Tony Gallagher, the highly respected editor of The Times, has been presented with a Fellowship Award for outstanding contribution to journalism by the Society of Editors.
Gallagher, editor of The Times since 2022, was presented with the accolade at the Society’s annual Future of News Conference which took place in London on Tuesday 17 March 2026.
Starting out as a trainee journalist at the Southern Evening Echo in Southampton, Gallagher joined the South West News Agency in Bristol before moving to Fleet Street as a reporter with the Today newspaper and the Daily Mail where he became joint deputy editor. He is one of only a handful of journalists that has held the editorship of several national titles. He spent five years as editor of the Daily Telegraph between 2009 and 2014 and was editor-in-chief of The Sun between 2015 and 2020. He was deputy editor of The Times between 2020 and 2022.
Presenting the award, Ian MacGregor, chairman of the Society of Editors and Emeritus Editor at The Telegraph said: “Tony Gallagher is not only one of the most distinguished and successful journalists of his generation, he is also the only person ever to have edited the Times, the Sun and the Daily Telegraph.
“In all those roles, Tony has displayed incredible commitment to his work, a deep passion for providing readers with what they want, a strong, unerring belief in the importance of freedom of expression, and a ‘’never-be-beaten‘’ attitude. He is also known for his exceptional judgment, both of stories and people. I cannot think of a better role model than the recipient of today’s Society of Editors fellowship award, Tony Gallagher.”
The conference, which brought together more than 200 senior editors and news leaders from across all platforms, also saw the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy MP announce the government’s Local Media Strategy The event also saw the launch of a police and media charter aimed at strengthening trust and improving communications between officers and journalists as well as a plea by the son of jailed British media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was last month sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong, for the UK media to continue telling his father’s story.
Photos and news reports from the conference can be found at www.societyofeditors.org
