Richard Walker (editor)

Richard Walker (born around 1956) is a Scottish journalist who is editor of the Sunday National. He was editor of the Sunday Herald from 1999–2015 and launched The National in 2014. He was Newsquest's editor of the year in 2014.

Early life

Walker was born around 1956 and was educated at St Michael's Academy, Kilwinning, Scotland.[1] He then went to Napier College, Edinburgh.[1]

In 1990 he became production editor at Spectrum magazine and worked at the Scotland on Sunday.[1] In 1995 he moved to deputy features editor at the Daily Record.[1]

Sunday Herald

Walker took up the post of deputy editor with the Sunday Herald when it launched in February 1999.[2][3] The paper's first editor, Andrew Jaspan left the paper to take up another post in the middle of 2004.[4] In September of that year, Walker was promoted to editor.[5] In November 2005 the Sunday Herald moved to compact format, the first national quality Scottish Sunday paper to do so.[6]

In May 2011, Walker took a bold editorial decision to publish a large picture of Ryan Giggs on the front page, at the time when a controversial Super-injunction had been granted by the English courts.[7] This led to him winning "Scoop of the year" at the Scottish Press Awards in 2012.[8]

While he was editor the Sunday Herald took the position of backing Scottish Independence ahead of the referendum held in September 2014, the only UK newspaper title to do so.[9] The paper saw a rise in sales subsequently.[10]

In February 2015 he was named editor of the year at Newsquest's annual Excellence Awards held in London, with the Sunday Herald also named newspaper of the year.[11]

The National and Sunday National

In November 2014, The National launched in Scotland, with Walker as its editor. It was the first daily newspaper in Scotland to support Scottish independence.[12]

Walker was praised during The National's launch, including that his work "reflects public opinion"[13] and including "novelty and boldness",[14] however the paper's association with the Scottish National Party has been criticised, and the party's involvement with its launch was described as "creepy".[15]

In September 2015, he stood down from editing both titles, following Newsquest's decision to make a reduction of twenty positions across the Herald and Evening Times.[16] The editor at the Evening Times, Tony Carlin also resigned.[17] Neil MacKay was promoted to executive editor of the Sunday Herald, Callum Baird to executive editor of The National, Walker remained as a consulting editor and regular contributor to The National.[18]

In September 2018 The National launched a Sunday Edition,[19] to fill the gap left by the end of the Sunday Herald, with a number of the Sunday Herald's features being incorporated into the new paper. Walker was appointed its editor[20]

References
  1. Brooks, Libby (22 February 2015). "The National's Richard Walker: 'We can and will be critical of the SNP'". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. "Contact book update". PRWeek. 17 September 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  3. Rimmer, Jonathan (21 April 2017). "From Labour and Iraq to indyref: How Richard Walker became a pioneering Scottish editor". CommonSpace. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  4. "Jaspan's departure heralds a new age". Scotland on Sunday. 25 July 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. "Walker takes over as Herald's editor". Press Gazette. 16 September 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  6. Mackay, Hamish (17 November 2005). "Herald joins tabloid trend". Press Gazette. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  7. Olsen, Parmy (23 May 2011). "Scotland Herald Editor Says Why He Published Soccer Star's Photo". Forbes. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  8. "John McLellan collects newspaper of the year award". Press Gazette. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  9. Haggerty, Angela (14 September 2014). "Sunday Herald editor Richard Walker on why the paper became the only UK title to back Scottish independence". The Drum. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  10. Greenslade, Roy (25 September 2014). "Sunday Herald enjoys 111% sales rise after backing Scottish independence". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  11. Linford, Paul (13 February 2015). "Editor of the year accolade for Sunday news chief". www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  12. Sweney, Mark (21 November 2014). "Pro-independence daily paper the National to launch in Scotland". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  13. Preston, Peter (30 November 2014). "All hail Scotland's National treasure". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  14. Riddoch, Lesley (24 November 2014). "Why the National newspaper in Scotland may well be a success". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  15. Summers, Jack (24 November 2014). "The National Newspaper Launches In Scotland – Cue New Conspiracy Theories". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  16. Jamieson, David (23 September 2015). "Tributes pour in as Richard Walker stands down as editor of pro-Yes The National and Sunday Herald". CommonSpace. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  17. "Sunday Herald and Evening Times editors resign". BBC News. 22 September 2015.
  18. Lambourne, Helen (1 October 2015). "New top team announced for newspapers after editors' departures". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  19. "Welcome to Scotland's new Sunday newspaper!". The National. 11 September 2018.
  20. "A quick chat with Sunday National editor Richard Walker". 6 October 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
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