Paul Callan is a celebrated British journalist and editor who has worked on almost every major national newspaper, except The Independent, which he judged "Too, too precious for words, dear boy". Despite an early setback when caught imitating his employer^[1] he first reached prominence as editor of the Londoner's Diary in the Evening Standard in the 1970s, and subsequently raised establishment eyebrows with the sharply written Charles Greville diary column in the Daily Mail. He achieved a succession of scoops and was largely responsible for training up a generation of gifted young reporters, notably the irreverent gossip columnist Nigel Dempster and the noted war correspondent and dandy, Ross Benson. The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... Headlines of the Evening Standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo Station The Evening Standard is an English tabloid newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas. ... The Daily Mail is a British newspaper, currently a tabloid, first published in 1896. ... A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine, that prints gossip stories, spreading news of a personal, private nature, and/or rumors and lies, usually about show business, the motion picture and television industries, celebrities, movie stars, superstars, people... Sporty Parisian dandies of the 1830s: a girdle was required to achieve this silhouette. ...

Dempster was behind a long-running practical joke at Callan's expense, alleging that the latter falsely claimed to be an Old Etonian. Although this would have constituted a grave solecism if true, Callan forgave his protegee, continuing to provide him with story leads. Less well-regarded by some colleagues were his cordial relations with Robert Maxwell, then the owner of the Daily Mirror, for which Callan conducted celebrity interviews. Maxwell was later implicated in arms dealing and large scale theft from his own employees' pension fund. The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (that is, an independent, fee-charging secondary school) for boys. ... Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell MC (June 10, 1923 – November 5, 1991), British media proprietor, rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing business. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ...

Callan's amiability and nose for a story made him a favourite of actors and publishers alike, and he has interviewed virtually every major Hollywood star in the last forty years, and members of the ordinarily tight-lipped British royal family. Whenever the private telephone number of Cary Grant or the Pope was required it was to Callan's little black book (specially bound for him in crocodileskin by the royal stationer) that editors repaired, usually with a first growth claret as an offering. Access to the great and the bad was enhanced by his marriage to the prominent New York journalist, Steffi Fields who moved over from being London correspondent of the fashion bible Women's Wear Daily to the position of bureau chief of the NBC television network. ... Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Trooping the Colour ceremony Close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom are known by the appellation The Royal Family. ... Archibald Alexander Leach (January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986), better known by his screen name, Cary Grant, was an English film actor. ... The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. ... Womens Wear Daily is an influential fashion-industry trade journal founded by Edmund Fairchild. ... NBC, (Formerly an acronym for the National Broadcasting Company until 2004), is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...

Callan and the writer (later national newspaper editor) Janet Street-Porter are credited with inventing a new form of radio, albeit unintentionally. At the launch in 1973 of the London Broadcasting Company, or LBC, the pair were pitched as co-presenters of the morning drive time show.^[2] The intention was to contrast the urbane Callan with the less couth Street-Porter, whose accents were respectively known to studio engineers as 'cut-glass' and 'cut-froat'. In the event friction between the ill-assorted pair led to an entertaining stream of one-upmanship that became required listening for many Londoners, the sharper put-downs being blamed for several collisions by motorists incapacitated with laughter. The programme was the first in the the UK to combine interviews with celebrities and heavyweight political figures on the same show, blurring the line between classic British comedy and analysis of international affairs. Janet Street-Porter (born December 27, 1946) is an outspoken media personality in the United Kingdom. ... LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is Britains first commercial independent local radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. ... One-upmanship is the systematic and conscious practice of making ones associates feel inferior and thereby gaining the status of being one-up on them, as described by Stephen Potter in his tongue-in-cheek self-help books, and in film and television derivatives from them. ... British Comedy, in film, radio and television, is known for its consistently quirky characters, plots and settings, and has produced some of the most famous and memorable comic actors and characters in the last fifty years. ...

In parallel with David Frost's approach to television Callan has since developed this technique into a form of journalism now widely imitated in Europe, although criticised by some colleagues. As one of the last representatives of old Fleet Street he cuts an unmistakable, if portly figure clad in pinstriped suit and trademark spotted bow tie, regardless of geography or climate. He continues to contribute regularly to several British national newspapers including book reviews despite once being described by the critic Clive James as "having the literary sensibilities of a vampire bat". ^[3] People called David Frost include: Sir David Frost, the British broadcaster David Frost, the South African golfer. ... Journalism is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting news regarding current events, trends, issues and people. ... Fleet Street road sign Fleet Street in 1890 Fleet Street in 2005 Fleet Street is a famous London street, named after the River Fleet. ... Clive James in 1976 Clive James AM (born Vivian James October 10, 1939) in Kogarah, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is an expatriate Australian writer, poet, essayist, critic, and commentator on popular culture. ...

See also

Fall Out: A Memoir of Friends Made and Friends Unmade by Janet Street-Porter, pub. Headline Review, London Sept 2006 ISBN 0755314956