Janice Turner (born 8 April 1964) is a British journalist, and a columnist and feature writer for ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''.
Early life
Turner was born in
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. She went to
Ridgewood School
Ridgewood School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status in Scawsby, Doncaster, England. The school gained academy status in October 2011, and was a specialist Engineering College prior to September 2015.
Catchment area
The S ...
in the north of Doncaster. She attended the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
, where she spent a year as an elected Student Union Officer and edited the
''Unionews'' magazine.
Career
Before taking up her present post at ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', Turner was a magazine editor for several
women's titles, launching ''
That's Life'' and ''Real''. She left to write occasional columns for ''The Guardian'' and wrote a column about magazines for the ''
Press Gazette
''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Publis ...
''.
Accolades
Turner won Interviewer of the Year in the 2014 and 2019 British Press Awards. She was shortlisted for best columnist in 2005, 2007, and 2008, 2016 (highly commended), 2017, 2018 and 2019. She was shortlisted for best interviewer in 2006 and 2017. She was short-listed for the 2017 Orwell Prize. Turner won the 2020 Orwell Prize for Journalism. She won "Interviewer of the Year – Broadsheet" at the 2020 Press Awards. She won Comment Journalist of the Year at the 2018 British Journalism Awards.
In 2016, Turner won the award "A Woman's Voice" in the Editorial Intelligence awards which she declined with the following statement:
Writing about transgender people
Turner is known for her columns about transgender people, including "Children sacrificed to appease trans lobby",
"The battle over gender has turned bloody",
and "Trans rapists are a danger in women’s jails".
Helen Belcher
Helen Clare Belcher (born 30 October 1963) is a British transgender activist and Liberal Democrat politician. She has been featured in ''The Independent on Sunday''’s Rainbow List for her work on LGBT issues, particularly those affecting the ...
, co-founder of
Trans Media Watch
Trans Media Watch (TMW) is a British charity founded in 2009 to improve media coverage of transgender and intersex issues. By improving media coverage, TMW strives to "foster social acceptance and civil recognition for trans persons", and to pr ...
, condemned Turner's columns, arguing that Turner painted trans people as "dangerous sex offenders" and claimed that the ''Times'' columns such as Turner's would lead to trans teen suicides.
Turner condemned Belcher's comments,
calling them "ghastly" and "libelous".
''The Times'' defended Turner, writing that "Concerns of biological women must not be silenced".
In 2019, Turner tweeted that trans model and activist
Munroe Bergdorf
Munroe Bergdorf ( Beaumont; born 11 September 1987) is an English model and activist. She has walked several catwalks for brands including Gypsy Sport at both London and NYC Fashion Weeks. Bergdorf was the first transgender model in the UK for L ...
was unfit to be an ambassador for
Childline because Bergdorf was a "porn model" who had posed for ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
''. Bergdorf denied ever participating in porn, and stated that it was wrong to demonize persons that do in any case.
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity.
History
Victorian era
On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...
, the owner of Childline, cut ties with Bergdorf due to the controversy.
Personal life
Turner married
Ben Preston
James Ben Preston (born 24 September 1963) is a British journalist. He is an executive editor of ''The Sunday Times'' and a former editor of the '' Radio Times''.
Early life
His father was Peter Preston, editor of ''The Guardian'' from 1975– ...
, executive editor of ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British 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 News UK, whi ...
'', a former editor of the ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') 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 May 1923 by J ...
'', and a former deputy editor of ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'',
and the son of
Peter Preston
Peter John Preston (23 May 1938 – 6 January 2018) was a British journalist and author. He was editor of ''The Guardian'' for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995.
Early life
Peter Preston was born in Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, the son of J ...
, in 1995. The couple have two sons. She lives in
Camberwell
Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross.
Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...
, South London.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Janice
Alumni of the University of Sussex
British journalists
People from Doncaster
People from East Dulwich
The Times journalists
Living people
Preston family
British republicans
1964 births