Michael Watts (journalist)

Michael Watts (journalist)
For those of a similar name, see Michael Watt (disambiguation).
Michael Watts
Born October 18, 1938 (1938-10-18) (age 73)
Nottinghamshire
Education Nottingham High School
Occupation Journalist
Nationality British
Years active 1955 – present

Michael Watts (born 18 October 1938) is a British journalist and broadcaster best known for his ‘Inspector Watts’ column in the Sunday Express[1] and other publications, which ran for over 35 years.

Contents

Journalism career

Watts, born in Nottinghamshire and educated at Nottingham High School, began in journalism at age 16 as a reporter on the Nottingham Evening News.[2] After four years there, he became London editor of The Viewer television magazine[3] for a year, before joining the Sunday Express [4] in 1960. There, he was variously gossip column editor, deputy news editor, and deputy editor in Manchester, and started the paper's Town Talk diary.

In 1969 he began The World of Michael Watts, a consumer column laced with social comment and humour. This concluded with the Great Corny Joke Contest, offering a cash prize of a "Crisp Oncer" - at £1 "the meanest prize in Fleet Street",[5] and one which became relatively meaner as the years passed. In the 1980s, as the pound coin was replacing the pound note, Watts bought several hundreds of the latter from a bank so that the Crisp Oncer prize could continue. In carrying out investigations and taking up readers' battles with companies and bureaucracy, Michael Watts became known as "Inspector Watts" - and the column continued for 22 years, until he left the Sunday Express.

However, he started the column again in the relaunched London Evening News[6] and, the following year, in Saga magazine.[7] Then in 1989 the Sunday Express asked Watts to bring it back to them, which until 1991 he did.

His column and broadcasts were often commented upon by other publications[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], and in addition to continuing in Saga, the column also ran for five years in the Westminster Review[18], and from 2002 to 2005 in Active Life magazine[19] (still handing out Crisp Oncers). Watts now freelances.

Broadcasting

Watts's radio work for BBC Radio 4 has included twice-weekly consumer spots on Up To The Hour, and presenting The Weekly World and News Stand[20]. Plus much for LBC.

Awards

The Michael Watts column twice won the Consumer Writers' Award, in 1978 [21] and 1986.

Published works

Author of I Say! I Say! Great Britain’s Best Corny Jokes and the Debatable Wit and Wisdom of Michael Watts, published by Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971 (ISBN 0 283 978066).

References

  1. ^ Sunday Express, 1969-86; 1989-91
  2. ^ Nottingham Evening News, 1955-58
  3. ^ The Viewer, 1959
  4. ^ Sunday Express, 1960-86; 1989-91
  5. ^ "Dog Watches Dog". UK Press Gazette. 2 July, 1979. 
  6. ^ London Evening News, 1987
  7. ^ Saga,1988-2002
  8. ^ Competitors Journal, 15 August 1991,'CJ has lost a friend', 10 October 1991,'Where is Michael Watts?'
  9. ^ The Independent, 'The Agreeable World of Wallace Arnold', 22 September 1991
  10. ^ UK Press Gazette, 8 October 1990, 'Litterbug letter lout'
  11. ^ PR Week, 6 December 1984, 'If The House of Commons were to be televised, what would be the implications?'
  12. ^ Marketing Week, 21 March 1986, Iain Murray's Last Word column: 'Blackening TIM's good name'
  13. ^ Amateur Photographer, 1 November 1986, 'APL action on film losses'
  14. ^ The Guardian, 17 November 1984,'So much heavy metal': the abolition of the £1 note
  15. ^ Peterborough, Daily Telegraph, 5 July 1979, 'Posted in Haste?': the failings of the Post Office delivery service
  16. ^ Punch 1 October 1975, 5 November 1975
  17. ^ Forever Ambridge (p220) by Norman Painting, Michael Joseph, 1975. ISBN 978 0 7181144221
  18. ^ Westminster Review, 1995-2000
  19. ^ Active Life, 2002-2005
  20. ^ Examples: Radio Times, News Stand, 14 July 1979, 26 May 1984, 29 June 1986, 14 July 1984, 25 November 1984.
  21. ^ UK Press Gazette, December 1978, 'Press Salute'.

External links



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