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Janice Turner (born 8 April 1964[2]) is a British journalist, and a columnist and feature writer for The Times.
Janice Turner | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 April 1964[1] Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England |
| Education | Ridgewood School |
| Alma mater | University of Sussex |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Columnist and feature writer for The Times |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Peter Preston (father-in-law) |
Early life
editTurner was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.[3] She went to Ridgewood School[4] in the north of Doncaster. She attended the University of Sussex, where she spent a year as an elected Student Union Officer and edited the Unionews magazine.
Career
editBefore taking up her present post at The Times, 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.
Accolades
editTurner won Interviewer of the Year in the 2014 and 2019 British Press Awards. She was shortlisted for best columnist in 2005,[5] 2007,[6] and 2008,[7] 2016 (highly commended), 2017, 2018 and 2019. She was shortlisted for best interviewer in 2006 and 2017.[8] She was short-listed for the 2017 Orwell Prize.[citation needed] Turner won the 2020 Orwell Prize for Journalism.[9] She won "Interviewer of the Year – Broadsheet" at the 2020 Press Awards.[10] 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:[11]
'Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female.' Simone de Beauvoir wrote those words in 1949. And in journalism, they are still true. Marina, Rosamund, Mary and I have written about elections, war, Brexit, celebrity, poverty, refugees, sport... But whatever women columnists write, and however well we write it, our words are heard only in a minor key. A woman's voice. I would be letting down the many talented female human beings on British newspapers if I accepted this award.
Writing about transgender people
editTurner has been criticised for her writing about transgender people.[12] Her articles on the topic include "Children sacrificed to appease trans lobby",[13] "The battle over gender has turned bloody",[14] and "Trans rapists are a danger in women’s jails".[15] Helen Belcher, co-founder of Trans Media Watch, 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.[16][17][18] Turner condemned Belcher's comments,[19] calling them "ghastly" and "libelous".[16] The Times defended Turner, writing that "Concerns of biological women must not be silenced".[20]
In 2019, Turner tweeted that trans model and activist Munroe Bergdorf was unfit to be an ambassador for Childline because Bergdorf was a "porn model" who had posed for Playboy. Bergdorf denied ever participating in porn, and stated that it was wrong to demonize persons that do in any case. NSPCC, the owner of Childline, cut ties with Bergdorf due to the controversy.[21]
Personal life
editTurner married Ben Preston, executive editor of The Sunday Times, a former editor of the Radio Times, and a former deputy editor of The Times,[22] and the son of Peter Preston, in 1995. The couple have two sons. She lives in Camberwell, south London.
References
edit- ^ "Janice Smith TURNER personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
- ^ Turner, Janice [@VictoriaPeckham] (8 April 2022). "I have never once shared my Wordle bollocks, but it's my birthday and I had a mare" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 April 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Regeneration in the newspapers: Fast train set to pull in new business". Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ Turner, Janice; Edgington, Jude (2 February 2013). "Can you succeed if you go to a comp?". The Times. London. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ "British Press Awards - first shortlists". Press Gazette. 11 February 2005. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2018 – via archive.is.
Janice Turner, The Times
- ^ "US". The Independent. Retrieved 7 January 2018.[dead link]
- ^ "British Press Awards nominees". The Guardian. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ Busfield, Steve (20 March 2006). "British Press Awards as they happened ..." The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ "Janice Turner". The Orwell Foundation. 9 April 2020.
- ^ Tobitt, Charlotte (3 April 2020). "Press Awards reveal winners despite cancelling ceremony over Covid-19". Press Gazette.
- ^ "Women's journalism prize is more desperation than balance". TheGuardian.com. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
- ^ Mayhew, Freddy (11 December 2018). "Buzzfeed's LGBT editor worried by transgender media coverage as Times columnist Janice Turner urges free debate on issue". Press Gazette. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
Turner has faced criticism for her articles on the issue of transgender identity
- ^ Turner, Janice (11 November 2017). "Children sacrificed to appease trans lobby". The Times. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Turner, Janice (16 September 2017). "The battle over gender has turned bloody". The Times. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Turner, Janice (8 September 2018). "Trans rapists are a danger in women's jails". The Times. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ a b Tobitt, Charlotte (22 October 2018). "Times withdraws from comment awards over treatment of columnists as it defends 'diversity of opinion'". Press Gazette. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ PA Medialawyer; Press Gazette (26 April 2019). "Activist loses IPSO complaint against Janice Turner column in Times about trans suicides". Press Gazette. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- ^ "07454-18 Belcher v The Times". Independent Press Standards Organisation. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ Turner, Janice (20 October 2018). "Suicides should never be a political weapon". The Times. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Tobitt, Charlotte (15 October 2018). "Comment awards organisers defend nomination of Times columnists after nominees and judge withdraw". Press Gazette. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Jones, Owen; Perraudin, Frances (11 June 2019). "NSPCC staff condemn decision to cut ties with trans activist". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Hodgson, Jessica (15 April 2002). "Turner leaves Real life behind". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2018 – via www.theguardian.com.