Broadcaster Edward Stourton Dies at Age 68

Edward Stourton died on Saturday at the age of 68, the BBC announced. He had homes in south London and south-west France and was surrounded by family at the time. Stourton began his career at ITN, where he helped launch Channel 4 News and served as its first Washington correspondent during the later years of the Reagan presidency.

He joined the BBC as Paris correspondent in 1988, returned briefly to ITN as diplomatic editor, then came back to present the One O'Clock News on BBC One. His BBC assignments also included Panorama, Assignment and Correspondent. He joined the Today programme in 1999 and remained one of its presenters until 2008.

During that period he reported from Lebanon and Afghanistan and was among the first correspondents to reach New York after the 9/11 attacks. After leaving the daily slot his departure was leaked to a newspaper before he had been informed. He continued to contribute to Today while presenting The World At One, The World This Weekend and the religious affairs programme Sunday.

“His dignity and courage through his illness were an inspiration to everyone who knew him.”

“— James Naughtie Stourton was born in 1957 in Nigeria, spent part of his childhood in Geneva, attended Ampleforth College and read English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he served as President of the Union. His Catholic faith informed several of his projects, including the four-part BBC Two series Absolute Truth and the biography John Paul II: Man of History. His final book, Made in America: the Dark History that Led to Donald Trump, was published to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence.”