BikeBiz Brit List 2014: Media

At the end of last year BikeBiz asked for your help to put together the BikeBiz Brit List 2014, in association with The London Bike Show, listing the most influential people in UK cycling.

Click here for the the politican and advocate entries.
Click here for the cycle industry entries.
Click here for the cycle sport world entries.

And here are the media entries…

Ned Boulting
Commentator
Boulting has been commentating and presenting on and around the Tour de France since 2003 for ITV and it is in this capacity that he is perhaps best known – for enthusiastically conveying the passion of the race to cycle fans and those who happen to switch over and get hooked.

It’s not just Le Tour though, with Boulting furnishing ITV viewers with coverage for the increasingly popular Tour of Britain, the Tour Series and the Revolution Series. Not only that but he also bagged The Royal Television Society Sports News Reporter of the Year in 2006 and provided commentary on the Paralympic Games of London last year.

He’s on his second book (both on cycling of course), the first detailing how he fell in love with the Tour de France and the second on how the nation is becoming increasingly obsessed with cycling – an obsession he is helping feed.

Kaya Burgess
News Reporter, The Times
Perhaps the most influential national journalist involved in the cycling world, Burgess last year won awards for his work spearheading The Times’ eye-catching ‘Cities Fit for Cycling’ campaign, which has clearly caught the imagination of Westminster, helping prompt the Get Britain Cycling report.

Since then, Burgess has left no stoned unturned when covering the political, statistical and personal aspects of cycling in the city.

Particularly active on social networks, Burgess is often first to break cycling stories from London and is particularly good at conveying the human impact of news, all with the respected Times brand behind him. While some would prefer the potentially off-putting safety issues were not the focus, Burgess and the paper have undoubtedly helped make it a hot topic that is increasingly difficult for authorities to ignore.

Rebecca Charlton
Journalist, Presenter and Sponsored Rider
Charlton is one of the most prominent females currently working in the cycle industry.

Steeped in the bike world, Charlton has written for both Road Cycling UK and Bike Magic before she moving into a presenting role with Cycling.tv, where she got many an industry insider to take part in a turbo trainer challenge. Then, three years on, Charlton stepped back into cycle print and online with publisher IPC Media, where she currently works across the publisher’s cycle portfolio, holding writing and assistant editor roles.

Also racing with Mule Bar – Sigma, where she is involved with grass roots initiatives and has been raising the profile of women in cycling, the busy Charlton has kept up presenting on cycling with the likes of ITV4 and BT Sport. Recently she became an author too. Little wonder, then, why Charlton is one of the best known faces in the biz.

Andrew Dodd
Features Editor, Mountain Biking UK (MBUK)
“It was mountain biking that gripped me the instant I tried it and I’ve been utterly adddicted ever since.”

Those words Doddy wrote for BikeBiz many years ago but it is that enthusiasm that continues to permeate his work, bristling with support for the mountain biking sector.

Dodd has been with Future for well over a decade and now holds the features editor role at MBUK. Not merely reporting on the various aspects of the sector, Dodd is keen to promote MTBing to youngsters, particularly those in need of direction and drive. He also has a self stated aim of helping build a better mountain biking infrastructure.

Dodd is a key component of the success Mountain Biking UK has seen over the years – not least in hitting its 25th anniversary in 2013.

Anthony McCrossan
Founder, Cyclevox
Cyclevox founder McCrossan is one of the best known voices in cycling, commentating and presenting at a huge range of cycle races and events, from the 2012 Olympic road race and time trials, to the likes of the Tour de France, Paris Roubaix, the San Sebastian Classic and many more. He’s also played cycle pundit for Sky, commentator for ITV4, Eurosport and Cycling.tv. As if that wasn’t enough, McCrossan also presents plenty of live events, like seminars at Cycle Show, so it’s an impossible task guessing how many pairs of ears have heard McCrossan enthusing about cycling over the years. But it’s a lot. And then there’s commentary, PR and production company Cyclevox, founded by McCrossan, producing much of that content. In addition, Cyclevox became video partner to the Wiggle Honda women’s pro team last year.

Kirsty Medlock
Editor, Total Women’s Cycling
In the main, cycling has notoriously been seen as a largely male pastime. Consequently, the media, bike industry and the related product offerings have, to a great extent, reflected that assumption and in an embarrassingly large number of cases products have been guilty of ‘pinking and shrinking’. Thankfully there is a chink of light in the shape of increasing numbers of female cyclists and growing numbers of women in the cycle industry.

Reflecting that change have been media launches like Total Women’s Cycling, among those to begin to redress the balance. Long distance cycle enthusiast Medlock heads up that title and has a drive to make cycling more accessible to women at all levels. Expected to become more influential as Total Women’s Cycling establishes itself further in the market, Medlock is one to watch.

Carlton Reid
Journalist
The founder of BikeBiz. Call us biased, but Reid is perhaps the single most active UK cycling advocate. In recent years his iPayRoadTax campaign has challenged misconceptions in the mainstream media, which has finally begun to cotton on to the fact that cyclists pay just as much tax toward the upkeep of roads as the motorist, all while causing far less damage. Speaking up for cycling on everything from Radio 2 to ITV’s Alan Titchmarsh Show, Reid is the go-to guy for his knowledge of the cycling world. He’s currently working on a book that again challenges lazy journalism and misconceptions titled Roads Were Not Built for Cars, meanwhile he continues to be a regular contributor to publications such as the Eurobike Show Daily, national newspapers and blogs, as well as producing big scoops for BikeBiz.com. Quite simply, we couldn’t leave him off this list.

Bruce Sandell and Guy Andrews
Gruppo Media
Rouleur may be an established success story in the cycle media world, but back in the day the triumph of a premium magazine seemed far from a foregone conclusion and was a shift in how things were done.
It didn’t take long to make waves, building up 2,000 subscriptions in ten issues purely by word of mouth and going on to scoop awards. Rouleur magazine remains a clear influencer of subsequent cycle magazine launches.

With Sandell and Andrews at the helm of new owner Gruppo Media, there have been link ups with Bloomsbury Publishing, a concerted effort to develop merchandising and the global audience has been increased. They also made the tough decision to put Privateer on ice to concentrate on the core Rouleur business. Gruppo’s influence on affluent cycle fans and publishers alike is surely set to continue.

Peter Walker
Reporter, The Guardian
Walker is another London-based journalist, working for The Guardian, with a particularly keen eye on cycling issues, including safety on the roads. As such, Walker is one of the few journalists writing on cycling and read by those outside the enthusiast and industry readership, making his words particularly valuable as they spread common sense and a rider’s perspective on the relevant issues of the day.

Known to focus on the facts and leave speculation to others, Walker has a strong opinion on topics such as helmet compulsion, cyclists and the law and infrastructure in the city. What’s more, Walker seems to have a keen eye on cycling promises coming from City Hall, as well as contributing to the Guardian’s bike blog, with work including review articles seen by a wide audience. Also a keen tweeter, Walker’s pro-cycling voice is a powerful one.

Danny Williams
Blogger, Cyclists in the City
Having risen to cycling circle fame with relentless blogging and tweeting relating to cycling safety in the city, Danny Williams is now a prominent cycling campaigner and advocate with his Cyclists in the City blog.
Williams has taken an active role in promoting the Space For Cycling message, coined by the London Cycling Campaign, with the organisation dubbing the blogger ‘Local Campaigner of the Year 2012’ for his efforts to raise awareness of the campaign.

With a keen eye on policy and infrastructure proposals, Williams’ writing encourages readers to become involved in public discussion on cycling and to actively pursue any proposals that benefit the London cyclist with the relevant local authorities.

The BikeBiz Brit List supplement, in association with The London Bike Show, will be included in the March edition of BikeBiz.