The Mail on Sunday

This article is about the newspaper. For the album by Flo Rida, see Mail on Sunday (album).

The Mail on Sunday

Type	Weekly newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner	Daily Mail and General Trust
Publisher	Associated Newspapers Ltd
Editor	Peter Wright
Founded	1982
Political alignment	Conservative
Language	English
Headquarters	2 Northcliffe House, Kensington, London
Circulation	1,979,701 (September 2011)[1]
Official website	Mail Online

The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011.^[2] Its sister paper, the Daily Mail was launched in 1896.

It is owned by Associated Newspapers, but the editorial staff are entirely separate from the Daily Mail. It had an average daily circulation of 1,979,701 in September 2011.^[1] In July, 2011, with the closure of the News of the World the Mail on Sunday sold some 2.5 million copies a week but by September that had fallen back to just under 2 million.

History

The Mail on Sunday was launched on 2 May 1982, to complement the Daily Mail. The first story on the front page was the RAF's bombing of Port Stanley airport in the Falklands. The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) had come up with some tough targets for the paper to produce. Initially DMGT wanted to sell a target of a circulation of 1.25 million. But the launch of The Mail on Sunday was not a success, as by the sixth week sales were just peaking at 700,000. The newspaper's sports coverage was seen to be among its weaknesses at the time of its launch. The Mail on Sunday's first back-page splash was a report from Holland on the rollerskating world championships, which led to the paper being ridiculed in the industry.

Lord Rothermere, then the proprietor, brought in the Daily Mail's editor David English, later Sir David who, with a task force of new journalists, redesigned and re-launched The Mail on Sunday. Over a period of three and a half months, Sir David managed to halt the decline and circulation increased to 840,000. There were three new sections introduced, first was a sponsored partwork the initial one to be a cookery book; then a colour comic supplement (an innovation in the British Sunday newspaper market); and lastly, a magazine – You magazine. Circulation for the paper is now around 2.3 million, an increase of more than 1.5 million.

The newspaper's reputation was built on the back of its next editor, Stewart Steven. The newspaper's circulation grew from around 1m to just under 2m during his time in charge. Although its sister paper the Daily Mail has invariably supported the Conservative party, Steven backed David Owen's Social Democratic Party in the 1983 General Election.^[3] The subsequent editors were Jonathan Holborow, and the incumbent, Peter Wright.

Sections

An issue of The Mail on Sunday from 2007-11-25 with all its supplements. Note that the First magazine was included as a preview before it was released on general sale.

• Financial Mail on Sunday – now incorporated into the main section of the paper, the Financial Mail on Sunday includes the award winning Financial Mail Enterprise, focusing on small business.
• You – You magazine is a women's magazine featured in The Mail on Sunday. Its mix of in-depth features plus fashion, beauty advice, practical insights on health and relationships, food recipes and interiors pages make it a regular read for over 3 million women (and 2.3 million men) every week. The Mail markets it, with Live magazine, as the only paper to have a magazine for him (Live) and for her (You). The Mail on Sunday is read by over six million a week.^[4]
• Live – this magazine is aimed at men although it also includes the TV listings section for the newspaper. The main features are columns by well-known people such as Piers Morgan, and has a particular stance towards gadgets, and as such has been criticised for brand favouritism.
• Mail on Sunday 2 – this pullout includes review, featuring articles on the arts, books and culture and it consists of reviews of all media and entertainment forms and interviews with sector personalities, property, travel and health.
• Sportsmail – on the back pages of the Mail. It features different sports including an emphasis on alternative sports such as darts and snooker.
• Football Mail on Sunday – this reviews Premier League, Championship and Football League games from Saturday as well as any important international games.

Notable writers

Current

• Frank Barrett
• Patrick Collins
• Derek Draper
• Peter Hitchens
• Liz Jones
• Suzanne Moore
• Piers Morgan
• Glen Owen
• Tom Parker Bowles

Past

• Harry Blackwood
• Julie Burchill
• John Junor
• Norman Tebbit
• Keith Waterhouse

Editors

1982: Bernard Shrimsley

1982: David English

1982: Stewart Steven

1992: Jonathan Holborow

1998: Peter Wright

See also

• Irish Mail on Sunday

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "ABCs". The Guardian (UK). 12 August 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/table/2011/aug/12/abcs-national-newspapers1. Retrieved 24 September 2011.  (July 2011)
2. ^ "National newspaper circulation December 2007". The Guardian (UK). 2007. http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/table/0,,2239277,00.html. Retrieved 12 April 2008. 
3. ^ Dobbie, Peter (30 April 2004). "Farewell to 'Clive of Chiswick'". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=228170&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=257. 
4. ^ Advertising for the Daily Mail

External links

• Mail Online