The Guardian

The Guardian

Last year, the Guardian combined the biggest exclusives, the sharpest commentary and innovations that proved editorially and commercially successful.

Domestically, the general election dominated the agenda – and the ‘scoop’ of the campaign came from political editor, Pippa Crerar, who revealed Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary aide bet on the election date days before the announcement.

Our investigation into the Tories’ biggest donor, Frank Hester, revealed he told his staff that Diane Abbott “makes you want to hate all black women”. The remarks forced him to apologise and led to calls for the Tories to disown him and hand back his £10m.

Our election coverage drove huge audiences, with 66.7m page views the day after the vote. Our results tracker is our ninth most-read article ever.

Amelia Gentleman’s investigation into the men-only Garrick Club revealed the royals, lawyers, politicians and civil servants who were on its secret membership list. Her disclosures forced the head of MI6 and the head of the civil service to quit – and the club to finally allow a vote to permit women to join.

Anna Isaac’s disclosures about security failings at Sellafield led to criminal prosecutions and an unprecedented apology and we revealed how King Charles’s estate used dead people’s assets to upgrade a property empire. Our ‘Carbon Divide’ investigation revealed the richest 1% generate more carbon emissions than the poorest 66% globally and we gave an impactful visual treatment to Damian Carrington’s in-depth study into the pessimism among top global scientists over the climate crisis.

Standout features included Simon Hattenstone's series on The IPP scandal, which examined indeterminate prison sentences. And Sirin Kale's account of life and death on an English maternity ward.

No other UK media organisation has committed as many reporters to covering the events of October 7 and its aftermath; a Gaza diary written by Ziad, a 35-year-old Palestinian, won global recognition. And our revelations that the head of Israel's spy agency, Mossad, threatened the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court prompted a joint statement by 93 countries insisting the ICC must be allowed to operate “without intimidation”.

In Ukraine, the Guardian’s Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner interviewed Volodymyr Zelenskyy; we maintained a near continuous live blog, frontline accounts, and dispatches from culture writer Charlotte Higgins on the ‘art rescuers’ trying to preserve Ukraine’s heritage. Our coverage of the US election, powered by our New York office, delivered on its promise to cover “the stakes as well as the odds” of a Donald Trump victory - and its consequences for both an American and a global audience.

From video series Anywhere But Washington to Chris McGreal’s dispatches from the swing state of Michigan and our newsletter series The Stakes, we got under the skin of the reasons why America turned back to Trump. Our podcasts went from strength to strength, with hits including Black Box - a six part series on the human impact of AI that was named as one of Apple’s picks of 2024. On newsletters, we started the year with our fastest growing email ever, Reclaim your Brain, an asynchronous title advising people on how to digital detox, and as the year progressed launched new products around big news events, such as Trump on Trial, and the Stakes for the US Election. Saturday Edition was launched, written by our editor-in-chief, Kath Viner, and quickly became the biggest newsletter audience with over 2m subscribers. And in September 2023, we launched Guardian Europe, our fifth global edition, with a dedicated live blog, new correspondents and columnists across Europe.

We’ve witnessed sustained growth in our audiences. The Guardian Europe front page has become our second most popular, behind the UK edition. Single financial contributions from readers in Europe are up 45% and our supporter base has increased by 8%. As well as in-depth reporting of issues that matter across the continent, our European readers come to us for expert coverage of international affairs and to understand a complex world. Our expanded team of brilliant columnists, many from beyond the anglosphere, have become essential reading. Fatma Aydemir, Rokhaya Diallo, María Ramírez and Nathalie Tocci are among those who have helped Guardian readers to understand the dramatic political, social and cultural challenges facing Europe.