Roger Alton

Roger Alton (born 20 December 1947 in Oxford) is an English journalist. He was formerly editor of The Independent and The Observer, and executive editor of The Times.

He was educated at Clifton College and Exeter College, Oxford. He joined the Liverpool Post on graduation moving to The Guardian five years later as a sub-editor. He was the editor of the British national Sunday newspaper The Observer from 1998 to 2007. Under his editorship, The Observer's editorial view supported the invasion of Iraq, a stance that Alton, speaking to Stephen Sackur on the BBC's HARDtalk (22 August 2008) has since admitted may have been incorrect.

He resigned on 24 October 2007 after "a bitter falling-out with senior figures at the title's sister paper, The Guardian", and left The Observer at the end of 2007. Previously he was arts editor and G2 editor of The Guardian. He oversaw a rise in circulation during his editorship and introduced the award-winning Observer Sports, Food, and Music Monthlies. He is also well known for his profane language in morning editorial conferences.