W.T. Stead

(1849 - 1912)

As editor of the Northern Echo and later the Pall Mall Gazette, W.T. Stead was a forebear to the modern British tabloid and a pioneer of “government by journalism,” employing sensationalistic headlines to sway public policy and enact moral reforms. His 1885 series of articles exposing child prostitution led to the so-called Stead Act, which raised the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen. Stead was invited to deliver a lecture on world peace in New York City in 1912 and booked passage on the Titanic. He was last seen assisting women and children into lifeboats.