Richard Keith Stott (17 August 1943 – 30 July 2007) was a British journalist and editor. Born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, he attended

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 ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. He began his career in journalism with the '' Bucks Herald'', aged 19. After the Great Train Robbery that year, he was the only journalist to interview the driver of the train that pulled the hijacked one off the main line. As a result of this interview, it was realised that the cash haul was a great deal more than had at first been estimated. Stott is the only man to have edited two British national newspapers twice: 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 ...

'' from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1991 to 1992, and the ''

Sunday People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the '' ...

'' from 1984 to 1985 and again (by then known as ''The People'') from 1990 to 1991. He was one of the few journalists who could call

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...

's bluff during the time he was editor, and sometimes refused to meet Maxwell's demands. "I considered myself to be working for the ''Mirror'', not for Maxwell", Stott wrote. "I believed in what the ''Mirror'' stood for - social justice, decent and honest standards in public life and the right for people with small voices to be heard loud and clear". Stott's ''Mirror'' headline commemorating Maxwell the day after he died ("The Man Who Saved The Mirror") was mocked, but soon afterwards Stott was covering Maxwell's plundering of the company pension funds. After Stott headed a failed management attempt at a buyout, the new chief executive of

Mirror Group Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and internet journalism, digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ' ...

David Montgomery fired him. At the suggestion of owner

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

, Stott edited the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' newspaper from 1993 to November 1995, when the paper ceased publication. During this time, he appointed

Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is a British journalist and television presenter, best known as the host of BBC game show ''The Weakest Link'' from 2000 to 2012, and again in 2017 for a one-off celebrity special for ''Children ...

and

Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster, and activist, who is known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman an ...

to work for ''Today''. Subsequently, Stott was a columnist for 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 ...

'' (1997–2000) and the ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'' (2001–7). Among many interests, he enjoyed buying paintings by modern artists and building a fine collection of books. The younger brother of the actor Judith Stott, his brother-in-law for nearly twenty-years was the comedian Dave Allen, also an amateur artist, whom he greatly admired. Stott's memoir, ''Dogs and Lampposts'', was published in 2002 by Metro. Stott spent much of his last year editing Alastair Campbell's book ''

The Blair Years ''The Blair Years'' is a book by Alastair Campbell, featuring extracts from his diaries detailing the period during which he worked for Tony Blair. Published by Random House, the book was released on 9 July 2007, only two weeks after Blair stood ...

''. Stott died in London, aged 63, of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

; he was survived by his widow Penny, three children and four grandchildren.

References

External links

BBC obituary
1943 births 2007 deaths British male journalists British newspaper editors Deaths from pancreatic cancer Journalists from Oxford People educated at Clifton College Deaths from cancer in England The Sunday People people Daily Mirror people {{UK-journalist-stub