Kelvin MacKenzie
| Kelvin MacKenzie | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Kelvin Calder MacKenzie 22 October 1946 London, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Newspaper editor |
| Spouse(s) | Jacqueline Holland (1968–2006; divorced) Sarah McLean (m. 2008) |
| Children | 3 |
Kelvin Calder MacKenzie (born 22 October 1946) is an English media executive and former newspaper editor. He is best known for being editor of The Sun between 1981 and 1994, by then established as the British newspaper with the largest circulation in the United Kingdom.
MacKenzie was born in south London to Ian and Mary MacKenzie, both journalists working for The South London Observer. When the South London Press took over their paper, Mary became press chief for the Conservative leader of the Greater London Council, Horace Cutler. Kelvin's father died in April 2004 at the age of 84. Educated at Alleyn's School in Dulwich. MacKenzie left school with one O-level, in English literature. He joined the South East London Mercury at 17, and worked on local and then national newspapers, such as the Daily Express for the next ten years.
MacKenzie has said that he discovered early on in his career that he had little writing ability and that his talents lay in making up headlines and laying out pages. By 1978, at the age of 32, he was managing editor of the New York Post, two years after it had been purchased by Rupert Murdoch.
After moving back to the United Kingdom and a period as night editor of the Daily Express, Murdoch appointed him The Sun editor in 1981. Conflict between the two groups meant that MacKenzie performed both jobs for a time.
In 1978, The Sun had finally overtaken the Daily Mirror in circulation becoming the newspaper with the highest sales in the UK. It was MacKenzie though who cemented the paper's image as a right-wing tabloid, not only increasing its profile, but also making it known for its attacks on left-wing political figures and movements and its sensationalist front-page celebrity exposés. These often proved to be misleading or false, with many controversies in this area occurring during MacKenzie editorship. Commentators including The Guardian contributor Roy Greenslade and left-wing journalist John Pilger have commented on the alleged 'Murdoch effect'. MacKenzie himself stated that he feels that his own spell as editor of The Sun had a "positively downhill impact on journalism".
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