Robin Charles Esser (6 May 1933 – 6 November 2017) was a

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newspaper executive Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

and former

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

. After doing

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and studying at

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, where he edited the '' Cherwell'' newspaper, Esser began his career as a reporter with the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' and ''

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'' in 1957. He edited the Express' "Hickey" column, and gave both

Nigel Dempster Nigel Richard Patton Dempster (1 November 1941 in Calcutta, India – 12 July 2007 in Ham, Surrey) was a British journalist, author, broadcaster and diarist. Best known for his celebrity gossip columns in newspapers, his work appeared in the ''Dai ...

and

Paul Dacre Paul Michael Dacre (; born 14 November 1948) is an English journalist and the former long-serving editor of the British right-wing tabloid the ''Daily Mail''. He is also editor-in-chief of DMG Media, which publishes the ''Daily Mail'', ''The Ma ...

their first jobs on a national newspaper. By 1969, he was the newspaper's

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editor, and was the first British journalist to interview the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

astronauts. He later became consultant editor of the ''

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'', before in 1985 returning to the ''Daily Express''. In 1986, he became editor of the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'',Robin Esser: No plans to retire as he marks 50 years in press
, ''

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'', 27 December 2007. a post he held until 1989. A great supporter and friend of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

, Esser was due to receive a

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in 1990 but declined the honour on the grounds that it was not appropriate for a serving editor to accept it. Esser moved to the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' in 1991, where he introduced an arts and entertainment supplement, published on Fridays. He subsequently became the paper's Executive Managing Editor and oversaw the launch of its website MailOnline. He was an active member of the Society of Editors, for which he chaired the Parliamentary & Legal Committee, and the Commonwealth Press Union Media Trust. Esser published three books, ''The Hot Potato'' (1969), ''The Paper Chase'' (1971), and ''Crusaders In Chains'' (2015).

Personal life

He was married to Shirley Clough and had 4 children with her. After an accident in 1972 while on holiday Shirley died and Robin was left a widower. He Met Tui France his second wife and remarried in 1981 and went on to have 2 more children with her. He died a father of 6, a grandfather of 10 and a great grandfather of 4.

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

References

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Br ...

Who's Who 2009 ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a group of nota ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esser, Robin 1935 births 2017 deaths Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British newspaper editors British newspaper executives