Broadcaster and journalist Edward Stourton dies aged 68

Broadcaster and journalist Edward Stourton, whose career spanned more than 40 years including a decade on Radio 4’s Today, has died aged 68.

Stourton, who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014, died on Saturday surrounded by his family, the BBC announced in a statement.

The presenter’s friend and former Today co-host James Naughtie praised Stourton’s “warm intelligence and wit”, adding he was “one of the best colleagues”.

Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya described Stourton as an “absolutely outstanding broadcaster”, while the BBC’s interim news chief Jonathan Munro said it was “far too soon to lose Ed”.

The Today programme’s current editor Rebecca Keating said she and colleagues referred to Stourton as the “Rolls Royce of broadcasting”.

“His sharp mind and vast knowledge of the world brought to bear on any story with zero fuss,” she wrote on X.

In his 2023 memoir Confessions, Stourton revealed he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer nearly a decade earlier.

He had treatment but was later told it had become incurable and spread. Stourton continued to work until very recently.

Edward Stourton’s career began at ITN, where he helped launch Channel 4 News and became the programme’s first Washington correspondent in the latter years of the Reagan presidency.

He joined the BBC as Paris correspondent in 1988, and after a period back at ITN as diplomatic editor, returned to present the One O’Clock News on BBC One.

His BBC work also included Panorama, Assignment, Correspondent, as well as a phone-in programme on Radio 4, Call Ed Stourton.

He also hosted The Heaven and Earth Show and fronted documentaries including Absolute Truth, a four-part BBC Two series about the Catholic Church.

Stourton became a presenter of the flagship Today programme in 1999, where his immense experience as a foreign correspondent served him well while reporting from countries such as Lebanon and Afghanistan.

He was also one of the first correspondents to reach New York after the 9/11 terror attacks.

His departure from Today in 2008 was leaked to a newspaper before he had been told, upsetting Stourton and many of his colleagues, but he remained at the BBC and went on to present several other news programmes.

In recent years, as well as writing and presenting documentaries for Radio 4, Stourton fronted the network’s religious affairs programme, Sunday, as well as regularly hosting The World At One and The World This Weekend.

Stourton was born in 1957 in Nigeria, where his father was working, and also spent time as a boy in Geneva. He was educated at Ampleforth College and read English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was President of the Union.

His Catholic faith was an important part of his life, and reflected in his writing. Among his many books was John Paul II: Man of History, a revelatory biography of the former Pope.

His last book, written to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence, was Made in America: the Dark History that Led to Donald Trump.

Paying tribute, Naughtie said Stourton’s “warm intelligence and wit were admired and enjoyed by generations with whom he worked”.

“And as a friend, he was always a rock of support and kindness. His dignity and courage through his illness were an inspiration to everyone who knew him. He was, simply, much-loved,” he added.

Munro recalled: “I worked as his producer when he was ITN’s diplomatic editor – unflappable then and ever after.

“Many years later, I was listening to his superb analysis of the new Pope for the BBC – another of his many areas of expertise. Not many broadcasters can present Today, BBC One’s One O’clock News, The World at One and Sunday – but he did. He leaves a huge gap.”

Bakaya said Stourton “brought intelligence, authority and an extraordinary hinterland to everything he did”.

“When Ed was behind the mic, whether on Sunday or the various news programmes he regularly presented for Radio 4, you felt you understood the world that little bit better. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time.”

Stourton, who had homes in south London and south-west France, is survived by his wife Fiona, who is a senior television producer, two sons, a daughter and a step-daughter.