The Argus

Overview

The Argus is a daily newspaper based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, with editions serving the city and surrounding parts of East and West Sussex. It covers local news, politics and sport, including coverage of Brighton & Hove Albion FC. The Argus is owned by Newsquest, a subsidiary of the American media company Gannett (USA Today Co.).

History

The Argus was founded in 1880 and was known for many years as the Evening Argus. In 1996, Newsquest acquired the paper along with its sister Westminster Press titles from the Pearson Group, the parent of the provincial newspaper group Westminster Press; Newsquest itself was acquired by the American media company Gannett (USA Today Co) in 1999. The Argus reached a peak circulation of around 100,000 in the early 1980s, though like most of its counterparts in the British regional press it has since seen a substantial decline in print sales. The paper's 140th-anniversary celebrations, planned for 2020, were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arron Hendy became editor of The Argus in 2017, following the departures of predecessors Lucy Pearce and Mike Gilson within the same three-month period. Hendy had joined The Argus as assistant news editor in January 2014, after beginning his journalism career at the Dorset Echo in February 2008; while a trainee there, he won the News Journalism prize at the 2009 National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) Awards for Excellence in Journalism, for an exclusive story about Prince Andrew criticizing the Ministry of Defence. He went on to serve as a senior reporter at the Bournemouth Echo before returning to Brighton. In 2020, Hendy was named Newsquest's Editor of the Year at the company's 2019 Excellence Awards.

Notable works

• 2019 Newsquest Excellence Awards. Editor Arron Hendy was named Newsquest's Editor of the Year for putting The Argus "firmly on the UK's local media map as one of the best campaigning and digitally innovative news brands," according to the company; the same year, Newsquest Sussex was named Publishing Centre of the Year after growing its digital revenue by more than 25%.

• 2019 Newsquest Apprentice Awards. Argus trainee reporter Jody Doherty-Cove won Newsquest's Apprentice of the Year award after his witnessing of an assault on a homeless person led to a criminal conviction.

Key personnel

• Editor. Arron Hendy

• Publisher. Newsquest Media Group

Audience

The Argus serves readers in Brighton and Hove and the surrounding areas of East and West Sussex, distributed in print and online at theargus.co.uk.

Location and contact info

Headquarters. Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England

Publisher. Newsquest Media Group

Website. https://www.theargus.co.uk

Year Founded. 1880