Mark Frith (born 22 May 1970, in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

) is a British

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 ...

, music critic, and editor. He has been a writer and editor for magazines such as ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'', '' Time Out'' and ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

''. He has since branched into TV and radio presenting, and has written multiple books.

Early life

Mark Frith was born in Sheffield on 22 May 1970. He attended Gleadless Valley Secondary Comprehensive School in Norton, Sheffield, before going on to study at the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

, where he edited the college magazine ''Overdraft'', but did not graduate.

Career

Frith joined the editorial team at ''

'' in 1990, and became editor in 1994, at the age of 23. He then edited '' SKY Magazine'' from 1996 to late 1997, before helping to develop ''

'' magazine (which launched in 1999). He was put in charge in early 2000 and transformed the title from a 60,000-a-week selling magazine to sales of over half a million an issue. He left the magazine in May 2008, having landed a book deal with

Ebury Publishing Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Cent ...

. Following this he became editor for London listings magazine '' Time Out'' from 2009 until July 2011, when he was succeeded as editor by Tim Arthur. Frith subsequently became a contributor to 1980s-themed music magazine ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

''. In 2015, Frith became editor-in-chief of ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' magazine. Two years later, he was appointed editorial director of TV and radio listings magazine ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

''; he left the position in 2020. Frith has won magazine publishing awards in Britain including PPA Editor of the Year (twice) and, in 2005, the Mark Boxer Award for Outstanding Achievement in British Magazines at the

BSME The British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME.market) is a professional association of print and onlinBSME.MARKETeditors in the United Kingdom. Established in 1981, the BSME.market has 148 members. Its annual awards—the BSME.market Awards and t ...

Awards. In October 2002, Frith began a stint as presenter of the BBC's ''

Liquid News ''Liquid News'' was a daily round up of entertainment news for BBC Three (and before that BBC Choice) running from 30 May 2000 to 1 April 2004. The show was also broadcast weekly on BBC One and internationally on BBC Prime and BBC America. The p ...

'', and later appeared on Radio 4's '' Front Row'' and BBC2's '' The Apprentice: You're Fired!'' The rights to adapt Frith's 2008 book, ''The Celeb Diaries'', into a TV series, were acquired by Big Talk Studios.

Bibliography

* *

External links

''The Celeb Diaries'' website

''The Guardian'' profile: Mark Frith

References

British male journalists British magazine editors 1970 births Living people People from Norton Lees Alumni of the University of East London Writers from Sheffield {{UK-journalist-stub