King, Cecil Harmsworth (1901–1987)

English journalist and newspaper proprietor, an influential figure in the development of popular British journalism. A member of the Harmsworth newspaper dynasty, King was the nephew of Lords Northcliffe and Rothermere. He joined the Daily Mirror in 1926, which grew into the largest circulation daily in the world. Later, as chairman of the International Publishing Corporation Limited, he controlled a vast press empire.

King was educated at Winchester and Christ Church, Oxford, and served his newspaper apprenticeship on the Glasgow Daily Record and the Daily Mail. In 1951, he succeeded Harry Bartholomew as chairman of Daily Mirror Newspapers (a post he held until 1968), increasing the circulation of the paper with Hugh Cudlipp as its editor. He became chairman of the Reed Paper Group in 1963, and a director of the Bank of England in 1965. He wrote The Future of the Press (1967) and Strictly Personal (1969).