Roger Alton (born 20 December 1947) is an English journalist. He was formerly editor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', and executive editor of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.

Early life and education

He was educated at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

and

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

Career

He joined the '' Liverpool Post'' on graduation, moving to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' five years later as a sub-editor.

''The Observer''

He was the editor of the British national Sunday newspaper ''

'' from 1998 to 2007. Under his editorship, ''The Observers editorial view supported the

invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

, a stance that Alton, speaking to

Stephen Sackur Stephen John Sackur (born 9 January 1964) is an English journalist who presented ''HARDtalk'', a current affairs interview programme formerly on BBC World News and the BBC News Channel. He was also the main Friday presenter of '' GMT'' on BBC Wo ...

on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

HARDtalk ''HARDtalk'' is a BBC television and radio programme which was broadcast on the British and international feeds of the BBC News channel, and on the BBC World Service, from 31 March 1997 to 26 March 2025. Broadcast times and days vary, depend ...

'' (22 August 2008) has since admitted may have been incorrect. He resigned on 24 October 2007 after "a bitter falling-out with senior figures at the title's sister paper, ''

''", and left ''The Observer'' at the end of 2007. Previously he was arts editor and G2 editor of ''

''. He oversaw a rise in circulation during his editorship and introduced the award-winning Observer Sports, Food, and Music Monthlies.

''The Independent''

In April 2008, Alton was confirmed as the new editor of ''

'', beginning work on 1 July 2008. Joining at the start of the recession, ''The Independents circulation and advertising revenues fell sharply. He also wrote a fortnightly sport column in the ''

Spectator ''Spectator'' or ''The Spectator'' may refer to: *Spectator sport, a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches *Audience Publications Canada * '' The Hamilton Spectator'', a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, ...

''. Alton resigned from ''The Independent'' in April 2010 when the paper reverted to its former editor, Simon Kelner.

''The Times''

On 24 May 2010, Alton was appointed executive editor of ''

'', succeeding Alex O’Connell, who was appointed arts editor. Alton began at his new paper on 28 June 2010. Alton left ''The Times'' in 2015.

Personal life

Alton was briefly married to Helen Lederer, with whom he had a daughter, Hannah.

Views

In July 2011, Roger Alton gave an interview with ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'' in which he lambasted members of the website

Mumsnet Mumsnet is a London-based internet forum, created in 2000 by Justine Roberts for discussion among people with child- or teen-aged offspring. History and finances Mumsnet was created in 2000 by Justine Roberts to help parents pool informati ...

for campaigning against the ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

.'' Some members of the website had campaigned against the newspaper after it was revealed that the ''News of the World'' employees had hacked mobile phone voicemail messages, including those of murdered teenager Milly Dowler and, allegedly, victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Alton turned his anger on members of the public who campaigned against these practices, labelling the Mumsnet members "fair trade tea"-drinking, "organic shortbread"-eating "yummy mummies." The .

References

External links

Journalisted – Articles by Roger AltonRoger Alton , Media , The GuardianRoger Alton
on ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

''
Roger Alton
on ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Alton, Roger 1947 births English male journalists English newspaper editors Living people People educated at Clifton College Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford The Independent editors The Times people Editors of The Observer