View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
January 8, 2003updated 17 May 2007 11:30am

Knighthood for Peter Stothard

By Press Gazette

Stothard is second Times editor to be knighted

Peter Stothard has become the second editor of The Times to be knighted for his services to the newspaper industry. The first was Sir William Rees-Mogg.

Stothard, 51, edited the paper for 10 years from 1992, presiding over Rupert Murdoch’s controversial price-cutting policy which helped double sales of the title. He is now editor of The Times Literary Supplement.

Stothard was both The Times’s joint deputy editor and its US editor when he got the top job. He was also the paper’s leader writer at one stage. He is a former BBC journalist and business and political correspondent for The Sunday Times.

When his knighthood was announced, he told his old paper: "Editors are not always the most popular of breeds, but it is better to be knighted than benighted."

Other journalists and those with media links honoured were:

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

 

Dame Commander of the British Empire: Elizabeth Neville, Chief Constable of Wiltshire: for services to the police. Neville chairs the Association of Chief Police Officers’ media committee and is in constant liaison with the press.

 

CBEs

Paul Myners: chairman of the Guardian Media Group, for services to innovation in the financial sector. Myners recently stepped down as chairman of fund management group Gartmore after 15 years.

Richard Tait: former head of Channel 4 News and former editor-in-chief of ITN, for services to news broadcasting. He had been with ITN since 1987 when he moved across from the BBC, where he was editor of Newsnight. His sudden retirement from ITN last summer came after a traumatic time for the news organisation, which shed jobs and renegotiated its contracts with ITV and Channel 4.

Paul Brown: chief executive of the Commercial Radio Companies Association, for services to the radio industry. Brown worked as a presenter and manager in forces and commercial radio before working for the IBA and the Radio Authority.

Bill McLaren: former BBC radio and TV rugby commentator, for services to broadcasting. Known as the voice of rugby union, he made his national radio commentating debut in 1953 and gave his last commentary in 2002.

David Palmer: for services to newspaper publishing and British business interests in Ireland. Palmer headed the Financial Times before he went to the Republic of Ireland as first managing director and then chairman of Independent Newspapers (Ireland).

MBEs

Alexa Jane Murray Brooks: private secretary to Tony Stoller, chief executive of the Radio Authority, for services to broadcasting. She has worked in the radio industry for 25 years and previously worked for the IBA.

Robert Brolly: BBC regional radio presenter, for services to radio broadcasting and to charity. Brolly joined BBC WM in the Midlands in the mid Eighties and has worked as a radio presenter for the group of stations since. Previously, he worked for Mercia FM.

Eric Chalkley: crossword setter for services to newspapers. A retired carpenter and joiner, 85-year-old Chalkley compiled crosswords for 35 years for The Times, The Guardian and The Sunday Telegraph.

Robert Sidney Drayton: deputy group editor of the Somerset County Gazette group for services to the industry and the local communities in Chard and Ilminster. Drayton is in charge of subbing for eight weekly newspapers in the group and has been with the company this time since 1983. He is an ex-editor of the Chard and Ilminster News.

Arthur Edwards: photographer, for services to the newspaper industry. Edwards, 62, is The Sun’s royal photographer and has been photographing the Queen for 25 years. His most famous picture was one of the first shots of the late Princess Diana before she married Prince Charles. The photograph showed the young Diana wearing a see-through skirt.

Walter Stanley Matchett: for services to photojournalism. Matchett, who has presented programmes for Ulster Television, has been three times Northern Ireland Sports Photographer of the Year and has also been Rothmans Press Photographer of the Year. His pictures have been shown in the World Press Photo exhibition.

Charles Peattie, 44, cartoonist and writer, and Russell Taylor, 42, cartoonist and writer: for services to the newspaper industry. The pair are creators of the Alex cartoons that have appeared on the City pages of The Daily Telegraph for 10 years.

Peter Washbourn: retired press photographer, for services to the community. Washbourn, 66, worked for the Lincolnshire Echo for 40 years , retiring in 1996. He still writes two columns for the paper.

OBEs

– Clive Beddall, former editor of The Grocer, for services to the food industry. Beddall has been a journalist for 44 years, 38 of them with The Grocer. He retired as editor in June and is now editor-at-large for the William Reed group

– Henry Blofeld, BBC cricket commentator, for services to sports broadcasting. Blofeld made his debut for Test Match Special in 1974 and has been there ever since, apart from three years at BSkyB from 1991 to 1994. He has also written extensively for the national newspapers on sport.

– Andrea Wonfor, former creative director at Granada TV, for services to broadcasting. She was previously a Channel 4 executive. She started out as a production trainee at Granada before moving to Tyne Tees TV, where she stayed for 20 years.

– John Tydeman, former head of drama, BBC Radio, for services to radio broadcasting.

– Susan Lesley Woodward, for services to the Commonwealth Games and broadcasting. A Granada TV director, she helped organise the Manchester Games. She was at the Liverpool Post & Echo before joining Granada and progressing to head of broadcasting.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network