Louis Kirby (30 November 1928–14 October 2006) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
newspaper editor
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 ...
.
In 1971, the ''Sketch'' merged with the ''Mail''. ''Sketch'' editor
David English was appointed as editor of the merged newspaper, leaving Kirby as acting editor of the last editions of the ''Sketch''. He then moved to join English, becoming Deputy Editor of the ''Mail''.
[Louis Kirby]
, ''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'' (f ...
'', 17 October 2006
Early life and career
Kirby was born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
and grew up in
Coalbrookdale
Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge.
This is where iron ore was first s ...
. His first job was as a reporter on the ''
Wolverhampton Express and Star'', then in 1949 he moved to
Bermuda
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where he worked at ''
The Royal Gazette''. In 1951 he returned to Britain to work as a freelance, then joined the ''
Daily Mail'' in 1953. He became the ''Mails lobby correspondent, then in 1962 became Chief Reporter with the ''
Daily Sketch'', and in 1969 was promoted to Executive Editor.
[Michael Leapman,]
Louis Kirby
, ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', 30 October 2006 Kirby became editor of the
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
daily, the ''
Evening News Evening News may refer to:
Television news
*''CBS Evening News'', an American news broadcast
*''ITV Evening News'', a UK news broadcast
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*''Evening News'', an alternate name for '' News Hour'' in so ...
'' in 1974, and completed its transformation from
broadsheet to
tabloid.
Negotiations to merge the ''Evening News'' with its competitor, the ''Evening Standard'' began in 1976, but failed to make progress due to a dispute over who should edit a merged paper.
Circulation of the ''Evening News'' continued to fall under Kirby's editorship, and in 1979, the paper stopped publishing a Saturday edition.
The two papers finally merged in November 1980 to produce the ''New Standard'', soon named the ''Evening Standard'' once more.
Kirby was appointed editor, and made more than 100 journalists redundant, most from the ''Evening News''. He stepped down in 1986, becoming Editorial Director of Mail Newspapers. From 1988 to 1993 he was political consultant to the ''Daily Mail'', then until 2003 he was editor of the ''UK Mail'', a weekly news digest.
Personal life
Kirby was married three times, producing five children with his first wife, two with his second and two more with his third.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Louis
1928 births
2006 deaths
English newspaper editors
English male journalists
London Evening Standard people