The Global Media Business Weekly

Colin Morrison

Colin Morrison is founder of Flashes & Flames: The Global Media Business Weekly, which began as a blog in 2011 and became a subscription newsletter in 2020. It formed a strategic alliance with PA Media Group (formerly the Press Association) in 2021. Flashes & Flames is widely read by CEOs, senior executives and entrepreneurs in the media, digital and events industries, principally in the UK/Europe, the US and AsiaPacific.

After a spell in a newspaper cuttings library for the BBC (yes) while writing freelance on music, broadcasting and entertainment, Colin became a newspaper, radio and magazine journalist variously in London, Dublin and New York.

He worked for, and contributed to, diverse publications including: The Irish Press, New York Times, Broadcast, London Evening Standard, Lloyd’s List, The Times, Disc & Music Echo, Oilman, Radio Times, Seatrade, and the Daily Telegraph. He has also broadcast extensively on BBC radio.

At IPC / Reed International, he was a journalist and successively became editor, publisher and managing director of B2B and specialist consumer magazine and events brands including: Amateur Photographer, Flight International, Classic Cars, Cycling, Airline Business, Commercial Motor, Yachting World and The Caterer.

He subsequently became CEO of media, information, events and broadcast companies in the UK, Continental Europe, and the AsiaPacific, including for: Axel Springer SE, Australian Consolidated Press, Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd, EMAP Plc, Future Plc, Reed Elsevier Plc, and Hearst Corp.

He has established and/or managed joint ventures and partnerships with: Hearst, Hachette, Microsoft, VNU, Time Warner, Sony, ACP Magazines, Disney, Fairfax, and the BBC.

He has been chair and non-executive director of media companies variously under public, private and private equity ownerships. He is also an investor in media, tech and investment companies in the UK, Europe, US and Australia. He has been a keynote speaker at conferences in the UK, US, India, South Africa, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, Spain and Portugal.

Colin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and of the UK Industry & Parliament Trust; a member of The Cook Society; and a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the 350-year-old Worshipful Company of Stationers & Newspaper Makers. He has been chair of Magazine Publishers of Australia, and of British Business Press, and a director of the UK Professional Publishers Association, and of The Media Society.

He has been honoured as an “Influencer” in the Folio:100, in the US, and was awarded an CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth in the UK. For 15 years, he was chair of a national children’s charity, and was an adviser on education to successive UK governments.

The team

Tech: Kieran Delaney is owner-founder of Mathematics, which designs and builds websites, apps and digital products for media and brands including Facebook, Dazed, Mixmag, Audi, Birkenstock, Kerrang! and RayBan. Mathematics designed, built and manages Flashes & Flames. Kieran and his team have also been variously involved in web projects for NME, Adidas, X-Box, Stella McCartney and 02.

Content: Jasper Jackson is Technology Editor of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and was previously an editor successively for BriefingMedia, The Guardian, and the New Statesman. He is a trustee of The Media Society.

Research: Alex De Groote is a highly experienced TMT analyst for European banks and brokers including: Charterhouse, ING, Credit Agricole, Panmure Gordon, Peel Hunt, Cenkos and Arden Partners.

Circulation: David Greene is a UK-based specialist in subscriptions, consumer marketing, and media readership. He has been an executive director of IPC Media, The Independent, and Telegraph Media Group.

Consultant: Ian Findlay has managed M&A, fund-raising, investment, and strategic development for some of Europe’s largest media groups including: RELX and EMAP.

Flashes & Flames Media Ltd

Flashes & Flames is published by Flashes & Flames Media Ltd., a company registered in the UK. Company no. 12865884. Registered address: 8 Hampstead Gate, 1A Frognal, London NW3 6AL, UK.