Daily Star editor-in-chief Jon Clark is stepping down as the brand moves to a “more digitally-focused structure”.
Clark has edited the Daily Star since March 2018 following Reach’s acquisition of the Star and Express titles from Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell.
Reach said on Tuesday that Clark will step down in the coming weeks. He said of the job: “It’s been fun.”
Under Clark the Daily Star gained attention for its satirical front pages, such as a cut-out-and-keep mask of Dominic Cummings after his lockdown violation during the Covid-19 pandemic and the stunt in which a livestreamed lettuce outlasted the tenure as PM of Liz Truss.
But, similar to the Star’s cross-industry rivals, its print circulation has continued to drop. In December the Daily Star had an average circulation of 114,261 – down 71% compared to the start of Clark’s tenure in March 2018. The Daily Star Sunday was on 61,230 in December, down 74% over the last seven years.
Reach nationals audience director Ben Rankin will be the new Daily Star Online editor in chief.
Daily Star deputy editor Denis Mann will run the print editions and has been promoted to editor of the daily and Sunday titles, reporting to Rankin.
Online, the Daily Star has a monthly audience of 3.9 million, which was up 21% month on month in December but down 49% compared to the previous year. This compares to fellow Reach nationals the Mirror on 19.9 million and the Express on 15.9 million.
Rankin said he was excited to be “leading the Star into 2025 – and beyond! We have ambitious plans for the title in the coming months and I can’t wait to get started alongside our very talented team.
“Big thanks to my colleague Jon Clark, who has done a magnificent job with this brilliant brand and will be greatly missed.”
Reach chief digital publisher David Higgerson described Clark as a “true one-of-a-kind” who has “ushered the Daily Star into the position it occupies now – there is really no other newsbrand like it and no other title that could have made Lizzie Lettuce the political gag of the decade.
“Lettuces aside, the paper routinely displays the greatest level of creativity you will find on Fleet Street and packs a punch while doing so with a smile.”
Higgerson said Rankin’s appointment “comes at a critical time for this brand. The Daily Star is brilliantly placed to find a new audience online, driving its own agenda built around helping people get through the day.
“Ben has been at the forefront of online activities at Reach for many years, and while at the Mirror spearheaded a period of rapid digital growth for the title. He’s also had a huge impact working with the US team, helping to establish our new sites as big brands in a very competitive market.”
It means all three UK-wide national daily newspapers owned by Reach have changed editorship in less than a year.
Alison Phillips left the Mirror in January 2024, with Caroline Waterston permanently appointed as her successor in April.
Express editor-in-chief Gary Jones then left in September, succeeded by former Express online editorial director Tom Hunt who has led a reshuffle of the senior leadership team around him as the brand enters “the next phase of its evolution”. Sunday Express editor David Wooding also left the business last year.
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