The International Press Institute (IPI) mourns the death of Peter Preston, the long-time editor of Britain’s the Guardian newspaper and former IPI chair known for his staunch defence of press freedom.
A leading figure of British journalism, Preston joined the Guardian in 1963 and assumed the paper’s top position in 1975 at the age of 37. He remained at the helm until 1995, and is credited with having transformed the Guardian “into a genuine national force with an international reputation”.
In 1976, Preston became an IPI member, an affiliation he would hold for more than 40 years. During that time, he became one of the world’s most passionate and respected voices in support of the press’s right to report on matters of public interest.
“Freedom of the press is only one factor in a functioning democracy, but without it there can be no proper freedom,” Preston wrote recently. “It is the release valve of government, the guarantee that the public, the voters, will always be kept informed. And when there is no information, there can be no trust, and no understanding of different elements of society.”
Preston served as IPI chair from 1995 to 1997 and spent a total of nine years on IPI’s executive board, from 1988 to 1997. He also served as the organisation’s vice-chair from 1991 to 1995 and as the head of IPI’s UK National Committee until 2011.
“Peter will be deeply missed by all of us at IPI,” current IPI Chair John Yearwood said. “His impact on the organization goes well beyond his tenure on the board.”
Ken MacQuarrie, a current IPI vice-chair and the BBC’s nations and regions director, added: “Peter was an inspirational editor and journalist. He was passionate about international journalism, and IPI and press freedom were close to his heart. In a personal capacity, he was always generous, encouraging and wise. His passing is an enormous loss to the global journalistic community.”
As chair, Preston demonstrated a keen awareness of the need to remain vigilant to threats to press freedom, pushing IPI to stand up loudly and unwaveringly in the face of inevitable efforts to muzzle critical discourse and to celebrate the important victories.
“The battle for press freedom is never won. It, too, is work in progress,” he told the audience at IPI’s 1997 World Congress in Granada, Spain. “But there is no reason, on this long road, why we should never stop to salute the triumphs.”
Peter Preston (second from right) joins IPI Director Johann Fritz (second from left) in awarding the 1997 Free Media Pioneer Award to the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Indonesia).
Conscious of changing newsroom ecosystems, Preston is remembered for his decision to expand IPI’s membership beyond the traditional constituencies of editors and media executives to include leading journalists. He worked tirelessly to expand the organisation’s global footprint, overseeing successful IPI World Congresses in Seoul, Jerusalem and Granada, and supporting IPI’s continued efforts to assist in the media transformation of former Eastern Bloc countries. An early adopter of online news publishing at the Guardian, Preston strongly advocated for IPI to invest in digital communication, especially a strong website.
Both during and in the years following his tenure as chair, Preston frequently joined IPI press freedom missions around the world, lending his time, experience and energy to fight for colleagues in less fortunate situations than he.
Most recently, in 2013, he joined prominent editors within IPI’s network on a visit to Turkey to protest arrests and imprisonment of selected journalists in a foreshadowing of today’s mass crackdown.
Peter Preston (third from left) accompanies IPI members on a press freedom mission to Turkey in 2012.
In an article written earlier this year in support of Turkey’s jailed journalists, Preston wrote the following words, which have resonance far beyond Turkish shores:
“Those who seek to shut down independent journalism often argue that it is responsible for a dangerous fracturing in society. On the contrary, such journalism is the underpinning of a democracy which increases society’s resilience. It is a vital element in binding wounds, encouraging self-awareness – and summoning the resolve to overcome threats both internal and external.”
After stepping down as the Guardian’s editor in 1995, Preston continued to write for the paper as a columnist. In recent years, his column “On press and broadcasting” analysed the changing conditions of news production and consumption while defending journalism as an indispensable good and shining a light on efforts to stifle it, wherever they might occur.
Peter Preston (left) together with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former IPI Director Johann Fritz at IPI’s 1994 World Congress in Cape Town.
While Preston, who passed away on Jan. 6 after a long battle with cancer, is rightly recognised by many as a tremendous journalist who shaped the political discourse of a nation for more than two decades and who set the course of what is today one of the world’s foremost English-language newspapers, the IPI community will also remember him as a great friend and as a generous and tireless advocate who believed strongly in IPI’s core mission.
“There is one other thing which is inexorably part of the IPI’s brief,” he said at IPI’s 1996 World Congress in Jerusalem. “We work through the year to defend and extend press freedoms. We do that, to a certain extent, out of self-interest, since we wish to work as free journalists. But there is and has always been, a point beyond that for IPI, for we believe most vehemently that democracy and freedom of the press go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.”
He will be deeply missed.
IPI members on Peter Preston
Kadri Gürsel, IPI board member and chair, IPI Turkey National Committee:
“Peter Preston was an elegant, brave and erudite person that a community like ours would have always be happy and confident to have one around as an active member. He contributed tremendously to journalism in his country, Great Britain, and through his role at IPI was a dedicated defender of press freedom nationally and globally. IPI’s Turkish National Committee will always remember him for his noble and active support of our cause of defending press freedom against its enemies in Turkey.”
Raymond Louw, IPI World Press Freedom Hero (South Africa):
“I had a very high regard for Peter, his integrity, his promotion of high journalistic standards and principles and I valued his warmth as a personal friend. He is a great loss to the profession; his contribution to the debates on the problems and challenges that arose reflected a dedication and strong belief in the values and importance of journalism as a vital public service.”
Sir Harold Evans, IPI World Press Freedom Hero and former Sunday Times Editor (UK):
“Peter Preston was a journalist imbued with the ideals of Europe and committed all his life to the highest standards of integrity in our ceaseless search for truth. He was never less than valiant in supporting the work of the International Press Institute.”
Janne Virkkunen, Former IPI chair and former senior editor at Helsingin Sanomat (Finland):
“Peter was a great journalist and a great defender of press freedom. He was not an easy man. It was relatively difficult to really learn to know him but when he accepted you, his loyalty was self evident. I could always rely on his loyalty. He once said to me: ‘An editor has to make compromises but don’t ever compromise on the issues of the Press Freedom’. It was a good advise and I have tried to follow it.”
Bruce Brugmann, IPI Fellow; founder and editor-at-large, San Francisco Bay Guardian (USA):
“Peter was a world class editor who could do it all. Report, edit, do movie reviews, write influential editorials, transform a major metropolitan newspaper, lead free press missions around the world and do it all with wit, grace and distinction. Journalism and the free press has suffered a great loss.”
Ferai Tinc, former IPI board member; former foreign editor and columnist at Hürriyet (Turkey):
“I am very said about the passing of our former chair Peter Preston. He has always been a staunch supporter of our struggle here in Turkey against the violations of press freedom. I can not forget those days when he, even though he was not feeling very well, accepted to lead an IPI mission to Turkey. I always admired his enthusiasm and precision in his work for press freedom and for IPI. I am sure his memory will be an example for future generations. My condolences to his family and fellow IPI members.”
Kenneth Best, IPI World Press Freedom Hero; publisher and managing director, Daily Observer (Liberia):
“On behalf of the entire Daily Observer family in Liberia, our deepest condolences go out to you all, and most especially to the bereaved family of our dear colleague, Peter Preston, on his passing. May his soul rest in perfect peace and may the Almighty grant comfort and strength to the family in this painful hour.”
