Marcus Stead

Marcus Stead (born 25 October 1983) is a British journalist, broadcaster and internet entrepreneur.

Icon Radio

During his time as a student at The University of Liverpool, he set up and headed the News Department at the university's radio station, Icon Radio[]. Colleagues during this time included BBC Radio 1 presenter Nick Grimshaw, who was Head of Music at the station when Stead was Head of News.

His broadcasting style was controversial and deliberately confrontational, especially on the Thursday Night political slot "The No-Spin Zone". One famous incident involved a representative from "Friends of Palestine" coming in to the studio to be interviewed by Stead, only for the two to engage in a tense and thrilling slanging match. At one point, the guest compared Stead to American broadcaster Rush Limbaugh. It was intended as an insult, but Stead took it as a huge compliment.

During his tenure, he was also known for his robust, no-nonsense approach to managing the News Team. Important decisions were nearly always taken in pubs, and he would fire people who didn't live up to his high standards or didn't fit the bill.

Nevertheless, he received praise from several well-known broadcasters for the high quality of the News Team's output, and he remains in regular contact with many members of his team.

Books

Since completing university, Stead has written two biographies. In 2007, his biography of jockey Frankie Dettori [] was published, shortly after Dettori won the Derby on .
In 2008 he wrote a biography of Irish rugby captain Brian O'Driscoll []. He is currently thought to be writing a biography of snooker star Steve Davis, as well as pursuing other journalistic interests.

Online Journalism

In early 2008 he launched supremesnooker, which is now the internet's most comprehensive snooker news and resource website. Further expansion is planned later in the year. []

He also contributes to a range of online publications, and has occasionally criticised World Snooker for the way they run the game, and is a known supporter of the Professional Darts Corporation.

Personal Life

He holds a 2:1 degree in Politics and Communication Studies from The University of Liverpool and in early 2008, he completed his NCTJ Pre-Entry Certificate.
At present, he spends most of his time based in his native South Wales.

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