Paddy Coulter at the 40th anniversary of the Journalist Fellowship Programme.
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The Reuters Institute is sad to hear friend and colleague Paddy Coulter has died
Paddy led our fellowship programme for six years and devoted his career to advancing the interests of journalists worldwide
We are saddened to learn of the death of our friend and former colleague Paddy Coulter. As Director of Studies who led our Journalism Programme from 2001 to 2007, Paddy was much loved by our Journalist Fellows who had the opportunity to benefit from his wisdom, warmth and humanity during their time in Oxford. He was a dear colleague who continued to be part of the Reuters Institute family long after he finished formally working with us. Many alumni were happy to see him at the 40th anniversary of the fellowship programme in September 2023 doing what he did best – bringing smiles to people’s faces, telling funny stories and entertaining others with his banjo.
Paddy was an accomplished journalist who gave his life to advancing the interests of journalism and journalists worldwide as well as broader human rights causes. He was an award-winning television producer who was Director of the International Broadcasting Trust prior to joining the Institute. He was a trustee for several humanitarian organisations including Oxfam, the UK Committee of UNICEF and Comic Relief, and he was chair of press freedom organisation ARTICLE 19.
His death is a huge loss to the entire Reuters Institute community and our thoughts are with his family.
Jenny Darnley worked closely with Paddy as the programme administrator for the fellowship programme. She said: “Everyone who knew Paddy will remember his joyful conviviality as Director of the Fellowship and as host at Norham Gardens. Together, we welcomed over 140 Fellows to 13 Norham Gardens and tried to keep its inheritance as a welcoming home for brilliant journalists from all over the world to study and socialise. Paddy’s capacity for friendship was such that many of these connections lasted long after he stepped back from the Institute. He will be much mourned.”
Our Acting Director and Director of Journalist Programmes Mitali Mukherjee said: “Paddy was a ‘people person’ in the truest sense of the term. His incredible ability to not just connect people but to go the extra mile and find common points of interest between them is what made him so well-loved by the journalist fellows community at RISJ and by the wider community. It is a sad day for the Institute as we mourn the loss of a treasured former colleague and constant ally.”
Our former Director of the Reuters Institute David Levy said: “It’s incredibly sad for all who knew him; Paddy was such a force for life and with so many friends and connections in the UK and across the globe I find it hard to imagine a world without him.”
Another former Director Rasmus Nielsen said: “Paddy was such a wonderful and warm presence, and a constant in a constantly revolving set of people around the Institute in Oxford. Very sad to hear of his passing."
