Sir Harold Evans: Our debt to the ultimate editor – The Yorkshire Post says

THE newspaper titan Sir Harold Evans was a pioneer of the type of public interest journalism that defines a free press – unmasking the truth about the scandals that officialdom want to suppress.
By YP Comment
Published 24th Sep 2020, 11:37 BST
Sir Harold Evans, who has died at the age of 92, was a titan of Fleet Street.Sir Harold Evans, who has died at the age of 92, was a titan of Fleet Street.
Sir Harold Evans, who has died at the age of 92, was a titan of Fleet Street.

That he did so with distinction at, first, the Northern Echo and then The Sunday Times, is testament to this country’s finest investigative journalist who, alongside fearless teams, exposed shameful injustices, like the thalidomide scandal, long before Freedom of Information laws made it easier to access sensitive documents.

In his memoir, My Paper Chase, he observed: “I liked the maxim by Sir Linton Andrews, editor of The Yorkshire Post, that an editor of a great newspaper was the temporary custodian of a tradition.”

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Yet this in fact does a disservice to Sir Harold; an editor who gave a voice to the voiceless and redefined the meaning of accountability to show how newspapers could utilise their influence for the greater good.

Sir Harold Evans, with his wife Tina Brown, on being knighted in 2004 for services to journalism.Sir Harold Evans, with his wife Tina Brown, on being knighted in 2004 for services to journalism.
Sir Harold Evans, with his wife Tina Brown, on being knighted in 2004 for services to journalism.

And that needs placing on the record.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson

Related topics:The Sunday TimesYorkshire

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