Nicky Cox
MBE (born March 1966) is a British journalist. She is editor-in-chief of ''
First News'', a British national newspaper for children and of the paper's online news channel, First News Live!. She is also the CEO of indie production company, Fresh Start Media, specialising in documentary films for, or about, children.
Early career
Nicky Cox began her career in regional newspapers, as a trainee reporter with the ''
Croydon Advertiser
''The Croydon Advertiser'' (with locally branded editions) is a paid-for weekly newspaper with five editions covering the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and two neighbouring towns and with a free up-to-the-minute maintained web presence.
H ...
''. Eighteen months later she won the Jesse Ward Young Journalist of the Year Award.
[
She went on to work as a sub-editor on '']The Sunday Mirror
The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...
'' and ''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 ...
''. She took up the post of launch editor of ''Early Times'', a newspaper for children, which had limited private financial backing. Cox took four child reporters to 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...
to interview Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
.
BBC
Shortly afterwards she joined BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
(then called BBC Enterprises) with a brief to launch a junior version of the ''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 ...
''.
The first magazine she launched for the BBC in 1989 was ''Fast Forward
To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquiall ...
''. She went on to work for 13 years as editorial director of the children's division at the BBC launching some 50 children's magazines in total, ranging in age from Teletubbies through to Top of the Pops. She was also editorial director of BBC children's books, DVD and audio in the UK. She sat on the BBC brand development board, working on programmes such as Tweenies
''Tweenies'' is a British live action puppet children's television series created by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan, and produced by Tell-Tale Productions and the BBC. The programme was focused on four preschool-aged characters, known as the ...
.
While at the BBC she became executive producer of two charity concerts at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
in aid of ChildLine, which featured Boyzone
Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...
, Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue (; born 20 October 1971) is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. As a child, she became known for her appearances on the television talent show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988). She went on to play the r ...
and Take That
Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...
. While at the BBC, she sat on the brand development board for new programmes, and was part of the commissioning team.
''First News''
While working at the BBC, Cox first met Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
, who was editing ''The Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' newspaper's ''Bizarre'' page at the time.
Before the launch of '' First News'', Cox worked as editorial director at Tree Top Media for four years launching magazines including ''Tinkerbell'' and Ant & Dec
Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo consisting of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly from Newcastle upon Tyne. After meeting as child actors on CBBC's drama ''Byker Grove'', they performed together as pop musicians PJ & Duncan, ...
's pre-school animation, ''Engie Benjy
''Engie Benjy'' is a British stop motion animated pre-school children's television show, broadcast on ITV's children's strand, CITV. The titular character is a blue-haired mechanic who fixes problems with the help of his friends and an assortme ...
'', as well as ITV's ''Pop Idol
''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...
''. During this period she became a BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
judge for children's television programmes.
The newspaper was launched by Cox and Morgan and Cox's cousins, Steve and Sarah Thomson, in May 2006. The official launch was held at a party hosted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
at Downing Street. The newspaper won an award from Save The Children
The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide.
The organization raises money to imp ...
for "Outstanding Contribution To Children". Cox collected the award from HRH Princess Anne.
In 2017, alongside First News, Cox started an indie production company, Fresh Start Media, with former BBC colleagues – Emmy and BAFTA award-winning Marshall Corwin and Chris Rogers. The company specialises in making news and documentaries for, or about, children. Fresh Start Media's first documentary for the BBC was called ''Too Many Guns'', focusing on America's youngest gun control campaigner.
Campaign work
Cox's ''Conflict Children'' campaign, supported by Save The Children and the Government's Department for International Development
The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...
was signed-up to by 230,000 children across the country. The campaign was to raise awareness of the issues facing children caught up in wars around the world, particularly child soldiers. Nicky brought a choir of orphans from Uganda to perform at 10 Downing Street for Prime Minister Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
and his wife. Shortly after their return to Uganda, one of the children died from AIDS.
Cox has frequently toured UK schools on the First News Reading Tour with Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, producer, director, and author. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), Winkler has distinguished himself as a character acto ...
, who writes the Hank Zipzer children's novels.
In June 2009, she was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...
, for services to children.
First News has been awarded Weekly National Newspaper of the Year in the UK and Save The Children gave the newspaper its award for outstanding contribution to children. In 2014, Cox was a Woman of Achievement in the Women of the Year Awards.
She is a trustee of the British Plaque Trust, patron of the British Citizen Youth Awards, and a special advisor to UNICEF.
References
External links
National Literacy Trust
First News website
Nicky Cox team member profile on the First News website
YouTube – Nicky launches campaigns at Downing Street
PR Week Editor's Desk
Annual First News Reading Tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Nicky
British women journalists
Living people
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Place of birth missing (living people)
1966 births