Broadcaster and journalist Edward Stourton dies aged 68

Broadcaster and journalist Edward Stourton dies aged 68BySteven McIntoshEntertainment reporterPublishedJust nowBroadcaster 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".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.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Edward Stourton photographed at home in 2003Edward 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.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.Image caption, Stourton in 2007 with Today co-hosts Carolyn Quinn, John Humphrys, Sarah Montague and James NaughtieHi...