The British newspaper industry is mourning the loss of one of its most respected and enduring figures, Bill Hagerty, who has died at the age of 86. His remarkable career, which spanned an incredible seven decades, traced the arc of modern journalism from the golden age of Fleet Street to the digital revolution.
A Seventy-Year Journey in Journalism
Hagerty's life in newspapers began at the tender age of 16, writing amateur football reports for the Walthamstow Post for £3 5s a week. In a poignant full-circle moment, his final regular work, continued until months before his death, was match reporting on Brentford FC for the Chiswick Calendar website. He often reflected on this circularity, calling journalism a "funny old game" when awarded the Journalist Laureate by the London Press Club in 2023.
He became a central figure at the Mirror Group for two decades, holding senior roles including Editor of the People (1991-92), Deputy Editor of both the Sunday Mirror and Daily Mirror, and a stint as Acting Editor of the daily title. His career was firmly in popular, or 'red top', journalism, but he was a fierce advocate for its ethical standards, famously stating that editors were more concerned "with ethics than Essex".
A Lifelong Defender of the Press
Hagerty dedicated his life to defending press freedom and upholding journalistic integrity. In later years, he voiced deep concern over the decline of local newspapers and the lack of training for young journalists, warning of the damage to democracy. He championed these causes for over 30 years as a member, and later editor (2002-2012), of the British Journalism Review.
He also served energetically on the council of the Journalists' Charity from 2002 to 2021, chairing it in 2011-12. While nostalgic for old Fleet Street's camaraderie, he enthusiastically embraced the industry's digital transformation, though his paramount worry was maintaining standards in the shift to an online world—a change he accurately predicted in a 2004 article.
From Hollywood Stars to Alastair Campbell's Diaries
At heart a writer, Hagerty's time as the Daily Mirror's showbusiness editor, a role he started in 1967, granted him access to Hollywood legends like John Wayne, Richard Burton, and Joan Collins. His anecdotes from this era became legendary in the Mirror's New Fetter Lane pub, known as "The Stab".
Beyond newspapers, his literary legacy is significant. He wrote Read All About It for the Daily Mirror's centenary in 2003 and co-authored Flash, Bang, Wallop! with photographer Kent Gavin. After leaving editing, he curated his "dream job" as a film and theatre critic until 2009. Perhaps his most notable post-editorial work was editing the eight volumes of Alastair Campbell's Diaries published between 2010 and 2021.
Born in Ilford on 23 April 1939, Bill Hagerty was the eldest of three sons. He discovered in adulthood that his mother had Jewish heritage. He passed the 11-plus but was discouraged from journalism by his grammar school headmaster—advice his innate pugnacity led him to spectacularly disprove. After National Service in the RAF, he learned his trade on local papers and Reynold's News before finding his home at the Mirror.
Hagerty was known for his unfailing kindness and courtesy in a notoriously tough industry. He is survived by his second wife, BBC journalist Liz Vercoe, their son Adam, the children from his first marriage, Will and Faith, and his brother Michael. His daughter Laura predeceased him. Bill Hagerty died on 26 December 2025.
