Sue Douglas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Susan Margaret Douglas (1957-01-29)29 January 1957 (age 68) |
| Alma mater | University of Southampton |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Susan Margaret Douglas (born 29 January 1957) is a British media executive and formernewspaper editor.
Born in London, she was educated atTiffin Girls' School in Kingston.[1] After graduating with a first-class Honours degree[2] in physiology and biochemistry fromSouthampton University,[3] she began her career in 1978 with management consultantsAndersen Consulting.[1] She then became amedical journalist withHaymarket Publishing. In South Africa (1979–81) she worked for the South AfricanSunday Express andThe Rand Daily Mail.
Returning to Britain in 1981, she began writing for theDaily Mail andNews of the World, and in 1982 she joined theMail on Sunday. Initially a medical correspondent, she was promoted toassociate editor of the newspaper, then assistant editor of theDaily Mail in 1987.[1] JoiningThe Sunday Times in 1991, she became deputy editor. Douglas launched the newspaper's Style & Culture sections, relaunchedThe Sunday Times magazine, ran the Insight investigative team and introduced many writers and columnists includingJulie Burchill,Jeremy Clarkson,Taki,Melvyn Bragg and her then-husband, historianNiall Ferguson.
At the beginning of 1996, she took up her appointment as editor of theSunday Express,[2] then owned byLord Stevens. Just under two years later,Clive Hollick bought the Express group and rolled the Sunday into the Daily title, rendering all Sunday Express journalists redundant.
Douglas was chosen by formerSunday Times superiorAndrew Neil to assist in relaunchingThe Scotsman,Scotland on Sunday and theEdinburgh Evening News. At the same time, she diversified into magazine publishing, working on the US launch of men's magazineGear, then the UK websites Vogue.com, Traveller.co.uk and after she helped launch the new title,Glamour, in the UK, she ran the contract publishing division ofCondé Nast, with titles such astate,Trader,Mandarin Oriental,Harrods and the Post office magazine.Glamour was one of the most successful magazine launches ever, and Douglas, as President of New Business with Condé Nast, became a director.
After recovering from a severe horse-riding accident which led to a brain haemorrhage,[4] she became a freelance executive. In 2008, she joined literary agency PFD as a director, and engineered the management buyout by Andrew Neil. The acquisition ultimately led to Douglas being forced to leave. Consultancy deals with HarperCollins, Future publishing and television company, Luxe.tv and Lingospot followed.[5]
Douglas, as part of a consortium, was reported in January 2013 to have been in talks withTrinity Mirror to purchase a majority stake in theSunday People and rebrand it asThe News of the People (Douglas had attempted to buy theNews of the World after its closure).[6][7] In May 2013, these plans were reported to have been dropped, although Phoenix Ventures, her company, remained in talks about other collaborations.[8]
Early in the following month it emerged that she was to head a wholly owned subsidiary of Trinity Mirror called Sunday Brands. The leading publication would be theSunday People, with other titles from the group, but these would not include theSunday Mirror.[9] The Sunday Brands was soon dropped, with Douglas' role changing to offering a digital version of theSunday People. In the end, the new website, launched in November 2013, did not meet Trinity Mirror's financial targets and closed in January 2014 when Douglas left the company.[10]
Douglas separated from historianNiall Ferguson in 2010; they divorced in 2011.[11] They have three children together.
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by Ivan Fallon | Deputy Editor of theSunday Times 1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Editor of theSunday Express 1995–1996 | Succeeded by |