Sydney Jacobson, Baron Jacobson MC, (26 October 1908, Zeerost, Transvaal – 13 August 1988,

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

) was a British journalist, editor and political commentator.

Early years

Jacobson was the only son and elder child of Samuel and Anna Jacobson, a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

couple originally from Germany who ran an ostrich farm. In 1914 the family returned to

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

for a holiday. They were interned on the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His father was drowned when the ship in which he was trying to return to South Africa sank. The family went to live in Wales with relatives, the family of Lewis Silkin. Jacobson and his mother subsequently moved to London where he attended

Strand School Strand School was a boys' grammar school in the Tulse Hill area of South London. It moved there in 1913 from its original location at King's College in London's Strand. Distinguished in its heyday for its contribution of young men to the ci ...

and studied journalism at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He started out on local newspapers but by 1934 was assistant editor of '' The Statesman'' newspaper in Calcutta. On his return to England he became assistant editor of the pocket-sized literary and humour magazine '' Lilliput'' in October 1937.

Wartime years

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Jacobson served with the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

(Duke of Cambridge's Own) and rose to the rank of major. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in 1944 in recognition of his exemplary gallantry.

Journalism

After the war he returned to journalism and worked as a feature writer on the pioneering photojournalistic magazine

Picture Post ''Picture Post'' was a photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,000,000 copies a week after only two months. ...

under its influential editor

Tom Hopkinson Sir Henry Thomas Hopkinson (19 April 1905 – 20 June 1990) was a British journalist, picture magazine editor, author, and teacher. Early life Born in Manchester, his father was John Hopkinson (priest), John Hopkinson, a Church of England cl ...

. He went on to work as political editor of the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' for 10 years before becoming editor of the '' Daily Herald'' and its replacement ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

''; he was appointed editorial director of the

International Publishing Corporation TI Media Ltd. (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of it ...

(IPC) in 1965. By 1974 Jacobson was deputy chairman of IPC working under his friend and colleague of many years Hugh Cudlipp. During one of the two General Elections that year Jacobson was responsible for at least two of the ''

''s best-known front pages – one bore nothing but a photograph of the then Prime Minister

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

and the words, "AND NOW HE HAS THE NERVE TO ASK FOR A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE." The other read, "FOR ALL OUR TOMORROWS VOTE LABOUR TODAY."

Latter years

On 16 July 1975, Jacobson was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Jacobson of St Albans in

. (''The Times'' newspape
reports
that he had previously declined a knighthood in 1968.) He retired from journalism the same year. Sydney Jacobson died in August 1988. He was survived by his wife, June, their daughter Ruth and sons Colin and

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

, also a journalist. At a thanksgiving service at the "journalists' church" St Bride's off of

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

in London Hugh Cudlipp used his address to launch an attack on the state of British tabloid newspapers.

References

* Oxford

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

*
BBC News report
on the launch of ''

'' newspaper in 1964 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobson, Sydney 1908 births 1988 deaths Alumni of King's College London South African Jews English Jews Labour Party (UK) life peers British male journalists Daily Mirror people The Sun (United Kingdom) editors Jewish British politicians South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Life peers created by Elizabeth II