Roger Alton (born 20 December 1947) is an English journalist. He was formerly editor of The Independent and The Observer, and executive editor of The Times.
Early life and education
He was educated at
Clifton College and Exeter College, Oxford.
Career
He joined the
Liverpool Post on graduation, moving to
The Guardian five years later as a sub-editor.
The Observer
He was the editor of the British national Sunday newspaper
The Observer from 1998 to 2007. Under his editorship,
The Observer's editorial view supported the invasion of Iraq, a stance that Alton, speaking to
Stephen Sackur on the
BBC's
HARDtalk (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, The Guardian", and left The Observer at the end of 2007.
The Independent
In April 2008, Alton was confirmed as the new editor of
The Independent, beginning work on 1 July 2008.
[Stephen Brook "Alton aims to make Indy 'indispensable'", The Guardian, 10 April 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2008.] Joining at the start of the recession,
The Independent's circulation and advertising revenues fell sharply.
He also wrote a fortnightly sport column in the
The Spectator.
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 The Times, 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.[Jasper Jackson and Jane Martinson "Times executive editor Roger Alton leaves paper", The Guardian, 2 June 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 in which he lambasted members of the website Mumsnet for campaigning against the News of the World.
External links
