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David Dinsmore
British civil servant (born 1968) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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David Dinsmore (born 2 September 1968)[1] is a senior civil servant and former editor of The Sun newspaper.
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Early career
Dinsmore grew up in Glasgow,[2] and began working for News International at the age of 22.[3]
He was employed by the Clydebank Post and then later he worked as a reporter for the Eastwood Mercury, Milngavie Herald and Kirkintilloch Herald newspapers.[4]
In 1991, Dinsmore became a casual reporter for the Scottish Sun newspaper. At the same time he began a degree in business management at Paisley University. His first full-time role as a reporter came with the Daily Star in their Edinburgh office.[4]
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Career with News Corp
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Dinsmore returned to the Scottish Sun as a reporter in 1994, he then rose through the ranks of that paper to become sub-editor, then chief sub-editor. and made the move to London after becoming picture editor of the News of the World under Phil Hall.[4]
In 2004, Dinsmore became night editor of The Sun, and in 2006, he was appointed editor of the Scottish edition of the paper, serving until 2010.[3] He then became general manager of the paper in Scotland, then in quick succession managing editor in London, and director of operations for News International.[5] Dinsmore was appointed editor of The Sun in June 2013, replacing Dominic Mohan.[6]
Following his appointment to the job, he faced criticism as a result of the growing support for the No More Page 3 campaign, which challenged the appropriateness of bare breasts in the family newspaper. In November 2013, he stated that he had no intention of dropping the Page 3 feature, despite the pressure from campaign supporters including politicians, celebrities and student bodies.[7] In December 2014, Dinsmore was named sexist of the year by End Violence Against Women.[8][9][10] The Page 3 feature of a topless women came to end in January 2015.[11]
Under his editorship The Sun's online presence went behind a paywall, however Dinsmore is credited with growing the online subscriber base, doubling the number of paying customers from an initial 117,000 to 225,000.[12][13] Dinsmore has won also plaudits from the media industry, ranking at 27 in the 2014 Media Guardian 100,[14] and at 67 in GQ magazine's 2015 'Most Connected Men in Britain' list.[15] On 2 September 2015, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of News UK, and Tony Gallagher succeeded him as editor of The Sun.[16]
In 2016 he was convicted of breaking the Sexual Offences (Amendment) act after inadvertently revealing the identity of a victim of a sexual offence.[17]
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Career in civil service
In late July 2025, Dinsmore was appointed "permanent secretary for communications" for the UK government.[18]
See also
References
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