David May

David Robert Maldwyn May (13 December 1948 – 27 October 2019) was an English investigative journalist and editor. He began working at the Kensington Times before joining the London listings magazine Time Out as news editor and later was appointed joint editor with Jerome Brune. May began working at The Sunday Times as a freelance reporter in 1975, covering domestic and foreign stories and becoming its news editor and also worked for its investigative Insight team. He left the newspaper and print journalism in 1982 and joined ITN as a journalist for News at Ten and later for Channel 4 News, producing multiple campaigning documentaries. May later worked in public relations for Channel 5 and Channel 4 before joining the BBC as its head of strategic communications in 2001.

Early life May was born in Plymouth on 13 December 1948. His father, John May, was a master builder and his mother, Gwynneth , ran the soft furnishings department at the Co-op in Plymouth. May was educated firstly at Hyde Park Junior School at then at Widey Technical Secondary School in the city.

Career In 1968, May moved to London from Plymouth with the intention of becoming a journalist and had a chance meeting with the London listings magazine Time Out founder Tony Elliott, who encouraged him to get some experience at a local newspaper. He obtained a job at the Kensington Times, authoring stories that the paper had no interest in, such as gay rights, women's rights, and council corruption, for instance – he sold to various anti-establishment publications such as the underground paper Friends under the pseudonym “hacktypewriters”. From there, May joined Time Out as a news editor in 1971 and later became its joint editor with Jerome Brune. In 1972, he interviewed the British armed bank robber Kenneth Littlejohn, prior to his breaking out of prison from Mountjoy Prison, Ireland. May was acquitted by a jury in September 1975. He joined The Sunday Times as a freelance reporter covering domestic and foreign stories in 1975.

Legacy His niece launched a weekly online student newspaper at Brunel University of London in his name in 2020.