Adrian Michaels (born 8 September 1969) is a British national and international newspaper journalist. In 2014 he founded the content marketing agency FirstWord Media Ltd.[1]
Education
editMichaels attended University College School, Hampstead, London (1977–87), and Trinity College, Oxford (1987–90) where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Life and career
editIn 1993, he started a 15-year career at the Financial Times including nine years as a foreign correspondent in New York and Milan. While in New York he (with colleague Peter Spiegel) won the "Business and Finance Reporter of the Year" in the British Press Awards for 2002.[2][3][4] This was for his work on the downfall of accountancy firm Arthur Andersen and its role in the Enron scandal. He was also runner up in the same year as Business Journalist of the Year at the London Press Club Awards.[5]
Michaels occasionally provoked heated debate in Italy's media while in Milan for the Financial Times. In particular, a front cover FT magazine story he wrote in 2007 on the enduring and archaic use of the female form in Italian media and advertising,[6] and linking that to a lack of female attainment in business and politics, created a media storm and was cited in calls for equality legislation in the Italian parliament.[7][8]
After the Financial Times, Michaels became Group Foreign Editor at the Telegraph Media Group in 2008.[9] and then in 2011 Editorial Director, Commercial, a role on the advertising side of the Telegraph that sought to capitalize on the growth in demand from advertisers to reach their audiences via more detailed content and expert journalism.
Michaels left the Telegraph in 2014 and founded FirstWord, an agency that continues his work in content for non-media organisations.[10] He has been a defender of the growing alignment of company marketing and journalism against criticism that it is endangering the independence of journalists.[11]
Personal life
editMichaels' entry in Who's Who says he is married with two daughters. Adrian lists his hobbies as "golf, cheese”.
References
edit- ^ "Content Marketing Agency For Business & Services - Firstword London". FirstWord.
- ^ "Press Awards". pressawards.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-16.
- ^ "British Press Awards". The Guardian. 2003-03-19. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ "Stand-out brands - Pearson Annual Report 2003". ar2003.pearson.com. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ Ciar Byrne. "Currie gives Times scoop of the year". The Guardian.
- ^ "Naked ambition". Financial Times.
- ^ ""L'Italia un paese di veline le donne sono solo oggetti" - Persone - Repubblica.it". www.repubblica.it. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ "Pari opportunità, un'occasione". Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ Stephen Brook. "Telegraph Media Group appoints Adrian Michaels as head of foreign operations". The Guardian.
- ^ "Ex-Telegraph content chief launches agency". gorkana.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.
- ^ "In Defence Of Content Marketing". holmesreport.com.