
Hector Alastair Hetherington (31 October 1919 – 3 October 1999) was a British journalist, newspaper editor and academic. For nearly twenty years he was the editor of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'', and is regarded as one of the leading editors of the second half of the twentieth century.
Early life and career
Hetherington was the son of
Sir Hector Hetherington, professor of logic and philosophy at
University College, Cardiff
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, caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University
, motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord
, mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord
, established = 1 ...
and later
Principal of the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
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. His mother was Mary Ethel Alison Reid (1886-1966). He was educated at
Gresham's School
Gresham's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England.
The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free ...
in
Holt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town has a population of 3,550, rising and including the ward to ...
, from 1933 to 1937 and then at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 1 ...
, from 1938 to 1940, but his time at Oxford was interrupted by the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Though his
myopia
Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...
initially kept him from duty in a combat regiment, eventually he joined the
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the ...
and subsequently transferred to the
Northamptonshire Yeomanry
The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1794 as volunteer cavalry. It served in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War before being reduced to squadron level in 1956. It cea ...
. Shortly after the Normandy landings he was a tank captain
advancing towards Vire when his tank was destroyed. He later took part in the relief of
Antwerp and ended his army career as a major in the
Intelligence Corps, during which time he wrote a ''Military Geography of Schleswig-Holstein''.
Based on three months as a trainee sub-editor for the ''
Glasgow Herald
''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
'', Hetherington was offered a posting after his demobilisation as managing editor of ''
Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'', the first German national newspaper to be produced in the British zone after the war. The experience confirmed his decision to pursue a career in journalism rather than academia, and he rejoined the ''Glasgow Herald'' a year later as a sub-editor and writer of articles on defence matters.
Editor of ''The Guardian''
In 1950, Hetherington moved to ''
Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
''. There he caught the eye of the paper's editor, A. P. Wadsworth, who helped him win a
Commonwealth Fund Fellowship and named him as foreign editor in 1953. When Wadsworth fell terminally ill three years later, the chairman of the paper, Laurence Scott, named Hetherington as Wadsworth's successor. Though there were three more senior journalists on staff, Scott wanted to transform ''The Guardian'' into a national newspaper, and wanted a younger man capable of overseeing the effort.
Within weeks of taking over as editor, Hetherington faced the question of how to respond to the
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
. His denunciation of Britain's involvement as an "act of folly, without justification in any terms but brief expediency" precipitated enormous criticism from thousands of readers, but an increase in circulation and Britain's subsequent withdrawal vindicated the young editor. Suez soon proved to be only the first of many causes Hetherington took up, as he used as his position to campaign for
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
, alleviating the poverty gap between northern and southern England, and
nuclear disarmament
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
* Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
* Nuclear space
* Nucle ...
. He was present at the founding of the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nu ...
, attending preliminary meetings at the house of
Lord Simon of Wythenshawe, with Sir
Bernard Lovell
Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell (31 August 19136 August 2012) was an English physicist and radio astronomer. He was the first director of Jodrell Bank Observatory, from 1945 to 1980.
Early life and education
Lovell was born at Oldland Com ...
and
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ar ...
, but he did not join or support
CND. He also gave evidence for the defence at the
''Lady Chatterley'' trial and became the first British editor to allow the word "fuck" to be used in his newspaper.
[What we got wrong: the Guardian’s worst errors of judgment over 200 years]
by Randeep Ramesh, at ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
''; published May 7, 2021; retrieved May 14, 2021
Becoming a national newspaper
During this time, Hetherington also was busy overseeing the evolution of the ''Manchester Guardian'' into a national newspaper. After dropping the word "Manchester" from the masthead in 1959, the paper opened a London headquarters two years later. The transition proved difficult, however, as sales dropped and advertising revenue failed to fill the gap. Hetherington himself was commuting by train between London and Manchester twice or three times weekly. Twice Scott sought to alleviate the problem by selling the paper to ''The Times'', but was rebuffed the first time and stopped by Hetherington's unyielding opposition to the proposal in the second. Ultimately, thanks to the profits from ''The Guardians sister publication, the ''
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'', the paper weathered the move.
As ''The Guardians immediate prospects slowly improved, Hetherington focused on the task on turning the paper into one capable of competing on a national level. He pushed for expanded features, including special supplements and the first
op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. ...
page in a British daily. Such was his success by this point that Hetherington won Journalist of the Year at the National Press Awards in 1971. Politically the paper benefited from careful cultivation by
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
, though Hetherington's closest political friend was
Jo Grimond
Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond, (; 29 July 1913 – 24 October 1993), known as Jo Grimond, was a British politician, leader of the Liberal Party for eleven years from 1956 to 1967 and again briefly on an interim basis in 1976.
Grimond was a l ...
. For more than twenty years Hetherington wrote leading articles which sought to promote Liberal-Labour co-operation to defeat the Conservatives. Though initially against
America's involvement in Vietnam, after meeting with American military commanders on a trip to
Saigon
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
he changed the paper's stance opposing the conflict, a move that generated much internal staff dissent.
Departure
By the early 1970s ''The Guardian'' enjoyed a healthy circulation approaching 350,000; nevertheless the paper continued to face financial challenges that exhausted Hetherington. As he approached the end of his second decade as editor, he considered the possibility of moving on to a less-demanding field such as academia. In 1975, however, he accepted an offer from his friend
Michael Swann
Michael Meredith Swann, Baron Swann, FRS, FRSE (1 March 1920 – 22 September 1990) was a British molecular and cell biologist. He was appointed chairman of the BBC, awarded a knighthood and subsequently a life peerage.
Early life
Swann was b ...
, the chairman of the BBC, to assume the vacant position of Controller of
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irelan ...
.
Later career
Hetherington's time as Controller of BBC Scotland was not a happy one. He did much to invigorate programme output and appointed a number of specialist News correspondents including
Helen Liddell
Helen Lawrie Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke PC (' Reilly; born 6 December 1950) is a British politician and life peer who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2003 and British High Commissioner to Australia from 2005 to ...
and
Chris Baur to try to increase Scotland's presence on the BBC networks . He also sought increased financial freedom from the BBC in London. Encountering a more bureaucratic organisation than the one he knew at ''The Guardian'', he clashed with the director general of the BBC,
Charles Curran. In 1978 he was sacked from the position by Curran's successor,
Ian Trethowan and named as Manager of BBC Radio Highland. In 1982 he became research professor in media studies at
Stirling University
The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...
and in 1984 he succeeded Richard Scott as chairman of the
Scott Trust. He brought a new style to that office as a hands-on and interventionist chairman, giving critical support to his successor as editor, Peter Preston. He also played a substantial part in the appointment of his successor as chairman, Hugo Young.
In 1989 he retired to the
Isle of Arran
The Isle of Arran (; sco, Isle o Arran; gd, Eilean Arainn) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Historically part of Butesh ...
, where he wrote and worked on projects before he was forced to give up such activities due to the onset of
Alzheimer's disease in the mid-1990s.
Personal life
Hetherington was married twice. His first marriage was in 1957 to Miranda Oliver, a librarian who worked in the cuttings library at the ''Manchester Guardian''. Together they had four children. After their divorce in 1978, Hetherington met Sheila Janet Cameron, a political consultant, in 1979 and married her later that year.
Death and memorials
Hetherington died on 3 October 1999 and is buried next to his parents in the cemetery in
Tillicoultry
Tillicoultry ( ; Scottish Gaelic: Tulach Cultraidh, perhaps from older Gaelic ''Tullich-cul-tir'', or "the mount/hill at the back of the country") is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the loc ...
, just south-east of the war memorial.
The Institute of Contemporary Scotland's Academy of Merit makes an annual Alastair Hetherington Award for Humanitarian Service. In 1999,
Stirling University
The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...
instituted an annual Hetherington Memorial Lecture in his memory.
Publications
* ''Guardian Years'' (London: Chatto & Windus, 1981)
* ''News, Newspapers and Television'' (Macmillan, London, 1985)
* ''News in the Regions: Plymouth Sound to Moray Firth'' (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Macmillan Press, 1989)
* ''Highlands and Islands: A Generation of Progress'' (Aberdeen University Press, 1990)
* ''Inside BBC Scotland 1975–80 A Personal View''(Whitewater, Edinburgh 1992)
* ''A Walker's Guide to Arran'' (1995)
Honours
* Honorary Fellow,
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 1 ...
, 1971
* Named ''Journalist of the Year'' in the National Press Awards, 1971.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Alastair Hetherington obituary at The Guardianalternate link
Papers, 1958–75
edited by Dr Thomas Nossiter
Thomas Johnson Nossiter (24 December 1937 – 12 January 2004) was Professor of Government at the London School of Economics from 1989 until 1994.
Early life
Nossiter was the son of Alfred and Margaret (''née'' Hume) Nossiter. He was educat ...
Catalogue of the papers of Alastair Hetherington held at LSE Archives
Alastair Hetheringtion collection at the University of Stirling Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hetherington, Alastair
1919 births
1999 deaths
People educated at Gresham's School
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
British Army personnel of World War II
Royal Armoured Corps officers
British male journalists
British newspaper editors
The Guardian journalists
Harkness Fellows
Northamptonshire Yeomanry officers
Intelligence Corps officers