Fergus Shanahan (born 26 January 1955) is a British journalist. Since 2007 he has been Executive Editor of The Sun newspaper. [1]
Early life and education
Shanahan was born in London. He attended Maidenhead Grammar School.
Career
Shanahan began his career on the Reading Chronicle and Reading Evening Post. He worked as a sub-editor for the Mirror Group, The Times and Express Newspapers. He joined The Sun in 1989, working as a Night Editor before being appointed Deputy Editor in 2000. He was deputy to David Yelland 2000 - 2003 and Rebekah [2] Brooks (nee Wade) 2003 - 2007. [3] [4] He was also a political columnist on The Sun 2004 – 2008. [5] [6]
On 28 January 2012 The Daily Telegraph and BBC reported that Shanahan was arrested as part of the Operation Elveden police inquiry into allegations of improper payments by journalists to public officials. [7] [8] The inquiry is connected to the News International phone hacking scandal. In July 2013 he pleaded not guilty; [9] on 20 March 2015 Shanahan was cleared of charges that he had signed off illegal payments. [10]
Personal
Shanahan is married with two daughters. He lives in Essex.
References
- ^ "Sun executive Fergus Shanahan to face trial for paying public official". The Times, 19 April 2013.
- ^ "News of the World editor quits". BBC News.
- ^ Dr George Morgan; Professor Scott Poynting (28 January 2013). Global Islamophobia: Muslims and Moral Panic in the West. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 202–. ISBN 978-1-4094-9536-9.
- ^ Martin Hickman; Tom Watson (19 April 2012). Dial M for Murdoch: News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 254–. ISBN 978-0-241-96105-6.
- ^ Arthur Aughey (15 July 2007). The Politics of Englishness. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6873-7.
- ^ "Sun columnist who became foreman of jury in murder case was 'faithful to his oath'". Solicitors Journal.
- ^ "Four Sun journalists arrested", Daily Telegraph, London, January 28, 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012
- ^ "Operation Elveden:Five held in police payment probe", BBC News, 28 January 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012
- ^ "Sun executive pleads not guilty to charges over alleged payments". The Guardian, 22 July 2013.
- ^ "Sun journalists cleared in payments trial". BBC News. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.