Tom Pattinson is a British editor, writer, journalist and media consultant working across culture, travel, whisky, luxury and positive change.

He is currently editor of Positive News, the constructive journalism magazine and digital platform, and co-founder of Barley Magazine, an independent drinks and whisky publication. His recent work spans whisky, travel, interviews, social change, food, film, music and the people shaping culture now, and he writes regularly for Elite Traveler and The Observer.

Tom has spent more than 20 years launching, editing and reshaping editorial brands in the UK, China and Scandinavia. He launched Time Out Beijing and Time Out Shanghai, later becoming launch editor of Vogue Scandinavia, where he commissioned and edited international cover stories, features and films with some of the world’s most recognisable cultural figures. He has interviewed figures including Greta Thunberg, Moby and Sophie Turner, as well as Prime Minister Keir Starmer on several occasions.

He began his career on the foreign desk of The Sunday Times and has since worked across magazines, newspapers, digital media, branded content, podcasts, film and live events. He studied Mandarin in Qingdao before completing a degree in Chinese and social anthropology at SOAS, and spent more than a decade in China, where he launched publications, built editorial teams and founded creative and media projects across Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Alongside his journalism, Tom consults for brands, publishers, founders, government bodies and destinations on editorial strategy, communications and positioning, with particular experience in retail, drinks, hospitality, travel and luxury. He helps organisations define their story, sharpen their tone, build audiences and create editorial work that feels credible, useful and alive rather than corporate.

He is also the creator of the investigative podcast Ghislaine, a seven-part series on Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein and the networks of money, influence and power around them. The series was featured in The Times and The New York Times.

Tom’s work sits where people, place and culture meet, with a particular interest in whisky, travel, interviews, international media and stories that show how the world is changing.