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Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (born March 20, 1965 in Newick, East Sussex) was editor of The Daily Mirror, a British tabloid newspaper, from 1995 until he was sacked in 2004. His first job (from 1989 to 1994) on a national newspaper was writing a show business column for The Sun. He was editor of the News of the World from 1994 to 1995.
He was known for his scorn of celebrities' demands for privacy, claiming that they could not simultaneously manipulate the media to further their careers without accepting some level of intrusion into their private lives. In 2003 he presented a three part television documentary series for the BBC titled The Importance of Being Famous, which was about fame and how celebrities are covered by the modern media.
He appeared as a guest on Have I Got News For You in 1996 during which he and Ian Hislop struggled to keep mutual contempt thinly veiled. Private Eye, of which Hislop is editor, routinely refers to Morgan as "Piers Moron".
In 2000 he was the subject of an investigation after it was revealed that the had bought shares in Viglen soon before the Mirror's 'City Slickers' column tipped Viglen as a good buy. He was found to have breached the code of practice by the Press Complaints Commission, but kept his job. The City Slickers columnists, Anil Bhoyrul and James Hipwell, were found to have committed more breaches, and were sacked before the inquiry. In 2004, another enquiry by the Department of Trade and Industry cleared Morgan of all formal charges [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3792225.stm).
He was fired from The Daily Mirror on 14 May 2004 after authorising the newspaper's publication of faked Iraqi prisoner abuse photos allegedly representing abuse by British Army soldiers. The Daily Mirror claimed it had fallen victim to a "calculated and malicious hoax", and apologised for the publication. He was also punched by Jeremy Clarkson.
Books
External link
- BBC profile (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3713857.stm)
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