Paul Mason (born 23 January 1960) is a British journalist. He was Business Editor of the BBC Two television programme Newsnight from 2001, and Culture and Digital Editor of Channel 4 News from 2013, becoming the programme's Economics Editor in 2014.
He is the author of several books, and a visiting professor at the University of Wolverhampton.
Early life and education
Mason was born in Leigh, Lancashire. His father, John Mason (1927–86), was a lorry driver for Ward & Goldstone Ltd. His mother, Julia (née Lewis, born 1935), was headmistress of St Margaret Mary's Primary School, Hindley Green. One grandparent was a miner and another was a Lithuanian-Jewish violinist.
Mason was educated at St Joseph's RC Primary School in Leigh and Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton, which was a grammar school when Mason attended in the 1970s. He graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in music and politics in 1981 and trained to be a music teacher at London University Institute of Education, after which he undertook postgraduate research into the music of the Second Viennese School at the University of Sheffield until 1984.
Mason lived in Leicester from 1982 to 1988, working as a music teacher and lecturer in music at Loughborough University.
Journalism and broadcasting
Mason has lived in London since 1988, becoming a freelance journalist around 1991. From 1995 to 2001 he worked for Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier, on titles including Contract Journal, Community Care and Computer Weekly, of which he was deputy editor.
In August 2001, Mason joined the BBC Two television programme Newsnight as Business Editor. His first live appearance on Newsnight was on the day of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Mason writes a blog for Newsnight called "Idle Scrawl".
In May 2007, Mason's book Live Working or Die Fighting: How the Working Class Went Global was published by Harvill Secker. In June 2007, Mason presented Spinning Yarns, a four-part series on the history of the cotton industry for BBC Radio Four. Mason appeared in a five-part BBC series Credit Crash Britain, first broadcast on BBC Two on 30 October 2008.
In January 2012 Mason's book Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions was published in paperback by Verso.
Mason attended the Wigan Casino in his youth as a follower of Northern Soul and hosted a documentary about the Northern Soul scene for the BBC's The Culture Show in September 2013.
In August 2013, it was announced that Mason would join Channel 4 News as its culture and digital editor. In May 2014, it was announced that he would become the programme's Economics Editor at the beginning of the following month, replacing Faisal Islam.
Mason announced in February 2016 that he was leaving his position at Channel 4 News in favour of freelancing so he could engage more fully in debates without the constraint of impartiality observed by broadcasters in the UK.
His four-part documentary series #ThisIsACoup covered the 2015 Greek crisis from inside and outside the corridors of power. His documentary series K is for Karl commemorated the ideas of Karl Marx on the 200th anniversary of Marx’s birth. His series, R is for Rosa, was commissioned by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation to mark the centenary of the Polish-German revolutionary.
Playwright
In 2017, Mason wrote Divine Chaos of Starry Things, a two act play looking at the life of Louise Michel and other exiles from the 1871 Paris Commune in exile in New Caledonia. The Guardian described it as "a frustrating, clunky but always intelligent drama focusing on the women in New Caledonia, and particularly the revolutionary Louise Michel. While her comrades take refuge in drink and hopes of appeal against their sentences, Michel keeps the red flag flying. She recognises that the oppression of the Kanaks and of the Parisian working class are one and the same".
Awards
Mason won the Wincott Prize for Business Journalism in 2003, the Workworld Broadcaster of the Year in 2004, and the Diageo African Business Reporting Award in 2007.
Political consulting
Mason is the sole director of a political consulting and media firm called Exarcheia Ltd. At least one member of the shadow front bench has been reported (via the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) to have used Exarcheia's services in 2021.