Jason Cowley (journalist)
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Jason Cowley (born 19 June 1965) is a
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
, magazine editor and writer. He was editor of the ''
New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' from 2008 until 2024. Prior to this, he has been editor of ''
Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...
'' (2007-2008), editor of the '' Observer Sport Monthly'' magazine (2003-2007), literary editor of the ''New Statesma''n (1998-2002), and a staff writer on ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' (1996-1998). In 2024 he joined
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
as a commentator, features writer and book reviewer.


Early life and education

Jason Cowley was born on 19 June 1965 in
Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...
,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, where he was brought up. His parents were Anthony Cowley and Lilian Cowley. He was educated at Latton Bush School, a former state comprehensive school in Harlow, followed by the
University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...
, from which he graduated in 1989 with a first-class degree in English and philosophy.


Early career

In the early 1990s, Cowley began publishing reviews, literary essays and articles in British newspapers and magazines, including writing for '' The Bookseller'' from 1992 to 1995. In 1996, he became a staff writer for ''The Times'', during which period he was a judge of the Booker Prize for fiction. In the summer of 1998, he became literary editor of the ''New Statesman''. Later he was a contributing editor of the magazine. In 2001 and 2002 he served as a judge for the Caine Prize, of which he is a council member. In 2003, Cowley joined the staff of ''The Observer'' as editor of ''The Observer Sport Monthly'' magazine and as a contributor. Under his editorship the magazine won several awards. He left ''The Observer'' to become editor of the literary magazine ''Granta'' in 2007. Cowley's novel, ''Unknown Pleasures'', was published by Faber and Faber in 2000 and a second book, a work of narrative non-fiction called ''The Last Game: Love, Death and Football'', was published by
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
in spring 2009.


Editor of the ''New Statesman''

Cowley was appointed editor of the ''New Statesman'' on 16 May 2008. and took up his new position in September 2008. Under his editorship, the ''New Statesman''s print circulation increased from 23,000 to 33,000 by 2015, traffic to the magazine's website reached a new record high in June 2016, with 27 million page views and four million unique users, and the magazine has become profitable. In 2013, he edited ''The New Statesman Century: 100 Years of the Best and Boldest Writing on Politics and Culture''. It was published to celebrate the centenary of the ''New Statesman''. In 2018, ''Reaching for Utopia: Making Sense of an Age of Upheaval'' ( Salt Publishing), a book of Cowley's political and cultural essays and profiles, was published. In 2019, he edited and wrote the introduction to ''Statesmanship: The Best of the New Statesman (1913–2019)'', which was published in hardback by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Cowley stepped down from the editorship of the ''New Statesman'' in December 2024 but remains a columnist and contributor.


Awards and recognition

On 10 November 2009, he won the British Society of Magazine Editors' Editor of the Year award in the Special Interest and Current Affairs Magazines category. The judges said that Cowley had transformed the ''New Statesman'' and "created issues of the magazine that were the envy of the industry". In 2010 and 2012, Cowley was shortlisted for the most coveted awards in the magazine industry, as Editor of the Year (consumer magazines) in the PPA Awards. In 2011, he was named editor of the year in the Newspaper & Current Affairs Magazines category at the British Society of Magazine Editors awards. In January 2013, Cowley was shortlisted for the European Press Prize editing award. The awards committee said: "Cowley has succeeded in revitalising the ''New Statesman'' and re-establishing its position as an influential political and cultural weekly. He has given the ''New Statesman'' an edge and a relevance to current affairs it hasn't had for years." He was named among Britain's most influential 500 people by Debrett's in association with ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' in 2015 and 2016. At the 2020 British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) awards, Cowley was named Current Affairs and Politics editor of the year for the fourth time, defeating rivals from ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'', '' The Big Issue'' and '' Prospect''. "In increasingly tribal times, Jason Cowley continues to champion independence of thought and diversity of opinion, challenging his audience and producing a magazine that’s imaginative, unpredictable and interesting," the BSME judges said upon presenting the award. In 2019, Cowley was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Journalism. In 2023 he was chair of the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction’s 25th anniversary Winner of Winners Award.


Works

* *''Reaching for Utopia: Making Sense of An Age of Upheaval'',
Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
, 2018. *''Statesmanship: The Best of the New Statesman'', 1913–2019, W&N, 2019. * Introduction to Animal Farm: George Orwell (Macmillan Collector's Library, 261) Hardcover – 7 Jan. 2021 *''Who Are We Now?: Stories of Modern England'', Picador, 2022


References


External links


Jason Cowley websiteJournalisted - Articles by Jason Cowley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, Jason 1966 births Living people Alumni of the University of Southampton English magazine editors English male journalists English sportswriters New Statesman people People from Harlow