Guardian Editor Stepping Down After 20 Years in Top Spot

Alan Rusbridger will resign as top editor of the Guardian next summer, the newspaper said Wednesday, ending a two-decades long editorship.

Under Rusbridger’s tenure, the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for its coverage of U.S. surveillance activities based on leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Rusbridger oversaw the transformation of the newspaper from a small, left-of-center British publication to a global news brand with American and Australian online editions that scored big scoops on the Snowden story and the WikiLeaks cables, among others. The Guardian was named Newspaper of the Year at the Press Awards in the U.K.

Rusbridger will replace Liz Forgan in 2016 as chair of the Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian as well as the Observer.

“Alan has been the outstanding editor of his generation,” Forgan said. “Fully embracing the opportunities of the digital age, he has built on the best traditions of his distinguished predecessors.