Alex Massie (journalist)
Alex Massie (born 1 July 1974) is a Scottish freelance journalist commentator based in Edinburgh. He is Scotland editor for "The Spectator", and writes a political column for "The Times" and "The Sunday Times". He is also a regular contributor to ITV Border, BBC Television and BBC Radio. Early life. The son of the journalist Allan Massie, Massie was educated at St. Mary’s Prep School, MelroseGlenalmond College in Perthshire and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he edited "T.C.D. Miscellany". He was also an active member of the University Philosophical Society, one of the college's main  debating societies. Massie applied to Cambridge University twice and was rejected both times. In 1997, he won the John Smith Memorial Mace debating competition, speaking with Matthew Magee and representing the University Philosophical Society. Formerly "The Observer" Mace, the competition was renamed in 1995 and is run by the English-Speaking Union. Career. Massie is Scotland editor of "The Spectator", a columnist for the Scottish edition of "The Times", and a regular contributor to Border Television as well as BBC Television and Radio. Prior to this, he edited a political blog, "The Debatable Land". He was previously Washington correspondent for  The Scotsman and assistant editor of "Scotland on Sunday". He has also written for "The Washington Post", "Politico", "The Daily Telegraph", "The New Republic", "Foreign Policy", "The Sunday Times", "The Daily Beast", the "Los Angeles Times", the "Scottish Daily Mail", "National Review Online", "The Sunday Telegraph", "The New York Times", "The American Conservative", "Time", "Bloomberg Businessweek", "The Observer", the "New Statesman", "The Big Issue", "Slate", "CapX", the "Irish Independent", "Newsweek" and "The Sunday Business Post". Since January 2009 he has written a blog that is published by "The Spectator". In 2012 he was short-listed in the blog section for  the Orwell Prize for political writing. On 18 January 2014, Massie appeared in a BBC Referendum debate as an 'undecided voter'. On 27 August 2015, Massie wrote an article for The Times titled 'BBC ‘bias’ against independence was essential'. In November 2018, Massie wrote an article for "The Spectator" suggesting that France should honour Nazi collaborator Philippe Pétain for his service in World War I. He wrote the book reviews for the 2020 edition of "Wisden Cricketers' Almanack". In January 2022, the Times published a correction of an opinion piece by Massie titled “Self-ID is a fantasy that hurts  trans people". This was following a ruling by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) of the inaccuracy of the opinion piece. Private life. Massie plays for Selkirk Cricket Club and supports Scottish football side Heart of Midlothian.