Mark Frith (born 22 May 1970, in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

) is a British

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and editor. He has been a writer and editor for magazines such as ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'', ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' and ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

''. He has since branched into TV and radio presenting and is an author of novels.

Early life

Mark Frith was born in Sheffield in 1970. He attended Gleadless Valley Secondary Comprehensive School in Norton, Sheffield, before going on to study at the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

, where he edited the college magazine ''Overdraft'', but did not graduate.

Career

Frith joined the editorial team at ''

'' and became editor at the age of 23. He then joined ''

SKY Magazine Sky Magazine (or 'Sky Mag') was a magazine distributed to subscribers of the BSkyB satellite service Sky Digital. Availability The magazine was available to subscribers of the Variety Pack or all packs of entertainment. Content The magazines ...

'' as editor for two years before joining ''

'' magazine in 1999. He was put in charge in early 2000 and transformed the title from a 60,000-a-week selling magazine to sales of over half a million an issue. He left the magazine in May 2008. Following this he became editor for London listings magazine ''

'' from 24 July 2009 until 8 July 2011, when he was succeeded as editor by Tim Arthur. In 2012 he became a contributor to 1980s-themed music magazine ''Classic Pop'', for which he still writes. In 2017, Frith was appointed the 18th editor of TV and radio listings magazine ''

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 ...

'' replacing

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– ...

. He left in 2020. He has subsequently made a spin-off career as a broadcaster and media 'talking head' on the subjects of celebrity and pop music. On 28 February 2008, Frith resigned from ''Heat'', having landed a book deal with

Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...

. Frith has won magazine publishing awards in Britain including

PPA PPA may refer to: Biomedical * ''Palpatio per anum'', Latin medical term for a rectal examination * Parahippocampal place area located within the parahippocampal gyrus * Phenylpropanolamine * Primary progressive aphasia Organizations * Pakistan ...

Editor Of The Year (twice) and, in 2005, the

Mark Boxer Award Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

for Outstanding Achievement to British Magazines at the BSME Awards. Frith presented the BBC's ''

Liquid News ''Liquid News'' was a daily round up of entertainment news for BBC Three (and before that BBC Choice) running from 30 May 2000 to 1 April 2004. The show was also broadcast weekly on BBC One and internationally on BBC Prime and BBC America. The p ...

'' for a year, then in 2008 made his debut in ''Who’s Who'' and now regularly features on radio as part of Radio 4's ''Front Row'' show and on '' The Apprentice: You're Fired!'' on BBC2. Mark Frith Biography
/ref> His book ''The Celeb Diaries'' is being adapted by Danny Brocklehurst and Big Talk (''

Spaced ''Spaced'' is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the (comedic and sometimes farcical and action-packed) misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bis ...

'', ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed (Nick Frost). The fi ...

'') for a TV series based around a celebrity magazine office situation.

Bibliography

External links

The Celeb Diaries website

The Guardian Profile: Mark Frith

References

British male journalists British magazine editors 1970 births Living people People from Norton Lees Alumni of the University of East London Writers from Sheffield {{UK-journalist-stub