Adam Raphael
Encyclopedia
Adam Eliot Geoffrey Raphael (born 22 April 1938) is an award-winning English
journalist
and author
. In the British Press Awards
of 1973, he was named Journalist of the Year for his work on labour conditions in South Africa, and he has also been a presenter and editor of BBC Television
's Newsnight
. Since 2004, he has edited The Good Hotel Guide. He is not to be confused with another BBC producer of the same name, Adam Jocelyn Raphael (1937-1999).
The son of Geoffrey George Raphael and his wife Nancy Raphael (née
Rose), Raphael was educated at two independent school
s: Arnold House School in St John's Wood
in north-west London, and Charterhouse School
in Godalming
in Surrey
(where he was a contemporary of David Dimbleby
), followed by Oriel College at the University of Oxford
in Oxford
, graduating with a BA
with Honours in History.
with the Royal Artillery
, commissioned as a second lieutenant
on 1 June 1957, serving with the regular army until 1958 when he switched to the Territorial Army. He was promoted lieutenant
on 25 January 1959, and completed his service in 1962. He became a copy boy at the Washington Post in 1961, worked on the Swindon Evening Advertiser from 1962 to 1963, then as film critic of the Bath Evening Chronicle from 1963 to 1964.
In 1965, he arrived in Fleet Street
as a reporter on The Guardian
, then was the newspaper's motoring correspondent from 1967 to 1968 before serving overseas as its foreign correspondent
in Washington, D.C.
, and South Africa
from 1969 to 1973. On his return to London, he was The Guardian' s consumer affairs columnist from 1974 to 1976, before moving to The Observer
as political correspondent, 1976-1981, and as political editor, 1981-1986.
In 1984 and 1989, The Observer printed articles by Raphael which suggested that the lobbyist Ian Greer had been paying members of parliament to table parliamentary questions, an early stage of the Cash for Questions
scandal.
In 1987, Raphael moved to BBC Television
, first as a presenter of its daily current affairs programme, Newsnight
(1987-1988), then briefly in 1988 as an assistant Editor, before serving as Newsnights Executive Editor from 1988 to 1993.
In March 1989, The Observer published an article by Raphael which claimed that British Aerospace
was selling Tornado aircraft
to Jordan
at inflated prices to include the cost of bribes. At the time, The Guardian was seeking to undermine the ownership of The Observer by Tiny Rowland
's Lonrho, and Raphael's colleague David Leigh
complained to the directors of The Observer that the story was untrue and that Raphael had written it to suit Lonrho, which had a stake in British Aerospace's rival, Dassault Aviation
. The MP Dale Campbell-Savours tabled motions in the House of Commons
denouncing the article. The directors of The Observer dismissed Leigh's complaint, and he resigned from the newspaper, but in reporting the affair The Guardian gave the impression that the story had indeed been untrue, thus smearing Raphael.
In 1989, Raphael published a book on some libel cases, My Learned Friends: an Insider's View of the Jeffrey Archer Case and Other Notorious Actions, which focussed on the remarkable case of Jeffrey Archer v. The Daily Star (1987).
In 1994, he returned to The Observer as a writer on home affairs, then went to The Economist
as political correspondent, 1994 to 2004. Among many influential articles Raphael has published in The Economist is Theft: Sitting on Fence, which helped to popularise the Market Reduction Approach
to theft - designed by Mike Sutton (criminologist)
- and revealed to the wider public the role of stolen goods markets in creating a demand for supply by theft and that the size of the stolen goods economy in Britain was £1.5 billion ($2.4 billion) annually.
In 1994, Raphael's book Ultimate Risk, the story of the Lloyd's of London
catastrophe, became a bestseller in the UK. Between 1988 and 1992 Lloyd's recorded losses of some twelve billion US dollars, and Raphael wrote that it thus managed to "pauperize, if not bankrupt, as many as two in five of those who provided the market's capital." Raphael was himself a Lloyd's Name, and was thus able to write as an insider, one of the victims of the affair.
In 1999, Raphael wrote an article in The Economist about Jeffrey Archer's 1987 libel action against the Daily Star which raised new questions about where Archer had been on the key dates. He claimed that Archer had asked him to forget a conversation about the case and had asked him to change evidence he was about to give to the 1987 libel trial. Archer's spokesman Stephan Shakespeare
replied "We are in an atmosphere where you can say whatever you like about Jeffrey Archer and it will be believed."
In 2001, Raphael's knowledge of the Archer libel case became critical when Archer was tried for perjury
. Raphael had decided he would not reveal a source at the trial, and told Archer so, but he also warned Archer that he would reveal his source if Archer gave false evidence, which he went on to do. Subsequently, The Mail on Sunday
had to pay damages to Raphael and The Observer after an editorial by Stewart Steven
attacked Raphael for revealing the source. After Archer was jailed in 2001, Steven continued to insist that Raphael had "got it wrong". In his view, journalists facing a subpoena
should be prepared to go to jail to protect their sources. Raphael replied that Steven was the kind of powerful ally who had protected Archer, adding (in an editorial in The Observer) "This attack on me by one of Archer's media allies was not just defamatory but also a contempt of court
".
Raphael has been Editor of The Good Hotel Guide since 2004 and also an Associate Editor of Transport Times since 2005.
, he gives his recreations as "tennis
, golf
, skiing
", his address as Addison Avenue, London W11, and his clubs
as the Garrick
, the Hurlingham
, and the Royal Automobile Club
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. In the British Press Awards
British Press Awards
The British Press Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. Established in the 1970s, honours are voted on by a panel of journalists and newspaper executives...
of 1973, he was named Journalist of the Year for his work on labour conditions in South Africa, and he has also been a presenter and editor of BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
's Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
. Since 2004, he has edited The Good Hotel Guide. He is not to be confused with another BBC producer of the same name, Adam Jocelyn Raphael (1937-1999).
Early life
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Rose), Raphael was educated at two independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
s: Arnold House School in St John's Wood
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
in north-west London, and Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
in Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
(where he was a contemporary of David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby is a British BBC TV commentator and a presenter of current affairs and political programmes, most notably the BBC's flagship political show Question Time, and more recently, art, architectural history and history series...
), followed by Oriel College at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, graduating with a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
with Honours in History.
Career
Raphael undertook national ServiceNational service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
with the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
, commissioned as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
on 1 June 1957, serving with the regular army until 1958 when he switched to the Territorial Army. He was promoted lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
on 25 January 1959, and completed his service in 1962. He became a copy boy at the Washington Post in 1961, worked on the Swindon Evening Advertiser from 1962 to 1963, then as film critic of the Bath Evening Chronicle from 1963 to 1964.
In 1965, he arrived in Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
as a reporter on The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, then was the newspaper's motoring correspondent from 1967 to 1968 before serving overseas as its foreign correspondent
Foreign correspondent
Foreign Correspondent may refer to:*Foreign correspondent *Foreign Correspondent , an Alfred Hitchcock film*Foreign Correspondent , an Australian current affairs programme...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
from 1969 to 1973. On his return to London, he was The Guardian
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as political correspondent, 1976-1981, and as political editor, 1981-1986.
In 1984 and 1989, The Observer printed articles by Raphael which suggested that the lobbyist Ian Greer had been paying members of parliament to table parliamentary questions, an early stage of the Cash for Questions
Cash-for-questions affair
The "Cash-for-questions affair" was one of the biggest political scandals of the 1990s in the United Kingdom.It began in October 1994 when The Guardian newspaper alleged that London's most successful parliamentary lobbyist, Ian Greer of Ian Greer Associates, had bribed two Conservative Members of...
scandal.
In 1987, Raphael moved to BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
, first as a presenter of its daily current affairs programme, Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
(1987-1988), then briefly in 1988 as an assistant Editor, before serving as Newsnights Executive Editor from 1988 to 1993.
In March 1989, The Observer published an article by Raphael which claimed that British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
was selling Tornado aircraft
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
to Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
at inflated prices to include the cost of bribes. At the time, The Guardian was seeking to undermine the ownership of The Observer by Tiny Rowland
Tiny Rowland
Roland "Tiny" Rowland was a British businessman and chairman of the Lonrho conglomerate from 1962 to 1994...
's Lonrho, and Raphael's colleague David Leigh
David Leigh
David Leigh is a British journalist and author, currently investigations executive editor of The Guardian.-Early life:Leigh was born in 1946 and educated at Nottingham High School and King's College, Cambridge, receiving a research degree from Cambridge in 1968.-Career:Leigh has been a prominent...
complained to the directors of The Observer that the story was untrue and that Raphael had written it to suit Lonrho, which had a stake in British Aerospace's rival, Dassault Aviation
Dassault Aviation
Dassault Aviation is a French aircraft manufacturer of military, regional and business jets, a subsidiary of Dassault Group.It was founded in 1930 by Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch or "MB". After World War II, Marcel Bloch changed his name to Marcel Dassault, and the name of the...
. The MP Dale Campbell-Savours tabled motions in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
denouncing the article. The directors of The Observer dismissed Leigh's complaint, and he resigned from the newspaper, but in reporting the affair The Guardian gave the impression that the story had indeed been untrue, thus smearing Raphael.
In 1989, Raphael published a book on some libel cases, My Learned Friends: an Insider's View of the Jeffrey Archer Case and Other Notorious Actions, which focussed on the remarkable case of Jeffrey Archer v. The Daily Star (1987).
In 1994, he returned to The Observer as a writer on home affairs, then went to The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
as political correspondent, 1994 to 2004. Among many influential articles Raphael has published in The Economist is Theft: Sitting on Fence, which helped to popularise the Market Reduction Approach
Market Reduction Approach
In 1796, the London magistrate Patrick Colquhoun observed that "It rarely happens that thieves go upon the highway, or commit burglaries, until the money they have previously acquired is exhausted," and that "...without a safe and ready market he [the thief] is undone." Recognizing the key role...
to theft - designed by Mike Sutton (criminologist)
Mike Sutton (criminologist)
Michael "Mike" Sutton is the originator of the Market Reduction Approach to theft. Described by Marcus Felson as classic research and as a simple idea, Sutton's MRA has had a significant influence upon theory and practice regarding stolen goods markets and markets for other illicit commodities...
- and revealed to the wider public the role of stolen goods markets in creating a demand for supply by theft and that the size of the stolen goods economy in Britain was £1.5 billion ($2.4 billion) annually.
In 1994, Raphael's book Ultimate Risk, the story of the Lloyd's of London
Lloyd's of London
Lloyd's, also known as Lloyd's of London, is a British insurance and reinsurance market. It serves as a partially mutualised marketplace where multiple financial backers, underwriters, or members, whether individuals or corporations, come together to pool and spread risk...
catastrophe, became a bestseller in the UK. Between 1988 and 1992 Lloyd's recorded losses of some twelve billion US dollars, and Raphael wrote that it thus managed to "pauperize, if not bankrupt, as many as two in five of those who provided the market's capital." Raphael was himself a Lloyd's Name, and was thus able to write as an insider, one of the victims of the affair.
Stephan Shakespeare
Stephan Shakespeare is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the high-profile British Internet-based market research and opinion polls company YouGov...
replied "We are in an atmosphere where you can say whatever you like about Jeffrey Archer and it will be believed."
In 2001, Raphael's knowledge of the Archer libel case became critical when Archer was tried for perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
. Raphael had decided he would not reveal a source at the trial, and told Archer so, but he also warned Archer that he would reveal his source if Archer gave false evidence, which he went on to do. Subsequently, The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
had to pay damages to Raphael and The Observer after an editorial by Stewart Steven
Stewart Steven
Stewart Steven was a British newspaper editor who grew circulation. His career was marked by three major clunkers. He was personally generous to friends and family....
attacked Raphael for revealing the source. After Archer was jailed in 2001, Steven continued to insist that Raphael had "got it wrong". In his view, journalists facing a subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
should be prepared to go to jail to protect their sources. Raphael replied that Steven was the kind of powerful ally who had protected Archer, adding (in an editorial in The Observer) "This attack on me by one of Archer's media allies was not just defamatory but also a contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
".
Raphael has been Editor of The Good Hotel Guide since 2004 and also an Associate Editor of Transport Times since 2005.
Awards
- Granada Investigative Journalist of the Year, 1973
- British Press AwardsBritish Press AwardsThe British Press Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. Established in the 1970s, honours are voted on by a panel of journalists and newspaper executives...
Journalist of the Year, 1973 (for a series in The Guardian on labour conditions in South Africa).
Books
- My Learned Friends: an Insider's View of the Jeffrey Archer Case and Other Notorious Actions (London, W. H. Allen & Virgin Books, November 16, 1989)
- Ultimate Risk: the inside story of the Lloyd's catastrophe (London, Four Walls Eight Windows, 1994)
- The Good Hotel Guide 2001: Great Britain and Ireland (with Caroline Raphael) (London, Ebury Press, October 2000)
- The Good Hotel Guide 2001: Continental Europe (with Caroline Raphael) (London, Ebury Press, February 2001)
- The Good Hotel Guide 2002: Great Britain and Ireland (with Caroline Raphael) (London, Ebury Press, September 6, 2001)
- The Good Hotel Guide 2005 (with Caroline Raphael) (London, The Good Hotel Guide Ltd, January 2005)
- The Good Hotel Guide 2005: Continental Europe (with Caroline Raphael) (London, Steerforth, March 15, 2005)
- The Good Hotel Guide 2006: Great Britain and Ireland (with Desmond Balmer) (London, Steerforth, December 6, 2005)
- The Good Hotel Guide 2007 (London, The Good Hotel Guide Ltd, 2006)
- The Good Hotel Guide 2008 (with Desmond Balmer) (London, The Good Hotel Guide Ltd, October 1, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9549404-2-3)
Private life
In 1970, Raphael married Caroline Rayner Ellis, and they have one son and one daughter. In Who's WhoWho's Who (UK)
Who's Who is an annual British publication of biographies which vary in length of about 30,000 living notable Britons.-History:...
, he gives his recreations as "tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
", his address as Addison Avenue, London W11, and his clubs
Gentlemen's club
A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...
as the Garrick
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in London.-History:The Garrick Club was founded at a meeting in the Committee Room at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Wednesday 17 August 1831...
, the Hurlingham
Hurlingham Club
The Hurlingham Club is an exclusive sports club in Fulham in southwest London, England. The club, founded in 1869, is situated by the River Thames in Fulham, West London, and has a Georgian clubhouse set in of grounds...
, and the Royal Automobile Club
Royal Automobile Club
The Royal Automobile Club is a private club and is not to be confused with RAC plc, a motorists' organisation, which it formerly owned.It has two club houses, one in London at 89-91 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, Surrey, next to the City of London Freemen's School...
.