Dubai: Former Gulf News Managing Editor Michael Stent, 62, died this week at Somerset Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa after a lengthy bout of ill health.
Stent, who joined Gulf News as managing editor in 2005, was an accomplished journalist who started his extensive career four decades ago.
Despite his short stay in Dubai, Stent was remembered by many of his colleagues at Gulf News.
“He was a professional journalist; sharp and prolific. We value very much his contribution to our organisation,” Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Gulf News Editor-in-Chief, said. Mohammed Almezel, Managing Editor, also paid tribute to Stent: “Although his time in Gulf News was brief the experience was ‘really enriching’. I enjoyed working with him.”
Stent, who was a Rhodes University graduate, started his career in journalism in 1975 as a freelance writer for the Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg.
During his career, Stent moved to London, Zimbabwe and Dubai and held several editorial roles at various newspapers. He was also a trainer for the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) in Asia and Africa in the 1990s, and became the Africa editor of the CPU newspaper. Stent moved back to Cape Town in 2013.
He is survived by his four sons, Sebastian, James, Lawrence and David.
