Martin van Beynen explained

Martin van Beynen
Birth Date:1959
Nationality:New Zealand
Known For:Journalism
Employer:The Press, Christchurch
Occupation:Columnist

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

Early life

Of Dutch extraction, van Beynen was born in Christchurch.[1] He lived in West Auckland from the age of 11. He was educated at St Peter's College, Auckland[2] where he played rugby union[3] and was taught Art by Vic Urlich.[4] Van Beynen attended the University of Auckland, where he studied law and wrote for Craccum,[5] graduating in 1981.

Van Beynen is married with three children, and lives in Diamond Harbour, Banks Peninsula.

Career

After "a number of diversions", including working overseas,[1] van Beynen completed a Diploma of Journalism at the University of Canterbury[6] [7] in 1989, and began working with the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.[1] Van Beynen joined The Press in Christchurch in 1991. After several roles, was appointed Senior Writer in 2004[1] and is now a Senior journalist. He was a leading columnist on The Press[8] for 17 years until 2021.[9]

Controversial views

His views have occasionally been controversial. An example was his tongue-in-cheek satire piece describing Paul Henry's "Breakfast for Canterbury", which was broadcast by TVNZ following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. The 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."[10] In 2012, van Beynen published Trapped, an account of experiences of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.[11]

He made trenchant comment on, and took a controversial position in relation to the David Bain retrial, arguing that David was guilty and the jury got it wrong.[12] Van Beynen was accused of approaching a juror, which led to criticism of him by an official of the High Court and media outlets.[13] Years later, Van Beynen wrote and narrated a ten-episode podcast covering the Bain murder case, "Black Hands". The podcast was launched on 20 July 2017.[14] He also wrote and narrated a one-episode sequel podcast, released on 17 September 2017, in response to critical comments about him by former judge Ian Binnie in a radio interview with Kim Hill.[15]

Awards

Van Beynen has won 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.[16] [17] He was also announced "Fairfax Media Journalist of the Year 2010-2011".[1] In the individual categories of the 2012 Canon Media Awards (previously called the Qantas Media Awards) Van Beynen was named Senior Reporter of the Year and Senior Newspaper Feature Writer of the Year. Additionally, he received a Wolfson Fellowship to Cambridge University, enabling him to study at the university in 2013.[18] Black Hands won the 2021 Best Non Fiction prize at the Ngaio Marsh Awards.[19]

Personal life

In 2024 Van Beynen was diagnosed with inoperable stage-IV lung cancer.

Publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Martin Van Beynen, Trapped: Remarkable Stories of Survival from the 2011 Canterbury Earthquake, Penguin, 2012, p. 2.
  2. St Peter's College Magazine 1982, p. 58.
  3. News: Wannabe All Black . Martin Van Beynen . The Press . 1 October 2007.
  4. Martin Van Beynen, "Funny how fast you can swim with a shark on your tail," The Dominion Post, 6 April 2019, p. C7.
  5. Web site: 16 May 2022 . 1970s Craccum editor Louise Chunn: what generation gap? . 12 April 2024 . The University of Auckland.
  6. Matthews, Philip (27 July 2024). "Martin van Beynan – independent thinker". The Press, p. B1.
  7. News: Martin van Beynen – an 'independent thinker' . Philip . Matthews . 3 August 2024 . . . 3 August 2024.
  8. https://archive.today/20120911152254/http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/0a13797.html Columnists: Martin van Beynen
  9. News: Columnist dubbed thinking man's redneck bows out after 17 years . Martin . van Beynen . 22 May 2021 . . 22 May 2021.
  10. News: Breakfast opinion sparks outrage . The Press . 28 September 2010 . 22 May 2021.
  11. Jeffrey Paparoa Holman. "Trapped by Martin van Beynen review", The Listener, 25 February 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  12. News: Plenty of doubt in Bain jury's verdict . Martin Van Beynen . The Press . 20 June 2009.
  13. News: Paper warned over harassing Bain juror . New Zealand Herald . 10 July 2010.
  14. News: Dudding. Adam. Martin van Beynen: Why the David Bain story needed to be told one more time. 28 July 2017. Your Weekend. STUFF.co.nz. 22 July 2017.
  15. Web site: Black Hands: The journalist and the judge. 17 September 2017. 18 September 2017. Stuff.co.nz.
  16. News: Herald, HoS win big at awards . 12 June 2010 . . 20 October 2011.
  17. News: Qantas print journalism awards announced . 12 June 2010 . . . 20 October 2011.
  18. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/6949998/The-Press-honoured-by-multiple-awards "The Press honoured by multiple awards"
  19. Web site: 2021-11-01. Ngaio Marsh Awards 2021 – winners of New Zealand’s top crime fiction awards announced Crime Fiction Lover. 2021-11-03. crimefictionlover.com. en-US.
  20. News: Dudding. Adam. Martin van Beynen: Why the David Bain story needed to be told one more time. 22 July 2017. Your Weekend. STUFF.co.nz. 22 July 2017.