The Global Media Business Weekly and organiser of significant events

Colin Morrison

He is founder and owner of Flashes & Flames: Global Media Business Weekly, which began as a blog and became a weekly newsletter in 2016.

Flashes & Flames is widely read by CEOs, senior executives and entrepreneurs in the media, digital, business information and events industries, principally in the UK/Europe, the US and AsiaPacific.

Ahead of the 10th anniversary, 2025 has been a year of significant expansion, including:

• Acquisition of the business of the successful, eight-year-old podcast, events and newsletter publisher MediaVoices®.
• Awarded a Warrant by the 600-year-old Worshipful Company of Stationers & Newspaper Makers (‘Stationers Company’, the UK’s historic pioneer of copyright legislation). The Warrant was in recognition of Flashes & Flames’ “excellence as a media industry commentator”.
• Organised the first “Monetising B2B Information & Events” conference in London, with the participation of major companies including RELX, The Economist, Financial Times, Informa, Business of Fashion, and Clarion Events. The sell-out event was widely acclaimed, including by Greg Hitchen, CEO of Terrapinn Events, who said: “This was an outstanding event that only Colin Morrison could have created. The speaker quality was peerless and the ideas abundant. So pleased to be a part of it and looking forward to next year!”

The second Flashes & Flames event, “The Definitive AI Forum for Media, Information & Events”, takes place at Stationers’ Hall, London, on 25 November 2025.

The second edition of “Monetising B2B Information & Events” takes place at Stationers’ Hall, London, on 13 May, 2026.

Colin started out with an undemanding post-school job in a newspaper cuttings library for the BBC in London, while writing freelance on music, broadcasting and entertainment. He subsequently became a newspaper, radio and magazine journalist variously in London, Dublin and New York. He worked for, and contributed to, diverse publications including: Irish Press, New York Times, Broadcast, London Evening Standard, Lloyd’s List, The Times of London, Disc & Music Echo, The Oilman, Radio Times, Seatrade, and the Daily Telegraph.

At IPC / Reed Publishing, he was a journalist and successively became editor, publisher and managing director of B2B and specialist consumer magazine and events. He subsequently became CEO of media, information, events and broadcast companies in the UK, Continental Europe and the AsiaPacific, including for: Axel Springer, Australian Consolidated Press (ACP), Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd (PBL), EMAP Plc, Future Plc, Reed Elsevier, and Hearst Corp.

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

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and of the UK Industry & Parliament Trust; and a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the 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 CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, 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.

Wikipedia listing

LinkedIn profile

MediaVoices interview

What our readers say: “Always one step ahead of the conversation”

Arnaud de Puyfontaine, CEO, Vivendi SA: “Flashes & Flames is the most inspiring media newsletter I ever read. It’s a must-read every week.”

Lara Boro, CEO, The Economist Group: “Flashes & Flames is essential weekly reading for anybody in the ever changing world of media”

Sean Griffey, founder, Industry Dive: “Flashes & Flames provides an in-depth look at the business of media simply not found anywhere else.  It’s the first thing I read every Friday morning.”

Gabriel Brotman, EVP, Axel Springer: “Flashes & Flames is one of the few industry reads that actually makes me feel smarter and better informed about the ever-changing global media business. Colin brilliantly connects dots across markets and models, and I’ve found him to be always one step ahead of the conversation.”

Justin Smith, CEO and co-founder, Semafor: “Flashes & Flames brings sophisticated narrative, analysis and flair to global trade media and has therefore become both an indispensable and enjoyable read.”

Tom Bureau, founder, Immediate Media: “Colin Morrison combines the experience and instincts of a senior operator, with the analysis of a quality commentator. Given the lack of mainstream journalistic investment in the media sector, he has built a thing of real value to its subscribers. It is surprisingly well researched and always has an interesting take on deals and the media organisations he reports on.”

Philip Soar, Chair, CloserStill Media, and Nineteen Group: “Flashes & Flames is essential reading for those of us working and investing at the intersection of trade shows, events and private equity. It is the only regular source of useful and accurate information on those increasingly prominent parts of the media world.”

The team

Tech: Kieran Delaney is owner-founder of FlatPlan, an Apple Preferred Provider for content distribution, trusted by New York Times Company, Premier League, FIFA, Sky News, Minute Media and hundreds of leading media and sports businesses. FlatPlan combines market leading ‘no code’ software with the strategic guidance of news platform experts, offering enterprise businesses the opportunity to reach billions of people directly on their devices. https://flatplan.io

Content, podcasts and events: Esther Kezia Thorpe (Editorial & Events Director) and Peter Houston (Publishing Director) were co-founders of MediaVoices, the producer of podcasts, newsletters and events. The eight-year-old business was acquired by Flashes & Flames Media Ltd in April 2025.

Events: Cobus Heyl is a former journalist and media business executive who is a highly-experienced organiser of conferences and events. He is producer of Flashes & Flames’ events, notably ‘The Definitive AI Forum for Media, Information & Events’ (25 November 2025), ‘Monetising B2B’ conference (13 May 2026), and ‘The MediaVoices Publisher Summits’, in June 2026.

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® and MediaVoices® media, digital services and events are owned, published and organised 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.

Please note: Flashes & Flames® and MediaVoices® are registered trade marks, owned by Flashes & Flames Media Ltd.