Robert Donald

Sir Robert Donald GBE (29 August 1860 – 17 February 1933) was a British newspaper editor and author.

Working as a clerk, Donald submitted free articles to a local journal, then gained employment at the ''Edinburgh Evening News''. He also worked on ''The Courant'' and the ''Northampton Echo'' before becoming a freelancer. In 1888, he joined ''The Star'', a new London evening newspaper. He specialised in investigations into local government in London, then briefly ran a journal, ''London'', funded by the Progressive Party. With more success, he launched and edited the ''Municipal Journal'' and the ''Municipal Year Book''

In 1895, Robert Lloyd (son of Edward Lloyd) appointed Donald as news editor of the ''Daily Chronicle''. He left in 1899 to become publicity manager for Gordon Hotels, but returned to the ''Chronicle'' as editor in 1904, also becoming editor of ''Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper'' in 1906. He subsequently became managing director of United Newspapers and President of the Institute of Journalists.

Donald long had a friendly relationship with the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, and in 1917, Lloyd George commissioned him to produce a report on government propaganda efforts, which Donald prepared in just four weeks. He was then appointed to John Buchan's four-person Advisory Committee on the Department of Information, and in December he prepared a further report, calling for greater centralisation of the propaganda effort and a larger role for the Advisory Committee. Donald often questioned Lloyd George's decisions and, in 1918, the two fell out while Donald was a British official observer at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. A consortium centred on Lloyd George bought the ''Chronicle'' and ''Lloyd's'', leading Donald to resign, complaining that Lloyd George was trying to "corner public opinion"[http://www.portcullis.parliament.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Persons&dsqSearch=Code Provided by Wikipedia