Reporter who inspired Hollywood thriller to lead journalism degree

Acclaimed Observer and New Statesman reporter Martin Bright has joined Essex to teach the next generation of student journalists.

Martin, who will be programme lead for Essex’s BA Multimedia Journalism degree, hopes to reshape the course to ensure his students “all think of themselves as journalists from the outset.”

He plans to use his skills as a reporter and editor to develop new modules on journalistic imagination, features writing and investigative journalism.

Martin is best known for his 2003 Observer scoop which inspired the Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes feature film Official Secrets. Martin was played by Matt Smith in the film, which went on to win several awards, including Political Film of the Year at the 2020 Cinema for Peace Awards. He was attracted to Essex having studied here himself in the 1980s.

Martin, who encourages his students to be radical, like the Essex students of the 1960s and 70s, said: “I've always been interested in the University of Essex, its history and its tradition.”

“What’s exciting about teaching journalism right now is that everything is changing fast. We talk about the death of journalism all the time, but what’s important is that a whole new generation of journalists is coming into the field, and it will be up to them to re-invent what it is to be a journalist. To be a part of bringing on the next generation is a real privilege,” he added.

Speaking about what he’ll bring to the course, Martin said: “It's really important to have a mix: academics who can talk about the wider context, but also people who have experience working in journalism.”

Martin has worked as a journalist for over 30 years. He won the Magazine Journalists’ Association Scoop of the Year for his work on the “rendition” of terrorist suspects in 2006 and was nominated for an Orwell prize for his work at the New Statesman in 2007.

He is currently Editor-at-Large for free expression magazine Index on Censorship. In 2009 he founded the youth employment charity Creative Society.

Header image courtesy of Robert Viglasky.