Jason Cowley (journalist)

Last updated

Jason Cowley
Born (1965-06-19) 19 June 1965 (age 59)
Harlow, Essex, England
EducationLatton Bush School
Alma mater University of Southampton
Occupation(s)Journalist, magazine editor
Employer New Statesman
Website Official website

Jason Cowley (born 19 June 1965) is a journalist, magazine editor and writer. He was editor of the New Statesman from 2008 until 2024. Prior to this, he has been editor of Granta (2007-2008), editor of the Observer Sport Monthly magazine (2003-2007), literary editor of the New Statesman (1998-2002), and a staff writer on The Times (1996-1998). In 2024 he joined The Sunday Times as a commentator, features writer and book reviewer. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Jason Cowley was born on 19 June 1965 in Harlow, Essex, where he was brought up. [2] [3] His parents were Anthony Cowley and Lilian Cowley. [2]

He was educated at Latton Bush School, a former state comprehensive school in Harlow, followed by the University of Southampton, from which he graduated in 1989 with a first-class degree in English and philosophy. [4] [2]

Early career

In the early 1990s, Cowley began publishing reviews, literary essays and articles in British newspapers and magazines, including writing for The Bookseller from 1992 to 1995. [2] In 1996, he became a staff writer for The Times, during which period he was a judge of the Booker Prize for fiction. In the summer of 1998, he became literary editor of the New Statesman. Later he was a contributing editor of the magazine. In 2001 and 2002 he served as a judge for the Caine Prize, of which he is a council member. [5]

In 2003, Cowley joined the staff of The Observer as editor of The Observer Sport Monthly magazine and as a contributor. Under his editorship the magazine won several awards. He left The Observer to become editor of the literary magazine Granta in 2007. [6]

Cowley's novel, Unknown Pleasures, [7] was published by Faber and Faber in 2000 and a second book, a work of narrative non-fiction called The Last Game: Love, Death and Football, was published by Simon & Schuster in spring 2009. [8]

Editor of the New Statesman

Cowley was appointed editor of the New Statesman on 16 May 2008. [9] [6] and took up his new position in September 2008.

Under his editorship, the New Statesman's print circulation increased from 23,000 to 33,000 by 2015, traffic to the magazine's website reached a new record high in June 2016, with 27 million page views and four million unique users, and the magazine has become profitable. [10]

In 2013, he edited The New Statesman Century: 100 Years of the Best and Boldest Writing on Politics and Culture. It was published to celebrate the centenary of the New Statesman. In 2018, Reaching for Utopia: Making Sense of an Age of Upheaval (Salt Publishing), a book of Cowley's political and cultural essays and profiles, was published. In 2019, he edited and wrote the introduction to Statesmanship: The Best of the New Statesman (1913–2019), which was published in hardback by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. [11]

Cowley stepped down from the editorship of the New Statesman in December 2024 but remains a columnist and contributor. [12]

Awards and recognition

On 10 November 2009, he won the British Society of Magazine Editors' Editor of the Year award in the Special Interest and Current Affairs Magazines category. The judges said that Cowley had transformed the New Statesman and "created issues of the magazine that were the envy of the industry". [13] [14]

In 2010 and 2012, Cowley was shortlisted for the most coveted awards in the magazine industry, as Editor of the Year (consumer magazines) in the PPA Awards. [15] In 2011, he was named editor of the year in the Newspaper & Current Affairs Magazines category at the British Society of Magazine Editors awards. [16]

In January 2013, Cowley was shortlisted for the European Press Prize editing award. The awards committee said: "Cowley has succeeded in revitalising the New Statesman and re-establishing its position as an influential political and cultural weekly. He has given the New Statesman an edge and a relevance to current affairs it hasn't had for years."

He was named among Britain's most influential 500 people by Debrett's in association with The Sunday Times in 2015 and 2016. [17]

At the 2020 British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) awards, Cowley was named Current Affairs and Politics editor of the year for the fourth time, defeating rivals from The Spectator , The Big Issue and Prospect . "In increasingly tribal times, Jason Cowley continues to champion independence of thought and diversity of opinion, challenging his audience and producing a magazine that’s imaginative, unpredictable and interesting," the BSME judges said upon presenting the award. [18]

In 2019, Cowley was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Journalism. [19] In 2023 he was chair of the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction’s 25th anniversary Winner of Winners Award.

Works

Related Research Articles

<i>The Observer</i> British weekly newspaper

The Observer is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to The Guardian and The Guardian Weekly, having been acquired by their parent company, Guardian Media Group Limited, in 1993. In December 2024, a deal was announced to sell the paper to Tortoise Media. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.

<i>Granta</i> British literary magazine and publisher

Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated: "In its blend of memoirs and photojournalism, and in its championing of contemporary realist fiction, Granta has its face pressed firmly against the window, determined to witness the world."

<i>New Statesman</i> British political and cultural magazine

The New Statesman is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members of the socialist Fabian Society, such as George Bernard Shaw, who was a founding director. The longest-serving editor was Kingsley Martin (1930–1960), and the most recent editor was Jason Cowley, who assumed the post in 2008 and left in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Cohen</span> British journalist

Nicholas Cohen is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a columnist for The Observer, and is one for The Spectator. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left The Observer in 2022 and began publishing on the Substack platform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Oswald</span> British poet (born 1966)

Alice Priscilla Lyle Oswald is a British poet from Reading, Berkshire. Her work won the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2002 and the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2017. In September 2017, she was named as BBC Radio 4's second Poet-in-Residence, succeeding Daljit Nagra. From 1 October 2019 until 30 September 2023, she was the Oxford Professor of Poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Carey (critic)</span> Literary critic

John Carey is a British literary critic, and post-retirement (2002) emeritus Merton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. He is known for his anti-elitist views on high culture, as expounded in several books. He has twice chaired the Booker Prize committee, in 1982 and 2003, and chaired the judging panel for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005.

Vitali Vitaliev is a Ukrainian-born journalist and writer who has worked in Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.

<i>The Lady</i> (magazine)

The Lady is one of Britain's longest-running women's magazines. It has been in continuous publication since 1885 and is based in London. It is particularly notable for its classified advertisements for domestic service and child care; it also has extensive listings of holiday properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Rayner</span> English journalist and food critic (born 1966)

Jason Matthew Rayner is a British journalist and food critic. He worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers including The Observer and The Independent on Sunday. He was the Observer restaurant critic from 1999 until 2024, when he joined the Financial Times. Rayner is a judge on the British version of the cooking show MasterChef and has written several novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser Nelson</span> British political journalist (born 1973)

Fraser Andrew Nelson is a British political journalist who was editor of The Spectator magazine from 2009 to 2024.

Charles Mark Edward Boxer was a British magazine editor and social observer, and a political cartoonist and graphic portrait artist working under the pen-name ‘Marc’.

Nikita Lalwani FRSL is a novelist born in Kota, Rajasthan and raised in Cardiff, Wales. Her work has been translated into sixteen languages.

Andrew Brown is an English journalist, writer, and editor. He was one of the founding staff members of The Independent, where he worked as a religious correspondent, parliamentary sketch writer, and a feature writer. He has written extensively on technology for Prospect and the New Statesman and been a feature writer on The Guardian. He has worked as the editor for the Belief section of The Guardian's Comment is Free, which won a Webby under his leadership, and is currently a leader writer and member of the paper's editorial board. He is also the press columnist of the Church Times. In The Beginning was the Worm (2004) was shortlisted for the Aventis Prize. Fishing in Utopia (2008) won the Orwell Prize and was nominated for the Dolman Best Travel Book Award in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenni Russell</span> British journalist and broadcaster (born 1960)

Jenni Cecily Russell is a British journalist and broadcaster. She is a columnist for The Times, a contributing writer for The New York Times, and a book reviewer for The Sunday Times. She has been a columnist for The Guardian and written the political column for London Evening Standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lewis-Stempel</span> English author

John Lewis-Stempel is an English farmer, writer, and Sunday Times Top 5 best selling author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurie Penny</span> English journalist, columnist and author (born 1986)

Laurie Penny is a British journalist and writer. Penny has written articles for publications including The Guardian,The New York Times and Salon. Penny is a contributing editor at the New Statesman and the author of several books on feminism, and they have also written for American television shows including The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Nevers.

Maya Jaggi is a British writer, literary critic, editor and cultural journalist. In the words of the Open University, from which Jaggi received an honorary doctorate in 2012, she "has had a transformative influence in the last 25 years in extending the map of international writing today". Jaggi has been a contributor to a wide range of publications including The Guardian, Financial Times, The Independent, The Literary Review, The Times Literary Supplement, The New York Review of Books, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, New Statesman, Wasafiri, Index on Censorship, and Newsweek, and is particularly known for her profiles of writers, artists, film-makers, musicians and others. She is also a broadcaster and presenter on radio and television. Jaggi is the niece of actor and food writer Madhur Jaffrey.

Owen Matthews is a British writer, historian and journalist. His first book, Stalin's Children, was shortlisted for the 2008 Guardian First Book Award, the Orwell Prize for political writing, and France's Prix Médicis Etranger. His books have been translated into 28 languages. He is a former Moscow and Istanbul Bureau Chief for Newsweek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesrine Malik</span> Sudanese-born journalist and author

Nesrine Malik is a Sudanese-born journalist and author of We Need New Stories: Challenging the Toxic Myths Behind Our Age of Discontent. Based in London, Malik is a columnist for The Guardian and served as a panellist on the BBC's weekly news discussion programme Dateline London.

Gaby Wood, Hon. FRSL, is an English journalist, author and literary critic who has written for publications including The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, London Review of Books, Granta, and Vogue. She is the literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, appointed in succession to Ion Trewin and having taken over the post at the conclusion of the prize for 2015.

References

  1. ↑ Phillips, Charlotte (23 December 2024). "Jason Cowley has joined The Sunday Times". News UK. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Cowley, Jason, (born 19 June 1965), journalist, magazine editor and writer; Editor-in-chief, New Statesman, since 2018 (Editor, 2008–18) | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U250243. ISBN   978-0-19-954088-4 . Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  3. ↑ Cowley, Jason (1 August 2002). "Down Town". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Robinson, James (27 April 2009). "A new kind of Statesman". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "About Us". The AKO Caine Prize.
  6. 1 2 Lo Dico, Joy (25 May 2008). "A 'New Statesman' kind of guy. Just not New Labour". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  7. ↑ Cowley, Jason (19 June 2000). Unknown Pleasures . London: Faber and Faber. ISBN   0-571-20233-0.
  8. ↑ Cowley, Jason (6 April 2009). The Last Game: Love, Death and Football at the End of the Eighties. Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-1-84737-185-0.
  9. ↑ Brook, Stephen (16 May 2008). "Cowley named as New Statesman editor". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  10. ↑ Burrell, Ian (29 November 2015). "Why the left-wing New Statesman is stubbornly resisting the lure of Corbynmania". The Independent on Sunday. London. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "The Best of the New Statesman: Essential Reading". New Statesman. 9 April 2020.
  12. ↑ Ponsford, Dominic (22 November 2024). "Jason Cowley bowing out after 16 years as New Statesman editor". Press Gazette. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
  13. ↑ Preston, Peter (15 November 2009). "Jason Cowley: big fish at the BSME awards". The Observer. London. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  14. ↑ "New Statesman editor wins at BSME awards". New Statesman. London. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  15. ↑ "New Statesman editor Jason Cowley shortlisted as Editor of the Year in the PPA Awards". New Statesman. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  16. ↑ "2011 BSME Award Winners". BSME News. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  17. ↑ "Britain's 500 most influential". The Sunday Times. 24 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "New Statesman wins Current Affairs and Politics Magazine and Cover of the Year at BSME Awards". New Statesman. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  19. ↑ "The Orwell Prizes 2019: Shortlists Announced". The Orwell Foundation. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  20. ↑ Peet, Mal (11 April 2009). "When football died". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  21. ↑ Salt. "Reaching for Utopia: Making Sense of An Age of Upheaval". Salt. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  22. ↑ "Editor's Note: The gift of Statesmanship at Christmas, that election leader and free thinking in dark times". www.newstatesman.com. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
Media offices
Preceded by Editor of Granta
2007–2008		Succeeded by
Preceded by Editor of the New Statesman
2008–		Succeeded by
Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.