The Most Famous

JOURNALISTS from United Kingdom

This page contains a list of the greatest British Journalists. The pantheon dataset contains 196 Journalists, 19 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 2nd most number of Journalists.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Journalists of all time. This list of famous British Journalists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Journalists.

1. Gareth Jones (1905 - 1935)

With an HPI of 58.60, Gareth Jones is the most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages on wikipedia.

Gareth Richard Vaughan Jones (13 August 1905 – 12 August 1935) was a Welsh journalist who in March 1933 first reported in the Western world, without equivocation and under his own name, the existence of the Soviet famine of 1930–1933, including the Holodomor and the Asharshylyk. Jones had reported anonymously in The Times in 1931 on starvation in Soviet Ukraine and Southern Russia, and, after his third visit to the Soviet Union, issued a press release under his own name in Berlin on 29 March 1933 describing the widespread famine in detail. Reports by Malcolm Muggeridge, writing in 1933 as an anonymous correspondent, appeared contemporaneously in the Manchester Guardian; his first anonymous article specifying famine in the Soviet Union was published on 25 March 1933. After being banned from re-entering the Soviet Union, Jones was kidnapped by Chinese bandits and murdered in 1935 while investigating in Japanese-occupied Inner Mongolia; his murder is suspected by some, albeit without any evidence, to have been committed by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD. Upon his death, former British prime minister David Lloyd George said, "He had a passion for finding out what was happening in foreign lands wherever there was trouble, and in pursuit of his investigations he shrank from no risk. … Nothing escaped his observation, and he allowed no obstacle to turn from his course when he thought that there was some fact, which he could obtain. He had the almost unfailing knack of getting at things that mattered."

2. Jeremy Clarkson (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 58.53, Jeremy Clarkson is the 2nd most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes Top Gear (2002–2015) and The Grand Tour (2016–2024) alongside Richard Hammond and James May. He also currently writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun. Clarkson hosts the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (2018–present), and co-hosts the farming documentary show Clarkson's Farm (2021–present). From a career as a local journalist in northern England, Clarkson rose to public prominence as a presenter of the original format of Top Gear in 1988. Since the mid-1990s, he has become a recognised public personality, regularly appearing on British television presenting his own shows for the BBC and appearing as a guest on other shows. As well as motoring, Clarkson has produced programmes and books on subjects such as history and engineering, and has written numerous books. In 1998, he hosted the first series of Robot Wars; from 1998 to 2000, he also hosted his own talk show, Clarkson. In 2015 the BBC elected not to renew Clarkson's contract after he assaulted a Top Gear producer while filming on location. That year, Clarkson and his Top Gear co-presenters and producer Andy Wilman formed the production company W. Chump & Sons to produce The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video. Clarkson's opinionated but humorous tongue-in-cheek writing and presenting style has often provoked a public reaction. His actions, both privately and as a Top Gear presenter, have also sometimes resulted in criticism from the media, politicians, pressure groups, and the public. He also has a significant public following, being credited as a major factor in the resurgence of Top Gear as one of the most popular shows on the BBC. Since 2019 he has become a farmer at Diddly Squat Farm for his show, Clarkson's Farm. The show received a positive reception and became a popular show on Amazon Prime upon its release. In May 2024, the 'Clarkson's clause' amendment, named after Clarkson, was introduced which made it easier to convert unused agricultural buildings to commercial usage, something he did in Season 2 of the show when planning permission for his restaurant was denied.

3. W. T. Stead (1849 - 1912)

With an HPI of 56.96, W. T. Stead is the 3rd most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

William Thomas Stead (5 July 1849 – 15 April 1912) was an English newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst editor of The Pall Mall Gazette, including his 1885 series of articles, The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon. These were written in support of a bill, later dubbed the "Stead Act", that raised the age of consent from 13 to 16. Stead's "new journalism" paved the way for the modern tabloid in Great Britain. He has been described as "the most famous journalist in the British Empire". He is considered to have influenced how the press could be used to influence public opinion and government policy, and advocated "Government by Journalism". He was known for his reportage on child welfare, social legislation and reformation of England's criminal codes. Stead died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

4. Christopher Hitchens (1949 - 2011)

With an HPI of 56.31, Christopher Hitchens is the 4th most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 64 different languages.

Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of 18 books on faith, culture, politics, and literature. He was born and educated in Britain, graduating in the 1970s from Oxford with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. In the early 1980s, he emigrated to the United States and wrote for The Nation and Vanity Fair. Known as "one of the 'four horsemen'" (along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett) of New Atheism, he gained prominence as a columnist and speaker. His epistemological razor, which states that "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence" is still of mark in philosophy and law. Hitchens's political views evolved greatly throughout his life. Originally describing himself as a democratic socialist, he was a member of various socialist organisations in his early life, including the Trotskyist International Socialists. Hitchens was critical of aspects of American foreign policy, including its involvement in Vietnam, Chile, and East Timor. However, he also supported the United States in the Kosovo War. Hitchens emphasised the centrality of the American Revolution and Constitution to his political philosophy. He held complex views on abortion: being ethically opposed to it in most instances, and believing that a fetus was entitled to personhood; while holding ambiguous, changing views on its legality. He supported gun rights and supported same-sex marriage, while opposing the war on drugs. Beginning in the 1990s, and particularly after 9/11, his politics were widely viewed as drifting to the right, but Hitchens objected to being called 'conservative'. During the 2000s, he argued for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, endorsed the re-election campaign of US President George W. Bush in 2004, and viewed Islamism as the principal threat to the Western world. Hitchens described himself as an anti-theist and saw all religions as false, harmful, and authoritarian. He endorsed free expression, scientific scepticism, and separation of church and state, arguing science and philosophy are superior to religion as an ethical code of conduct for human civilisation. Hitchens notably wrote critical biographies of Catholic nun Mother Teresa in The Missionary Position, President Bill Clinton in No One Left to Lie to, and American diplomat Henry Kissinger in The Trial of Henry Kissinger. Hitchens died from complications related to oesophageal cancer in December 2011, at the age of 62.

5. William Wilson (1844 - 1912)

With an HPI of 50.95, William Wilson is the 5th most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

William Wilson (13 November 1844 – 1 June 1912) was a late 19th-century British journalist, swimming instructor and coach, contributor to the scientific techniques behind competitive swimming, and originator of the game of water polo. In 1883, Wilson published "The Swimming Instructor," one of the first books on swimming to define modern concepts of stroke efficiency, training, racing turns and water safety.

6. Piers Morgan (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 49.83, Piers Morgan is the 6th most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid The Sun. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of the News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, which made him the youngest editor of a British national newspaper in more than half a century. From 1995, Morgan edited the Daily Mirror, but was fired in 2004. He was the editorial director of First News from 2006 to 2007. In 2014, Morgan became the first editor-at-large of the MailOnline website's US operation. As a television presenter, Morgan hosted the ITV talk show Piers Morgan's Life Stories (2009–2020), the CNN talk show Piers Morgan Live (2011–2014), and co-presented the ITV Breakfast programme Good Morning Britain (2015–2021) alongside Susanna Reid. He has been a judge on the television talent shows America's Got Talent (2006–2011) and Britain's Got Talent (2007–2010). In 2008, Morgan won The Celebrity Apprentice US, appearing with future US president Donald Trump. He was a presenter for TalkTV (now known as Talk), hosting the program Piers Morgan Uncensored from 2022 to 2024, before leaving the network and moving the show to YouTube. Morgan was the editor of the Daily Mirror during the period in which the paper was implicated in the phone hacking scandal. In 2011, Morgan denied having ever hacked a phone and stated that he had not, "to [his] knowledge published any story obtained from the hacking of a phone". The following year, he was criticised in the findings of the Leveson Inquiry by chair Brian Leveson, who stated that comments made in Morgan's testimony about phone hacking were "utterly unpersuasive" and "that he was aware that it was taking place in the press as a whole and that he was sufficiently unembarrassed by what was criminal behaviour that he was prepared to joke about it". The judge in a 2023 court case against Mirror Group Newspapers found truthful evidence that Morgan knew about private phone hacking from a reporter, shared a method of phone hacking with a media professional while being questioned about a reporting scoop, and that Morgan played another's private phone message in the newsroom he had received from another tabloid editor. Morgan's outspoken views and controversial comments on Good Morning Britain have led Ofcom to adjudicate on multiple occasions. In March 2021, Morgan left the programme with immediate effect, following his criticism of the Oprah with Meghan and Harry interview. Ofcom received over 57,000 complaints from viewers, including a complaint from Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, herself; Morgan was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing by Ofcom.

7. Don McCullin (b. 1935)

With an HPI of 49.36, Don McCullin is the 7th most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Sir Donald McCullin (born 9 October 1935) is a British photojournalist, particularly recognised for his war photography and images of urban strife. His career, which began in 1959, has specialised in examining the underside of society, and his photographs have depicted the unemployed, downtrodden and impoverished.

8. Martin Parr (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 49.04, Martin Parr is the 8th most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world. His major projects have been rural communities (1975–1982), The Last Resort (1983–1985), The Cost of Living (1987–1989), Small World (1987–1994) and Common Sense (1995–1999). Since 1994, Parr has been a member of Magnum Photos. He has had around 40 solo photobooks published, and has featured in around 80 exhibitions worldwide – including the international touring exhibition ParrWorld, and a retrospective at the Barbican Arts Centre, London, in 2002. The Martin Parr Foundation, founded in 2014, and registered as a charity in 2015 opened premises in his hometown of Bristol in 2017. It houses his own archive, his collection of British and Irish photography by other photographers, and a gallery.

9. Murray Walker (1923 - 2021)

With an HPI of 46.76, Murray Walker is the 9th most famous British Journalist. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Graeme Murray Walker (10 October 1923 – 13 March 2021) was an English motorsport commentator and journalist. He provided television commentary of live Formula One coverage for the BBC between 1976 and 1996, and for ITV between 1997 and 2001. During his 23-year run as full-time commentator, Walker became known for his animated enthusiasm, authoritative voice and comical blunders – dubbed "Murrayisms" by fans – during live races. His commentary voice has been likened to a "screech and resembles a 500cc engine being revved up". He retired from full-time commentary after the 2001 United States Grand Prix, but returned to broadcasting part-time in 2005 and made occasional appearances on the BBC, Channel 4, Network 10 and Sky Sports F1.

10. Carol Thatcher (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 46.18, Carol Thatcher is the 10th most famous British Journalist. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Carol Jane Thatcher (born 15 August 1953) is an English journalist, author and media personality. She is the daughter of Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister from 1979 to 1990, and businessman Denis Thatcher. She has written biographies of both her parents and also produced a documentary about her father which contained his only public interview. She won the fifth series of the reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

People

Pantheon has 22 people classified as British journalists born between 1844 and 1983. Of these 22, 13 (59.09%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British journalists include Jeremy Clarkson, Piers Morgan, and Don McCullin. The most famous deceased British journalists include Gareth Jones, W. T. Stead, and Christopher Hitchens. As of April 2024, 3 new British journalists have been added to Pantheon including Carol Thatcher, Jill Dando, and Jemima Goldsmith.