Type | Daily regional newspaper |
---|---|
Owner(s) | Midland News Association |
Editor | Keith Harrison |
Founded | 1889 |
Headquarters | 51-53 Queen Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1ES |
Circulation | 55,373 |
Sister newspapers | Shropshire Star |
Website | expressandstar.com |
The Express & Star is the biggest-selling regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in Wolverhampton, England, and covers the West Midlands county and Staffordshire.
Currently edited by Keith Harrison, the Express & Star publishes five editions a day Monday to Friday and one edition on a Saturday. In 2007 the newspaper had a daily circulation of 174,989. but by June 2014 this had fallen to 73,473 and in 2016 dropped down to 55,373. It features a mix of regional and national news and has a strong following for its sports coverage of association football, particularly local teams Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion.
The Express & Star is one of the few independent newspapers still operating in the UK, having been under the continuous ownership of the Graham family almost since its inception. It is owned by the Midland News Association (MNA), which also owns the Shropshire Star newspaper.
In January 2013 editor Adrian Faber announced his decision to step down after 11 years at the Express & Star. He was replaced by Shropshire Star editor Keith Harrison in April 2013.
The origins of the Express & Star lie in the Evening Star – a liberal newspaper founded in Wolverhampton in 1880 as a rival to the existing conservative Evening Express, itself founded in 1874. In 1882 the Star was bought by wealthy Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, encouraged by his friend and fellow Dunfermline-born liberal (and by then prominent Wolverhampton councillor) Thomas Graham.
The combination of Carnegie's finance and Graham's organisational ability saw the paper flourish and within two years the Star had taken over the Express under the editorship of another Dunfermline native, editor Andrew Meikle. The combined newspaper adopted its current name in 1889.