BSME announces new chair

The British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) says Gideon Spanier will be supported by vice-chairs Laura Bartlett, founding editor-in-chief at House of Coco, Chris Lupton, creative director at Empire and Andrea Thompson, editor-in-chief at Marie Claire. Lupton is the first art director to be a vice chair in recognition of the importance of art and design, added BSME. Together they lead the committee of up to 17 leading British digital and print magazine editors, editorial directors and art directors who run the society, judge its journalism awards and plan its annual programme of events. Deborah Joseph will remain within the society in the role of head of marketing.

Gideon Spanier said: “I am delighted to be the 2024 chair of the BSME and to build on the society’s work to champion excellence in magazine journalism and attract more diverse talent to our industry. Magazine and website editors and their teams have a unique ability to investigate, inform and inspire – through brilliant story-telling, beautiful art and design and smart use of data – and our role has never been more needed.

“Trusted journalism matters because we are living in an era where unreliable, toxic, fake and rip-off content is rife and artificial intelligence is on the rise, plus there is a UK general election coming up in the next 12 months.

“The BSME’s 2024 agenda will reflect this as we are going to focus on three priorities: The power of trusted, professionally-produced journalism, the importance of editorial innovation to engage audiences and drive sustainable growth, and the need to keep pushing for greater inclusion and opportunities for all in magazine media.

“On behalf of the BSME committee, I would like to thank Deborah Joseph, the European editorial director of GLAMOUR UK, for being a superb chair for the last 12 months. We want the BSME to be a beacon for editorial talent from every corner of the UK magazine industry and I look forward to working with the committee to continue our mission.”

The BSME says it is the only society exclusively for digital and print editors and their teams in the UK. The society’s role is to support, represent and inform editors of all disciplines and its mission statement is 'Digital. Print. Excellence’. It acts as a forum for editors to meet, exchange ideas and educate, via industry functions, awards and social gatherings. The society runs an events programme throughout the year, including two sets of awards: the BSME Talent Awards in the summer and the main BSME Awards, for editors and art directors, in the winter.