Ian Mayes

Ian Mayes is a British journalist and editor. He was the first "readers' editor" – a title he invented for the newspaper ombudsman role — of The Guardian, from November 1997 to March 2007, and was president of the international Organization of News Ombudsmen from May 2005 to May 2007, serving as a board member from May 2002 after joining in April 2001.

Mayes is the author of books including Witness in a Time of Turmoil: Inside the Guardian's Global Revolution, Volume 1, 1986–1995, published in 2025, and Witness in a Time of Trial: Inside the Guardian’s Global Revolution Volume Two: 1995–2009, published in 2026.

Background Ian Mayes' career as a journalist spans six decades and includes many years as features editor of the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, before he joined BBC Radio News in Broadcasting House (1979–87), then became assistant features editor of the short-lived London Daily News.

Mayes began writing for The Guardian as a freelance in 1962, his first piece being a story on the features page (then edited by Brian Redhead) about the return of Laurie Lee to the village of Slad in Gloucestershire, where Cider with Rosie was set. It was towards the end of 1988 — the first such appointment of a resident independent ombudsman in the UK. Other British newspapers, including The Observer, The Independent on Sunday and the Daily Mirror, quickly followed suit in appointing readers' editors, although Mayes was the only one to do the job full-time. The Guardian system was also closely replicated on newspapers such as Politiken in Denmark and The Hindu in India. Mayes dealt with corrections and clarifications (14,000 in his decade in the post), as well as conducting a debate on the ethics of journalism. He is credited with the discovery of the "apostrofly", "an insect which lands at random on the printed page depositing an apostrophe wherever it alights". His last column as Readers' Editor appeared on 2 April 2007,

He has been honoured by the creation of "The Ian Mayes Award for Writing Wrongs" in 2008.

Official history of The Guardian Mayes subsequently began researching and writing the third modern volume of the official history of The Guardian (following earlier books by David Ayerst and Geoffrey Taylor), beginning in 1986, his aim being to "humanise the decisions that have shaped the Guardian and its editorial line". The review by historian Joe Moran stated: "Covering nine years in more than 300 pages, this book has all the comprehensiveness of an official history. ...But Mayes enlivens his narrative throughout with humorous touches and compelling character sketches." The second volume, Witness in a Time of Trial: Inside the Guardian's Global Revolution Volume Two: 1995–2009, was published in January 2026.

Hazlitt Society Mayes was instrumental in the project to restore William Hazlitt's grave, after visiting the original neglected gravestone in St Anne's Churchyard early in 2001. The restored grave was unveiled by Michael Foot on the 225th anniversary of Hazlitt's birth, 10 April 2003. Mayes was closely involved with the subsequent formation of the Hazlitt Society, of which he was inaugural chairman.

Works