Damien McCrystal

Who is Damien McCrystal?

Damien McCrystal became the first City editor of The Sun, News International’s British daily tabloid, in September 1987 after Robert Worcester, founder of Market & Opinion Research International told Rupert Murdoch, head of News International, that the wave of utility company privatisations in the UK had turned one quarter of The Sun’s readers into share-owners.

At the time The Sun was selling approximately 4.2 million copies a day, with the highest circulation of any daily English language newspaper in the world. It was generally reckoned by News International and its advertisers, in those days, that each copy was read by up to three people. This translated, according to Worcester’s calculations, into 3 million share-owning Sun readers. As a direct result, Murdoch ordered The Sun’s editor Kelvin MacKenzie to launch a page dedicated to business news and McCrystal was hired as its editor from another News International title, Today, where he was assistant City editor.

McCrystal used the new platform to campaign for the resignation of Sir Nicholas Goodison, chairman of London's Stock Exchange, claiming that he had failed adequately to prepare the Exchange for de-regulation or the government's privatisation programme. McCrystal's campaign employed scantily dressed young models in the City of London distributing badges and tee-shirts bearing the legend "The Sun Says Goodison must Go". Goodison retired the following year. After falling out with MacKenzie, McCrystal left The Sun in May 1988. The Sun has maintained its City page ever since, in largely similar format.