Roger Alton

Who is Roger Alton?

Roger Alton is an English journalist. Currently executive editor of The Times he was formerly editor of The Independent and The Observer.

He was educated at Clifton College and Exeter College, Oxford. He joined the Liverpool Post on graduation moving to The Guardian five years later as a sub-editor. He was the editor of the British national Sunday newspaper The Observer from 1998 to 2007. Under his editorship, The Observer's editorial view supported the invasion of Iraq, a stance that Alton, speaking to Stephen Sackur on BBC's HARDtalk, has since admitted may have been incorrect.

He resigned on 24 October 2007 after "a bitter falling-out with senior figures at the title's sister paper, The Guardian", and left The Observer at the end of 2007. Previously he was arts editor and G2 editor of The Guardian. He oversaw a rise in circulation during his editorship and introduced the award-winning Observer Sports, Food, and Music Monthlies. He is also well known for his profane language in morning editorial conferences.

In April 2008, Alton was confirmed as the new editor of The Independent, beginning work on 1 July 2008. Since then, the Independent's circulation has plummeted by nearly 20 percent. He also writes a fortnightly sport column in the Spectator. Alton resigned from The Independent in April when the paper reverted to its former editor, Simon Kelner.