Brian Hitchen,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(8 July 1936 – 2 December 2013) was a British

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

. Late in his career, he worked as a publisher.Obituary: Brian Hitchen
telegraph.co.uk, 3 December 2013 Hitchen began his career with the ''Daily Despatch'' in Manchester as a copyboy, and then joined the ''Bury Times'' as a trainee reporter a year later. His

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

followed in which he served in the Parachute Regiment during 1954–56.

Dennis Griffiths Dennis Griffiths (8 December 1933 – 24 December 2015) was a British journalist and historian, regarded as the founding father of newspaper history from the earliest days of Fleet Street. His ''Encyclopedia of the British Press 1422–1992'' has ...

(ed) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p.311 After national service, following a year on 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 20 ...

'', he began his national newspaper career when he joined 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 ...

'' in their

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

office. In 1963 he became their foreign correspondent in Paris, and then from 1965 to 1972, he reported from all over the world for the ''Mirror''. In 1965 he was sent to cover the 1965 India-Pakistan War. Whilst working for the ''Daily Mirror''s

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

bureau he reported on the 1968

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05& ...

and on the May 1970 Bogota Bracelet scandal involving

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

's captain,

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

, before the 1970 World Cup. Hitchen returned to London on the news desk for the ''Daily Mirror'' in 1972, later joining the ''

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

'' in the same post where he remained between 1973 and 1978. Hitchen edited the '' Daily Star'' from 1987 to 1994, when he became the 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 ...

'' for a year.Roy Greenslade In 1996, he set up Brian Hitchen Communications and also became chairman of the ''Kerry Life'' and Irish ''Country Life'' publications."Inside Story: The ex-editors' files"
''

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 ...

'', 9 May 2005 In 2013, an incident with a motorist while crossing the road near

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

, Spain, led to Hitchen's wife being killed instantly, while Hitchen himself died from his injuries a few hours later. Hitchen was appointed a

in Margaret Thatcher's resignation honours list in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchen, Brian 1936 births 2013 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople Daily Star (United Kingdom) people English newspaper editors English male journalists English publishers (people) British expatriates in Spain Road incident deaths in Spain British Parachute Regiment soldiers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Pedestrian road incident deaths People from Chadderton 20th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham