Paul Mason (journalist)

Paul Mason
Mason in 2015
Born	(1960-01-23) 23 January 1960 Leigh, England, UK
Nationality	British
Occupation	Journalist and broadcaster

Paul Mason (born 23 January 1960) is an English journalist and broadcaster. He was Culture and Digital Editor of Channel 4 News,^[1] becoming the programme's Economics Editor on 1 June 2014,^[2] a post he formerly held on BBC2's Newsnight programme. He is the author of several books, and a visiting professor at the University of Wolverhampton.^[3][4]

Early life and education

Mason was born in Leigh, Lancashire.^[4] His father, John Mason (1927–86), was a lorry driver for Ward & Goldstone Ltd. His mother, Julia (née Lewis, born 1935), was headmistress of St Margaret Mary's Primary School, Hindley Green. One grandparent was a miner and another was a Lithuanian-Jewish violinist.^[5]

Mason was educated at St Joseph's RC Primary School in Leigh and Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton. He graduated from the University of Sheffield^[4] with a degree in music and politics in 1981 and trained to be a music teacher at London University Institute of Education, after which he undertook postgraduate research into the music of the Second Viennese School at the University of Sheffield until 1984.^[6]

Mason lived in Leicester from 1982 to 1988, working as a music teacher, and lecturer in music at Loughborough University.^[4]

Journalist and broadcaster

Mason has lived in London since 1988, where, after 1991, he became a freelance journalist. From 1995 to 2001 he worked for Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier, on titles including Contract Journal, Community Care ^[7] and Computer Weekly, of which he was deputy editor.^[4] During the dotcom boom Mason launched E-Business Review and was consulting editor for the launch of CW360.com. He also contributed articles to the Daily Express and the Mail on Sunday.

In August 2001, Mason joined the BBC Two television programme Newsnight as Business Editor. His first live appearance on Newsnight was on the day of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

In May 2007, Mason's book Live Working or Die Fighting: How the Working Class Went Global was published by Harvill Secker. The book was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award on 24 August 2007. In June 2007, Mason presented Spinning Yarns, a four-part series on the history of the cotton industry for BBC Radio Four. Mason appeared as the key talent in a new five-part BBC series Credit Crash Britain, first broadcast on BBC Two on 30 October 2008.

Mason in Athens during Greek elections, reporting for Channel 4 News, 20 September 2015

In January 2012, Mason's book Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions was published in paperback by Verso.^[8][9]

Mason attended the Wigan Casino in his youth as a follower of Northern Soul and hosted a documentary about the Northern Soul scene for the BBC's The Culture Show in September 2013.^[10]

In August 2013, it was announced that Mason would join Channel 4 News as its culture and digital editor.^[1] In May 2014, it was announced that he would become the programme's Economics Editor at the beginning of the following month, replacing Faisal Islam.^[2]

Mason announced in February 2016 that he was leaving his position at Channel 4 News in favour of freelancing so he could engage more fully in debates on the political left without the constraints of impartiality placed on broadcasters in the UK.^[11]

Awards

Mason won the Wincott Prize for Business Journalism in 2003,^[12] the Workworld Broadcaster of the Year in 2004,^[4] and the Diageo African Business Reporting Award in 2007. His report on the social movements behind Bolivian president Evo Morales was cited when Newsnight was awarded the Orwell Prize (2007).

Personal life

Mason was Father of the Chapel for the National Union of Journalists on Newsnight. He is a supporter of Leigh Centurions rugby league club and Manchester United F.C. He is married to nurse Jane Bruton.

Politics

A former member of the Trotskyist Workers' Power group, he responded to an interviewer from the London Evening Standard in 2011: "It's on Wikipedia that I was, so it must be true. It's fair to say I was a Leftie activist. What my politics are now are very complicated."^[13][14][15]

In a speech in 2015 marking the publication of Naomi Klein's book This Changes Everything, he declared that "capitalism is dying".^[16]

In 2016, Mason clarified his precise political position, stating that:

As to Mr Osborne’s claim that I am “revolutionary Marxist” it is completely inaccurate. I am radical social democrat who favours the creation of a peer-to-peer sector (co-ops, open source etc) alongside the market and the state, as part of a long transition to a post-capitalist economy. There’s a comprehensive critique of Bolshevism in my latest book, Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future.^[17]

Cyberspace

In the run up to the 2005 G8 Gleneagles conference, Mason was one of the first journalists at the BBC to be permitted to write a blog. His blog "Idle Scrawl" was later incorporated into Newsnight's "Talk About Newsnight" blog, which has now also been closed. Thereafter, he became the first person on British television to broadcast from within the online virtual world Second Life, where he has an avatar also named Paul Mason.

Books

• Mason, Paul (2007). Live Working or Die Fighting: How the Working Class Went Global. London: Harvill Secker. ISBN 0-436-20615-3. 
• Mason, Paul (2009). Meltdown: The End of the Age of Greed. London: Verso. ISBN 978-1-84467-396-4. 
• Mason, Paul (2012). Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions. London: Verso. ISBN 978-1-84467-851-8. 
• Mason, Paul (2012). Rare Earth. Harpenden: No Exit. ISBN 1-84243-846-8. 
• Mason, Paul (2015). PostCapitalism: A Guide to our Future. Allen Lane. ISBN 9781846147388. 

References

External links

• Paul Mason on Twitter
• Mason at London's Frontline Club, 23 April 2009
• Official website of BBC's Newsnight programme
• Paul Mason bio on BBC website
• Website of Live Working or Die Fighting
• Website of Meltdown, the End of the Age of Greed
• Mason on Live Working or Die Fighting: How the Working Class Went Global - video interview by Democracy Now!
• Daily Telegraph
• Interview Mute magazine 2012
• Interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Ideas with Paul Kennedy - Posted 25 Nov 2015