Press Gazette names top forty journalists of the modern era

The 40 most influential journalistic figures of the past 40 years have been named by Press Gazette.

Press Gazette Hall of Fame honours the men and women who have shaped the modern era of British journalism and they are honoured with photographs which have been hung at the National Portrait Gallery.

The list was drawn up by a panel of former and present newspaper editors comprising Sir Harold Evans, Paul Dacre, Kelvin MacKenzie, Sir Max Hastings, Alan Rusbridger, Andreas Whittam Smith, Sir Peter Stothard and Charles Wilson who deliberated over a long list of 150 names before whittling it down to the final 40.

A souvenir winners booklet will be given away free with this week's issue of Press Gazette magazine which also includes the first in-depth interview News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch has given in the UK in five years.

The Press Gazette Hall of Fame

1. David Astor, Observer editor 1948-75 & sometime proprietor
2. Cyril Connolly, Influential literary critic, notably for the Sunday Times
3. Hugh Cudlipp, editor Sunday Pictorial at 24; subsequently editor-in-chief of the Pic and the Daily Mirror, then editorial director and, finally, chairman of Mirror Group and IPC
4. W.F. Deedes, Daily Telegraph writer for more than 60 years & editor 1974-1986. A Fleet Street figure since 1931 and alleged model for Evelyn Waugh's William Boot in Scoop
5. Nigel Dempster, Daily Mail diarist 1974-2003
6. David English, Editor Daily Sketch 1969-71, then co-creator, with Lord (Vere) Rothermere, of the compact Daily Mail and editor 1971-92. Later chairman and editor-in-chief Associated Newspapers
7. Paul Foot, Campaigning journalist and long-time Mirror columnist
8. Carl Giles, Daily Express and Sunday Express editorial cartoonist 1943-95
9. Felicity Green, Pioneering Daily Mirror women's editor, also the first woman to sit on the board of any Fleet Street newspaper as the Mirror's assistant editor
10. Denis Hamilton, Sunday Times editor 1961-67 who presided over the birth of the Insight investigative team and the-then revolutionary colour magazine; also joint Times & Sunday Times editor-in-chief 1967-81
11. Alastair Hetherington, Guardian editor 1956-75
12. Simon Jenkins, Times editor 1990-92 & influential columnist
13. Paul Johnson, New Statesman editor 1965-70, columnist & historian
14. John Junor, Sunday Express editor 1954-86. Credited with establishing it as a major journalistic force.
15. Trevor Kavanagh, Sun political editor 1983-present
16. John Kay, The Sun's chief reporter since 1990 and two-time winner of the prestigious British Press Awards' Reporter of the Year citation
17. Larry Lamb, Inaugural editor of the Sun 1969-72, and again from 1975-81, taking the circulation from 650,000 to more than four million, the largest daily sale in the English-speaking world. Also edited the Daily Express 1984-86
18. Lynda Lee-Potter, Long-time Daily Mail columnist dubbed the 'First Lady of Fleet Street'
19. Ann Leslie, Renowned Daily Mail foreign correpondent, present at many of the 20th Century's major events
20. Bernard Levin, Critic and columnist
21. Richard Littlejohn, Popular and populist columnist for the Sun and the Daily Mail since 1989
22. Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph pocket cartoonist since 1988
23. Don McCullin, War photographer who covered events of global importance for the Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s and 1970s.
24. Hugh McIlvanney, Observer and Sunday Times chief sports correspondent
25. Vincent Muchrone, Award-winning Daily Mail features writer
26. Andrew Neil, Sunday Times editor 1983-94; latterly publisher of titles including Scotsman, The Business and the Spectator
27. Gordon Newton, Financial Times editor 1950-72, who transformed the paper from a modest eight pages selling 50,000 copies a day to one averaging 40 pages and a circulation of 200,000
28. Bruce Page, Australian-born investigative journalist who led the Sunday Times' renowned 'Insight' team and whose scoops included the uncovering of the thalidomide scandal
29. Chapman Pincher, Intelligence expert & author
30. Peter Preston, Guardian editor 1975-95
31. Marje Proops, Doyenne of agony aunts, Daily Mirror columnist 1954-96
32. William Rees Mogg, Times editor 1967-81 & political columnist
33. Gerald Scarfe, Sunday Times political cartoonist for 37 years
34. Mary Stott, Guardian women's editor 1957-72
35. Nicholas Tomalin, Legendary investigative journalist & war correspondent
36. Jill Tweedie, Influential feminist journalist & writer, Guardian columnist 1969-88
37. Keith Waterhouse, Cantankerous Daily Mail columnist, playwright, screenwriter & novelist
38. Charles Wintour, Evening Standard editor 1959-76, 1978-80
39. Ian Wooldridge, Long-time Mail sports colunmist
40. Hugo Young, Sunday Times political editor 1973-84, Guardian columnist & Scott Trust chairman 1990-2003