Ben Dowell is a freelance journalist who has written extensively on the arts and media for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Evening Standard, The New Statesman and most tabloids.

He was a staff reporter at The Sunday Times for nearly three years and he also worked for a year at the Sunday Mirror. He started his career at theatre newspaper The Stage where he worked for more than five years. As well as providing punditry for a number of media outlets he has also sat on judging panels for many awards including Bafta and the Royal Television Society.