The Resume

(July 5, 1849-April 15, 1912)
Born in Embleton, England, United Kingdom
Journalist
Edited the Northern Echo (1871-80) and Pall Mall Gazette (1883-89)
Founded the Review of Reviewers (1890)
Died in the sinking of the Titanic

Why he might be annoying:

He was openly partisan, writing 'The supreme duty of a Liberal journalist was to win as many seats as possible for the Liberal Party.'
He caught mice in his office, cooked them and served them on toast.
He was accused of creating news rather than reporting on it.
In his most notorious stunt, as part of an investigation into child prostitution, he bought a 13-year-old girl from her mother for £5 (1885).
He served three months in prison for this act.
He became an ardent spiritualist and published a series of 'conversations' he had via seance with late American journalist Julia Amis.
Over two decades before his death, he wrote a fictional story about a ship sinking with a high death toll due to a lack of lifeboats and noted, 'This is exactly what might take place and will take place if liners are sent to sea short of boats.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He was a pioneer of modern journalism techniques from banner headlines to celebrity interviews.
He wrote a series of articles about attrocities committed by the Ottoman Empire in Bulgaria that prompted European intervention (1876).
His reports on child prostitution galvanized Parliament into raising the age of consent from 13 to 16 and making it a criminal offense to abduct a girl under 18 for purposes of carnal knowledge or to procure girls for prostitution by administering drugs, intimidation or fraud.
He was a supporter of women's rights and was the first editor to hire female reporters for the same pay as men.
He boarded the Titanic to attend a peace conference at Carnegie Hall at the request of President William Howard Taft.
During the sinking of the Titanic, he helped women and children into the lifeboats, with one survivor praising his 'superhuman composure.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Breeders [Have 5 or More Kids] (Ranked: 6)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 35]
• Central Park Statues
• I Died by Drowning
• I Died in 1912 (Ranked: 62)
• I Died on April 15th [Death and Taxes] (Ranked: 1912)
• I Speak Esperanto
• In Town for The World's Fair at the Columbian Exposition [1893-Chicago]
• Newspaper Journalists/Editors/Publishers
• Profiles 31001-31250 (Ranked: 31128)
• Tabloid Journalists
• Titanic Passengers
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19120415)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 67 Votes: 71.64% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 52 Votes: 76.92% Annoying