Steve Hewlett

Stephen Edward Hewlett (8 August 1958 – 20 February 2017) was a British print, radio and TV journalist, and visiting professor of Journalism and Broadcast Policy at the University of Salford.

Early life Hewlett was born on 8 August 1958. he later described his adoptive family as "fabulously caring and supportive". Hewlett was educated at Harold Malley Grammar School in Solihull (the school now called Alderbrook), and the local sixth form college. In 1981 he graduated in liberal studies in science at Manchester University, where as a student activist he helped organise a rent strike.

At Channel 4 he was a founding producer on the current affairs programmes The Friday Alternative and Diverse Reports, before returning to the BBC in 1987 where he rose through contributing to similar current affairs programmes including Brass Tacks. By 1995, he was editor of the Panorama current affairs documentary series, and was the editor of the series's interview of Diana, Princess of Wales by Martin Bashir.

Passed over to be the next controller of BBC One, he returned to Channel 4 before quickly joining ITV franchise holder Carlton Television as managing director of productions. This brought him to the attention of BBC Radio 4's then-controller Mark Damazer, who asked Hewlett to create The Media Show in 2008. In 2011 Hewlett won the BBC's Nick Clarke Award for "the best broadcast interview of the year" for his The Media Show interview with Peta Buscombe, the then chair of the Press Complaints Commission. Probing the PCC's inadequate handling of the phone-hacking scandal, Hewlett's interview is credited with playing a role in ending the career of Buscombe. and was instrumental in the appointment of Heather Croall as Festival Director and chief executive officer, a move that led to it becoming one of the world's best-regarded documentary events, according to Variety. He stepped down as the festival's chair in 2011, but continued to sit on its board of governors. In the episode broadcast on 6 February 2017 he described marrying his partner Rachel, in a ceremony arranged by the Royal Marsden Hospital within one hour, after being told that he had come to the end of possible treatment. He also wrote a series of columns "My cancer diary" in The Observer.

Personal life and death Hewlett had three sons by his former partner, Karole Lange.