William Hardcastle

William Hardcastle (26 March 1918 – 10 November 1975) was a British journalist, editor of the Daily Mail and first presenter of the lunchtime news programme The World at One on BBC Radio.

Hardcastle was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and educated at the Newcastle Preparatory School and Durham School. His early intention to follow his father into the medical profession was thwarted when he contracted osteomyelitis as a fifteen-year-old, and in 1938 he joined the Shields Gazette as a reporter.

In 1959 Hardcastle was appointed editor of the Sunday Dispatch, and after two months in that job was moved to become editor of the Daily Mail until 1963, His daughter, Sally Hardcastle (1945–2014), was also a broadcast journalist.