Paul Dacre | MediaGuardian 100 2012
Job: editor, Daily Mail; editor-in-chief, Associated Newspapers
Age: 63
Industry: publishing
2011 ranking: 7
Paul Dacre is the first newspaper editor in the MediaGuardian 100, ahead of Rupert Murdoch, following a year in which his Daily Mail has come through untouched by the phone-hacking crisis. His Mail remains always hard to predict but compelling reading – although it is arguably the Daily Telegraph that wins the prize of being David Cameron's irritant in chief – and while many tabloid critics might have hoped there would be evidence of nefarious methods being used by the title's reporters to obtain stories, nothing untoward has emerged.
The veteran editor-in-chief was also vindicated when Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, after a long campaign spearheaded by the title. He described the verdict as a "glorious day" for Neville and Doreen Lawrence in a filmed oration – and in March, with the title's reporting on the subject in mind, the Daily Mail was named newspaper of the year at the British Press Awards. Elsewhere Mail Online continues to develop, and Dacre sanctioned an increase in staff numbers at the website, which vies with the New York Times for the world's top newspaper site.
Dacre prefers to ration his public appearances, but was in front of the Leveson inquiry three times, swinging out at everybody from the prime minister, to judges, the Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian and "Britain's liberal class – the people who know best and who really run the country" in a seminar in October. But he agreed to introduce a corrections column on page 2. He gave evidence formally twice in February – refusing to interrupt holiday plans to appear before the judge earlier – the second appearance necessary after Dacre got into a tangle with Hugh Grant over the film star's belief that he had been a victim of potential unlawful intrusion. Dacre, though, refused to back down – having accused Grant of a "mendacious smear" because the actor suggested (with no supporting evidence) that the Mail on Sunday might have published articles on a non-existent affair based on hacking.
Were there any signs of mortality? Only the surprise appointment of Geordie Greig at the Mail on Sunday – made at the insistence of Viscount Rothermere – suggested as much. But there is little sign of the 63-year-old's powers diminishing yet.