The political editor of a newspaper or broadcast media is the senior political reporter who covers politics and related matters for the newspaper or station. He or she may have a large team of political correspondents working under him or her.
In publishing, because of their seniority, a political editor's byline is often added to stories which actually are the work of more junior colleagues to give the story more credibility and to indicate his or her seniority within the publication. The political editor usually carries out the major interviews with a country's prime minister and senior government figures and covers major events like party conferences.
Among famous political editors, past and present, are
- Adam Boulton (Sky News) 1989 onwards
- Tom Bradby (ITN) 2005 onwards
- Michael Brunson (ITN) 1986 - 2000 retired
- John Cole (BBC News) 1981 - 1992 retired
- Julian Haviland (ITN) 1975 - 1981 subsequently became Political Editor of The Times newspaper
- David Holmes (BBC News) 1975 - 1980 retired
- Andrew Marr (BBC News) 2000 - 2005 now a BBC TV presenter
- Glyn Mathias (ITN) 1981 - 1986 subsequently BBC Wales Political Editor & Electoral Commissioner
- Robin Oakley (BBC News) 1992 - 2000 now at CNN
- Bernard Ponsonby (STV News) 2000 onwards
- Nick Robinson (ITN) 2002 - 2005 (BBC News) 2005 onwards
- Peter Hardiman Scott (BBC News) 1970 - 1975
- John Sergeant (ITN) 2000 - 2002 retired
- John Simpson (BBC News) 1980 - 1981 now BBC World Affairs Editor
- Brian Taylor (BBC Scotland) 1985 onwards
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or editor:
“I would wish that the women of our country could embrace ... [the responsibilities] of citizenship as peculiarly their own. If they could apply their higher sense of service and responsibility, their freshness of enthusiasm, their capacity for organization to this problem, it would become, as it should become, an issue of profound patriotism. The whole plane of political life would be lifted.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“An editor is someone who separates the wheat from the chaff and then prints the chaff.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)