Bill Hagerty

William John Gell Hagerty (23 April 1939 – 26 December 2025) was a British newspaper editor and the chairman emeritus of British Journalism Review.

Life and career Born in Ilford, Hagerty attended Beal Grammar School, where he developed an interest in journalism, although his headteacher was dismissive of the idea. Despite this, he entered journalism with local newspapers before joining Reynolds News, soon to become the Sunday Citizen, in 1962. He then moved to the Daily Sketch and then the Mirror group, where he worked for many years that included periods as assistant editor of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People.

Hagerty left the Mirror group in 1985, joining Today as managing editor and, from 1987, editor of Sunday Today. He returned to the Mirror group to become deputy editor of the Sunday Mirror in 1988, then deputy editor and subsequently acting editor of the Daily Mirror in 1990, before becoming editor of The People the following year. and then had a variety of positions, including the theatre and film critic for Today, and subsequently other publications, before becoming theatre critic of The Sun. He was appointed editor of British Journalism Review in 2002, and chairman of the journal a decade later.

Hagerty was interviewed by National Life Stories (C638/13) in 2007 for the Oral History of the British Press collection held by the British Library.

In 2011–12 he was chairman of the Journalists' Charity, of which he remained a trustee, and was a director of the London Press Club. He edited eight volumes of Alastair Campbell's diaries for publication