About

Team size: 24
Major law firms used: Allen & Overy, Hogan Lovells, Kingsley Napley, Lewis Silkin, Taylor Wessing, Wiggin

As GC of The Sun publisher News UK, Angus McBride has spent the last year contending with an ever-harsher environment for print journalism. The year saw a landmark decision in the case between the BBC and Sir Cliff Richard, with Mr Justice Mann’s ruling marking what many journalists would consider a significant defeat for press freedom.

McBride, who became News UK’s GC in 2016, comments: ‘The Cliff Richard case has had wide implications. The public interest in publishing has been lowered immensely by that decision.’

Aside from the squeeze of increasing legal restrictions, the revenues of print journalism have been in steady decline for a number of years. Notably, in 2016, Daily Mail and General Trust issued a warning to investors after recording a 29% drop in profits. The decline was attributed to a fall in print advertising. Despite The Sun being the UK’s second-most-read newspaper, with over 1.4 million readers, McBride is under no illusions: ‘It’s harder and harder to be a newspaper. The main trend is the decline in revenues from print, both within sales and advertising, and the move to use the monetisation on the digital side of advertising.’

McBride’s role as GC means he has to delegate a large amount of the day-to-day legal issues, such as complying with the journalism regulator IPSO, to his team. McBride, who involves himself in the larger set-piece litigation against The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times as and when they arise, says: ‘It means a lot of people have a lot of responsibility.’

Niri Shan, intellectual property and media partner at Taylor Wessing, appreciates McBride’s heightened sense of responsibility: ‘McBride is very good. He really has the ear to senior management and people respect him.’

Overall, McBride relishes his role: ‘If you get the opportunity, it’s an amazing job. It’s constantly challenging and constantly interesting. I do not regret leaving private practice.’