David Barnett Kogan is a British media executive, historian and journalist, living in London. He has worked as both a journalist and a senior executive at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Wasserman Media Group Wasserman Group is a sports marketing and talent management company based in Los Angeles. Casey Wasserman, grandson of media mogul Lew Wasserman, founded the company in 1998 and acts as its chief executive. History In 2002, Wasserman acquired ...

and

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

. He has written about the history of the Labour Party.

Career

Kogan was educated at Haverstock Comprehensive School in Camden, London; and at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. From 1982 he was a producer at

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

working on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

''; at

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

working on ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

'' and '' Breakfast Time''; and at

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is owned by AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary series). Unlike the BBC's ...

. From 1988 he was managing editor and then global managing director at Reuters Television. From 1996 he was executive director at Granada Channels. In 1998 he co-founded media advisory company Reel Enterprises with Sara Munds, and was its

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO). In 2011, Reel was acquired by

, where Kogan and Munds went to work in

media rights Broadcasting rights (often also called media rights) are rights which a broadcasting organization negotiates with a commercial concern - such as a sports governing body or film distributor - in order to show that company's products on television o ...

. In 2014 he and Munds left and set up Exile Enterprises. Kogan was executive director / CEO of

from 2015 to 2019. Kogan was "the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

's chief media rights adviser from 1998 to 2015 and a key architect of its global financial success". Other media rights clients have included the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the Queen's

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

for services to diplomacy, having been asked to provide advice on

FCO Services The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...

funds. While at Magnum in 2018, prompted by allegations of

sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...

against two of its photographers, Kogan led the agency in creating a formal

code of conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the social norm, norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is comm ...

for both its photographers and staff. Kogan's first book was ''The Battle for the Labour Party'', published with his uncle, Maurice Kogan, in 1981. The later ''Protest and Power: The Battle for the Labour Party'' (2019) is a 400-page book that builds on the earlier work, based on many interviews. William Davies described the latter work in ''The Guardian'' as a "meticulous review of four decades of intra-party struggles" up to February 2019, but one that offers "little sense of who and what really mattered". In April 2020 Kogan became a director of

LabourList LabourList is a British news website supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party, launched in 2009. Describing itself as Labour's "biggest independent grassroots e-network", the site's content includes news, commentary, interviews, campa ...

, an independent news site for the Labour Party. He resigned as director in April 2025. In May 2025, the Culture, Media and Sport committee endorsed Kogan appointment as Chair of the Independent Football Regulator. This was despite concerns being raised by the

Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, formerly the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, is one of the select committees of the House of Commons, established in 1997. It oversees the operations of the Department for Cultur ...

that there may be a perceived conflict of interest, given Kogan's history of donations to the Labour Party.

Publications

*''The Battle for the Labour Party''. 1981. With Maurice Kogan. **Second, updated edition. Fontana, 1982. . Contains 2 additional chapters. **London: Bloomsbury Reader, 2018. . *''The Attack on Higher Education''. London: Kogan Page, 1983. . *''Protest and Power: The Battle for the Labour Party''. London: Bloomsbury Reader, 2019. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kogan, David Writers from London British male writers British television executives 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Labour Party (UK) donors Living people 1957 births Place of birth missing (living people) Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire