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.

Education

Michaels attended University College School, Hampstead, London (1977–87), and Trinity College, Oxford (1987–90) where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Life and career

In 1993, he started a 15-year career at the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' 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 The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named '' ...

for 2002. This was for his work on the downfall of accountancy firm Arthur Andersen and its role in the

Enron scandal The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal involving Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Upon being publicized in October 2001, the company declared bankruptcy and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen then on ...

. He was also runner up in the same year as Business Journalist of the Year at the London Press Club Awards. 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, 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. After the ''Financial Times'', Michaels became Group Foreign Editor at the

Telegraph Media Group Telegraph Media Group Limited (TMG; previously the Telegraph Group) is the proprietor of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Telegraph''. It is a subsidiary of Press Holdings. David and Frederick Barclay acquired the group on 30 July 2004, af ...

in 2008. 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. He has been a defender of the growing alignment of company marketing and journalism against criticism that it is endangering the independence of journalists.

Personal life

Michaels' entry in ''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' says he is married with two daughters. Adrian lists his hobbies as "golf, cheese”.

References

External links

*
Adrian Michaels, FirstWord
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaels, Adrian Living people 1969 births Place of birth missing (living people) British newspaper journalists Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford