- Peter Jenkins (journalist)
Peter Jenkins (
11 May ,1934 –27 May ,1992 ) was a British journalist and Associate Editor of "The Independent ". He wrote regular columns for "The Guardian ", "The Sunday Times" and "The Independent". He was committed to a vision of a European Britain, anti-communist, but more socially inclusive than the American model of society. He belonged to a group of "Königswinter journalists", who —meeting with politicians and civil servants in Königswinter near Bonn, the then West German capital— attempted to build a pan-European group of opinion-formers, leaving behind the enmities of the past and looking forward to European community. After the death of his first wife, he married fellow journalistPolly Toynbee .His daughter is
Amy Jenkins , author of the cult 1990s TV serial about twentysomething lawyers, "This Life ".Peter George James Jenkins was educated at
Culford School andTrinity Hall, Cambridge , where he took a BA in History (the MA acquired later is an Honorary Degree). He began his career as a journalist with the "Financial Times " (1958-60) and progressed to "The Guardian" where he was variously their Labour Correspondent (1963-67), Washington Correspondent (1972-74), and Political Commentator and Policy Editor (1974-85). He was political columnist for "The Sunday Times" between 1985-87 and Associate Editor of "The Independent" from 1987 until his death.Jenkins was also Theatre Critic for "
The Spectator " between 1978-81 and his first stage play, Illuminations, was performed at the Lyric, Hammersmith in 1980. He also wrote the comedy series Struggle (broadcast onChannel 4 from 1983-1984), a satire on the Conservative - Labour battles in local government at the time [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/s/struggle_1299002987.shtml] .He was a visiting Fellow of
Nuffield College, Oxford . Awards included Granada TV Journalist of the Year, 1978.Works
*cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Peter|title=The Battle of Downing Street|year=1970|publisher=London: Knight|id=ISBN 978-0853140689
*cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Peter|title=Where Trotskysm got lost: the restoration of European democracy after the Second World War|year=1977|publisher=Nottingham: Spokesman Pamphlet 59
*cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Peter|title=Mrs Thatcher's revolution: the ending of the socialist era|year=1987|publisher=London: Cape|id=ISBN 978-0674588325Moreover some of his work has been collected in an edited book:
*cite book|last=Brivati, Brian, and Richard Cockett, eds. Introduction by Polly Toynbee|title=Anatomy of decline : the political journalism of Peter Jenkins|year=1995|publisher=London: Cassell|id=ISBN 0-304-34476-1
References
Marr, Andrew. "My trade. A short history of British journalism." London: Pan Macmillan, 2005. (p. 354 ff.)
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