Edward Stourton Dies: Legendary UK Broadcaster Was 68

UK broadcaster Edward Stourton, whose 45-year career included first-hand coverage of the Ronald Reagan era, the first Gulf War, the Siege of Sarajevo and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, has died. He was 68.

The BBC announced on Monday that Stourton, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014, had died on Saturday surrounded by his family.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1957, Stourton broke into journalism as a trainee at the UK’s Independent Television News (ITN), where he was a founding member of Channel 4 News.

He got his first taste of international news coverage in Beirut in 1983, to then head to the U.S. in 1986 as Channel 4’s Washington Correspondent in the final years of the Ronald Reagan presidency.

Stourton followed this with a stint as the Paris correspondent for the BBC from 1988 until 1990, when he rejoined ITN as Diplomatic Editor. The latter role saw him report from Baghdad during the Gulf War; Bosnia during the siege of Sarajevo, and Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union among many other major stories.

He returned to the BBC in 1993 to present BBC One’s One O’Clock News for six years as well as present editions of current affairs shows such as Assignment and Panorama at the same time as branching into radio.

He joined Radio 4’s flagship Today news and current affairs program in 1999, where he was one of its key presenters. In his early years on the show, he was one of the first international journalists to make it to New York in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The Today chapter came to abrupt end with his firing in 2008 to make way for Justin Webb.

The dropping of Stourton prompted a mini-media storm and wider public outcry among loyal listeners at the time, which was further stirred up when it came to light that he had been made aware of his imminent departure via a media leak rather than official channels.

In spite of the drama, he continued to work at the BBC for the rest of his career.

A life-long practicing Roman Catholic, Stourton was also an authority on religious and ethical issues, which he explored in his 1997 four-part series Absolute Truth about the modern Catholic Church, long-running radio show Sunday as well as in 2006 papal biography ‘John Paul II: Man of History’.

The latter publication was among ten books written by Stourton across his career, which included his last major project ‘Made in America: the Dark History that Led to Donald Trump’. In a return to his early journalistic stomping ground, the exploration of American history came out this year to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence.

Jonathan Munro, Interim CEO, BBC News and Current Affairs, said of Stourton: “It’s far too soon to lose Ed. I worked as his producer when he was ITN’s Diplomatic Editor – unflappable then and ever after. Many years later I was listening to his superb analysis of the new Pope for the BBC – another of his many areas of expertise. Not many broadcasters can present Today, BBC One’s One O’clock News, The World at One and Sunday – but he did. He leaves a huge gap.”

Stourton is survived by his four children and wife, Fiona Stourton.