David Montgomery (newspaper executive)

David Montgomery (born 1948) is a British newspaper executive known for his role in transforming the British tabloid newspaper industry and for his subsequent career building and managing newspaper groups across Europe.

Montgomery began his career in journalism in the 1970s and rose to prominence during his time at News International, where he oversaw significant changes at The Sun newspaper. He is credited with streamlining its operations and increasing its market share through a focus on populist content and aggressive promotion.

After leaving News International, Montgomery founded Local London, a group of free newspapers distributed in London. He subsequently acquired ownership of the Today newspaper and later founded the European Media Group (EMG), which invested in and managed newspaper titles in several European countries, including the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands. EMG was later renamed Mecom Group.

Montgomery’s career has been marked by periods of both success and controversy. He is known for his cost-cutting measures and his focus on profitability, which have sometimes drawn criticism from journalists and trade unions. He has also been involved in several high-profile acquisitions and disposals of newspaper titles. He stepped down as CEO of Mecom Group in 2008. Following this, he established Local World, which acquired a number of local newspaper groups in the UK. Local World was subsequently sold to Trinity Mirror (now Reach plc) in 2015.