Kenneth Morgan (3 November 1928 – 5 August 2015) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

trade union leader and journalist. Morgan grew up in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, and attended

Stockport Grammar School Stockport Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school in Stockport, England. Founded in 1487 by former Lord Mayor of London Sir Edmund Shaa, it is the second oldest in the North of England, after Lancaster Royal Grammar School, ...

. He began working as a reporter for the '' Stockport Express'' in 1944, then left to join the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1946. He was commissioned the following year, joining the

Middle East Land Forces Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

and serving in the Army's newspaper unit. Morgan was demobbed in 1949 and returned to journalism, meeting his future wife Margaret Wilson, who worked for the rival '' Stockport Advertiser''. He joined the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Structure There i ...

(NUJ), and in 1962 began working full-time for the union as its Central London Secretary. In 1966, he became the union's National Organiser, then in 1970 he was elected as General Secretary. Alongside leading the union, Morgan served on numerous bodies, including the committees of the

Printing and Kindred Trades Federation The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom. History The federation was established at a conference in Manchester on 8 September 1890, organised on the initiative of George D. Kelley. Th ...

National Federation of Professional Workers The National Federation of Professional Workers (NFPW) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom. History The federation was founded on the initiative of G. D. H. Cole and Robin Page Arnot as the Federation of Professional, Technical, Adm ...

, Federation of Broadcasting Unions and

Confederation of Entertainment Unions The Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU) is a joint representative body based in the United Kingdom, representing workers in TV, theatre, film, music, gaming, cinema, publishing, new media, professional football and other performing arts. The ...

, and the bureau of the

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...

. He also held membership of the Press Council, and in 1977 he left his trade union post, to become joint secretary of the council, then later its director. Morgan served as a trustee of

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

from 1984 to 1999. From the mid-1990s until the mid-2000s, he advised numerous media bodies worldwide. After his death,

Roy Greenslade Roy Greenslade (born 31 December 1946) is a British author and freelance journalist, and a former professor of journalism. He worked in the UK newspaper industry from the 1960s onwards. As a media commentator, he wrote a daily blog from 2006 to ...

described him as "the pragmatist’s pragmatist. He could always find a way between two opposing points of view and was the master of solving apparently intractable problems."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Ken 1928 births 2015 deaths English journalists General Secretaries of the National Union of Journalists People from Stockport