas had earlier said at a media industry conference "we have quality content in spades ... the job at hand is to now go further by strengthening the growing elements of our business". Viner wanted renewed investment after better than feared financial results in 2020. On 9 June 2021 it was announced that Thomas would leave the Guardian Media Group at the end of the month.
Other work
Outside journalism Viner is known for ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie
My or MY may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station
* Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe
* ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak
* ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon
Business
* Market ...
'', a play she co-edited with actor Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespe ...
from the writings and emails of Rachel Corrie
Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American activist and diarist. A member of the pro-Palestinian group International Solidarity Movement (ISM), she was crushed to death by an armored bulldozer of the Israel ...
, an American activist who was killed by a bulldozer operated by the Israeli Army
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...
in Rafah, Gaza in 2003.[Katharine Vine]
"'Let me fight my monsters'"
''The Guardian'', 8 April 2005 The play was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
in 2005. After Rickman died of cancer in January 2016, Viner wrote that their collaboration had been initially difficult, but "on the opening night we each admitted that we couldn’t have done justice to Rachel’s words without the other".
Viner was a judge in the Orange Prize for Fiction
The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...
in 2004 and was on the board of the Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
for 13 years.
Political positions
In 2002, Viner criticised the planned invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
and wrote that George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
"bombed Afghanistan to liberate the women from their burkas (or, as he would have it, to free the "women of cover"), and sent out his wife Laura to tell how Afghans are tortured for wearing nail varnish".
Viner opposed Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
. In 2016, she wrote: "At the end of a campaign that dominated the news for months, it was suddenly obvious that the winning side had no plan for how or when the UK would leave the EU – while the deceptive claims that carried the leave campaign to victory suddenly crumbled."
Personal life
Viner married broadcaster, documentary maker and writer Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles (born 21 March 1967) is a British writer and television and radio presenter. He has co-presented both ''The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–2011) with Christine Lampard. He was also the chief presenter for foo ...
in 2022. Chiles, speaking on BBC Radio 4, "Saturday Live" revealed 150 guests attended their wedding ceremony.
References
External links
Contributor page
''The Guardian'' website
''My Name is Rachel Corrie'' and the New York Theatre Workshop postponement
Interview with Lynn Moffat, Jim Nicola and Katharine Viner on ''Democracy Now'', 22 March 2006
Statement in the internal ballot of ''Guardian'' journalists, National Union of Journalists
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Structure
There i ...
website, c. February 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viner, Katharine
1971 births
Living people
Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford
British journalists
Place of birth missing (living people)
People educated at Ripon Grammar School
The Guardian journalists