I have news! After 3 happy years I'll be leaving C4 News in July to write fiction. Here's full story...

Matthew became Channel 4's first ever Culture Editor in July 2010 after seven years working on The South Bank Show, where he made films on Ian McKellen, Sam Taylor-Wood, Will Young and Carol Ann Duffy. Since joining Channel 4 he's attracted acclaim for his coverage of the Orange Prize, the Mercury Music Prize and the Turner Prize as well as interviews with Grayson Perry, Pedro Almodóvar and Emeli Sandé. Other highlights include his news report on a long-lost poem by Ted Hughes as well as an exclusive look inside Lucian Freud's studio following the artist's death.

Matthew has been nominated for Stonewall's Journalist of the Year award, presented the series What Makes a Masterpiece? for More4, written for The Times and continues to contribute a monthly column on gay cultural history to Attitude magazine. His first novel, Shot through the Heart, will be published by Pan Macmillan early next year under the name Matt Cain with the second to follow.

Matthew says: 'I'm very sad to be leaving Channel 4 News, it's been a terrific three years and I've been lucky enough to work with some of the best journalists in the business. But now feels like the right time to move on. I've loved interviewing so many creative figures about their work but can no longer resist the urge to pursue creative projects of my own. It's always been my dream to write fiction and I'm thrilled to have recently delivered my first novel to Pan Macmillan - and am overjoyed to be writing the second. I hope one day to make it back onto Channel 4 News - but this time as an interviewee!'

Ben de Pear, Editor, Channel 4 News says: "Matt has been a wonderful colleague and one of the hardest working people in the newsroom. His passion for the arts spilled over onto the screen, his specialist knowledge gave us access to great stories and artists and his enthusiasm was infectious. Television journalism's loss is literature's gain and I have no doubt he will end up as the interviewee when he wins a great literary prize."


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