Martin van Beynen

Martin van Beynen
Born 1959
Residence Christchurch
Nationality New Zealand
Occupation Columnist
Employer The Press, Christchurch
Known for Journalism

Martin van Beynen (born 1959) is a New Zealand writer, print journalist and columnist for the The Press in Christchurch.

Early life and personal

Of Dutch extraction, van Beynen was born in Christchurch.[1] He lived in west Auckland from the age of 11.[1] He was educated at St Peter's College, Auckland[2] where he played rugby union.[3] He attended the University of Auckland where he studied law, graduating in 1981.[1] He gained a M.A. in 1982.[2] Van Beynen is married with three children and lives in Diamond Harbour, Banks Peninsula.[1]

Career

After "a number of diversions" including working overseas,[1] van Beynan completed a Diploma of Journalism at the University of Otago in 1989 and started working with the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.[1] Van Beynen joined The Press in Christchurch in 1991 and after a number of roles was appointed Senior Writer in 2004.[1] He is now a Senior journalist and a leading columnist on the The Press.[4]

His views have, at times, been controversial. An example was his opinion piece relating to "Breakfast for Canterbury" put on by TVNZ following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. This piece began: "As dawn broke over the ruined city, God decided to punish the urbanites one more time. He sent them Paul Henry and his Breakfast television team. Billed as Breakfast for Canterbury, the Auckland TV people came down once more to feast on the already well-gnawed bones of injured Christchurch".[5] He also made trenchant comment on, and took a controversial position in relation to, aspects of the David Bain retrial.[6] Van Beynen was accused of approaching a juror in that retrial, which has led to criticism of him by an official of the High Court and media outlets.[7] In 2012 van Beynen published "Trapped", an account of experiences of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.[8]

Awards

Van Beynen has won significant journalism awards in New Zealand. In 2010, as well as other awards, he won a Qantas Media Award for "Story of the Year" for a feature after the trial and acquittal of David Bain.[9][10] He was also announced "Fairfax Media Journalist of the Year 2010-2011".[1] Van Beynen dominated the individual categories of the 2012 Canon Media Awards (previously called the Qantas Media Awards). He was named Senior Reporter of the Year and Senior Newspaper Feature Writer of the Year, and awarded a Wolfson Fellowship to Cambridge University, which allows him to study at the university in 2013.[11]

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Martin Van Beynen, Trapped: Remarkable Stories of Survival from the 2011 Canterbury Earthquake, Penguin, 2012, p. 2.
  2. 1 2 St Peter's College Magazine 1982, p. 58.
  3. ↑ Martin Van Beynen (1 October 2007). "Wannabe All Black". The Press.
  4. ↑ The Press, Martin van Beynen.
  5. ↑ The Press (13 November 2010). "Breakfast opinion sparks outrage". The Press.
  6. ↑ Martin Van Beynen (20 June 2009). "Plenty of doubt in Bain jury's verdict". The Press.
  7. ↑ "Paper warned over harassing Bain juror". New Zealand Herald. 10 July 2010.
  8. ↑ Jeffrey Paparoa Holman. "Trapped by Martin van Beynen review", The Listener, 25 February 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  9. ↑ "Herald, HoS win big at awards". The New Zealand Herald. 12 June 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Qantas print journalism awards announced". Otago Daily Times. NZPA. 12 June 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "The Press honoured by multiple awards", The Press, 19 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
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