Martin Townsend (journalist)

Martin Townsend (born 11 July 1960) is a British tabloid editor.

Life

Townsend attended Harrow County School for Boys (became Harrow High School in 1975) and the London College of Printing.

He became a journalist in 1979,^[1] working on Caravan magazine, then as pop music columnist at Today.^[2] Has a humorous column in the Sunday Express, demonstrating a nice line in sarcasm - e.g. he once said that Cilla "The Bootle Nightingale" Black was a "powerful interpreter of Bert Bacharach".

In 1987, Townsend became a freelance reporter, but in 1994 was appointed showbusiness editor of the Mail on Sunday's You magazine,^[2] then in 1999 was appointed editor of OK! magazine. During his tenure, he persuaded Anthea Turner and Grant Bovey to pose with chocolate bars in their wedding photos, as part of a promotion.

Townsend married Jane O'Gorman in 1989. They have two sons and a daughter.^{[citation needed]} In 2001, he was appointed editor of the Sunday Express.^[3]

In 2006, Townsend had a cameo role in the TV series Hustle in which he, as editor of the Sunday Express, bought an exposé story from the con men regarding the unscrupulous editor of a rival (fictional) Sunday newspaper.^[4]

In 2007, Townsend published The Father I Had, an autobiographical account of his relationship with his father, who had bipolar disorder. This won the Mind Book of the Year Award 2008.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Sunday Express editor Martin Townsend wins Mind Book of the Year Award 2008", Mind
2. ^ ^{a b} David Lister, "Editing? It's a business thing", The Independent, 17 July 2001
3. ^ Jessica Hodgson, "Townsend OK! at the Sunday Express", The Guardian, 22 May 2001
4. ^ IMDb profile of Martin Townsend

External links

• Guardian May 2001

Media offices
Preceded by Michael Pilgrim	Editor of the Sunday Express 2001–present	Incumbent

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Name	Townsend, Martin
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Date of birth	11 July 1960
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