Job: editor, the Guardian; editor-in-chief, Guardian News & Media
Age: 59
Industry: publishing, digital media
2012 ranking: 34
David Miranda's controversial Heathrow detention last month and Alan Rusbridger's revelation about GCHQ officials observing the destruction of Guardian hard disks followed a series of scoops about the online surveillance activities of US and UK security agencies, based on information provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Publishing the NSA stories divided opinion in some quarters, but prompted a widespread debate about the security agencies' activities, digital data protection and the implications for journalism.
The NSA leaks coverage, led by Guardian US journalist Glenn Greenwald, has raised the profile of the paper's American digital operation, launched two years ago. Another digital launch, Guardian Australia, went live in May and in July the paper shifted to a new website domain name – theguardian.com. In July the paper's websites had 4.8 million daily average browsers and almost 85 million monthly browsers.
Guardian publisher Guardian News & Media cut its annual loss by 30% to £30.9m in the year to the end of March, as growing digital revenues – up 28.9% to £55.9m – helped offset continuing decline in print income.
Rusbridger – portrayed by new Doctor Who lead Peter Capaldi in WikiLeaks film The Fifth Estate – proposed that a new independent press regulator be given a year to prove its viability before statutory underpining by royal charter is imposed. Subsequently the Guardian rejected the industry's proposed royal charter-backed Independent Press Standards Organisation, which has the support of most newspaper and magazine publishers.
The Guardian editor's ranking is boosted by the unique nature of the newspaper's ultimate parent organisation, The Scott Trust Ltd, of which he is a director. Unlike that of a traditional newspaper owner, the role of the The Scott Trust does not include influencing editorial content.
