Georgina Henry

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Georgina Clare Henry (8 June 1960 – 7 February 2014)[1] was a British journalist. Associated with The Guardian newspaper for a quarter of a century, she held several senior positions at the newspaper.

Born in Aden, Yemen (then a British colony), where her father was an army officer, her childhood was unsettled as her father regularly changed postings; he retired as a full Colonel.[1] Henry was educated at Cranbrook School, Kent and King's College London where she read history.[2] At King's College she met Ronan Bennett, subsequently a writer, who became her life-long partner.[1]

Always known as 'George',[3] Henry began her career in journalism in 1984 working on trade publications. She joined The Guardian as a media correspondent in 1989 and became the editor of Media Guardian a year later.[4]

Henry was deputy editor of The Guardian from 1995 to 2006. For some months before The Guardian adopted the Berliner format in 2005, she had effectively been the paper's editor as editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger and another deputy editor, Paul Johnson, were heavily involved in the paper's redesign.[1] By this time, The Guardian was committed to developing its online presence, and Henry was involved in this development. After visiting for inspiration, the New York headquarters of The Huffington Post, whose founder Arianna Huffington thought Henry was a "kindred spirit",[5] Henry launched the Comment is Free section of The Guardian's website. In 2010 she was made the head of Culture across Guardian New and Media, which includes The Observer newspaper. In 2011, Henry was appointed the head of the paper's website, guardian.co.uk, in suuccession to Janine Gibson.[6]

After experiencing double vision during a skiing holiday in late 2011, Henry was diagnosed with a cancerous sinus tumour behind her right eye.[1] Ronan Bennett and Henry had married in 2003; the couple had two children.

With Eve Pollard and Deborah Orr, among others, she set up Women in Journalism in 1995,[7] and remained on its advisory board for the rest of her life.[1] According to The Times obituary writer, Henry was "admired by colleagues for her courage, skill, enthusiasm and trustworthiness, she was a pioneering figure in the field of journalism and a trailblazing example for women in the profession."[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Alan Rushbridger Obituary: Georgina Henry, The Guardian, 7 February 2014
  2. ↑ "Former Guardian deputy editor Georgina Henry dies aged 53", The Guardian, 7 February 2014
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Obituary: Georgina Henry, The Times, 7 February 2014
  4. ↑ Josh Halliday "Georgina Henry named head of guardian.co.uk", theguardian.com, 25 July 2011
  5. ↑ Arianna Huffington "Darkness and Wonder: Remembering Georgina Henry", The Huffington Post, 7 February 2014
  6. ↑ "Georgina Henry replaces Janine Gibson as head of Guardian.co.uk", Press Gazette, 26 July 2011
  7. ↑ Hilly Janes "I’ve seen tomorrow – and its female", British Journalism Review, 22:2, 2011, p.39-44

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