Look up newscaster, news anchor, or news presenter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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A news presenter (also known as newsreader, newscaster, anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply anchor) is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.

News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather forecasters.

Newscasters and newsreaders[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

A newscaster (short for "news broadcaster") is a presenter of news bulletins. This person may be working in the field of broadcast journalism as a journalist and electronic news gathering (ENG) as well as a participant in compiling the script with a television producer to be delivered in a news bulletin.

Prior to the television era, radio-news broadcasts often mixed news with opinion and each presenter strove for a distinctive style. These presenters were referred to as commentators. The last major figure to present commentary in a news broadcast format in the US was Paul Harvey.[Dunning, John. "The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio."] Today, commentary is generally presented in the longer-form talk show format. The term "newscaster" came into common use to distinguish presenters of straight news broadcasts from commentators.

In Britain, ITN's news presenters (especially those on ITV News) are referred to as newscasters (and have been since the 1950s)^{[citation needed]}, whilst those working at the BBC are called newsreaders.

News anchors[link]

In the United States and Canada, news anchors (also known as "anchorpersons", "anchormen", or "anchorwomen") present material prepared for a news program and, at times, must improvise commentary for live presentation. Many anchors are also involved in writing and/or editing the news for their programs.

The term "anchor man" was used to describe Walter Cronkite's role at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.^[1] The widespread North American factoid that news anchors were called cronkiters in Swedish^[2] has been debunked by linguist Ben Zimmer.^[3] Zimmer (and others) also note that the term anchor was in common use in 1952 to describe the most prominent member of a panel of reporters or experts. For example, in the original format of Meet The Press, Lawrence E. Spivak, who served as the only permanent member of a panel of four reporters, anchored the panel. Later, the term was applied to hosts of special events coverage and, still later, news presenters.

See also[link]

• List of news presenters
• List of television reporters
• List of ITV journalists and newsreaders
• 24-hour news cycle
• Broadcast Journalism
• CNN effect
• Journalism
• Journalist
• Local news
• Media event
• News broadcasting
• News program
• Reporter
• Sensationalism
• Sports commentator
• Television news
• Television program
• Electronic journalism
• Electronic news-gathering (ENG)

References[link]

1. ^ Zimmer, Ben (2009-07-18). "Was Cronkite Really the First "Anchorman"? How we came to use the term". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2223188/. 
2. ^ Walter Cronkite dies, a July 17, 2009 article from the Philadelphia Inquirer
3. ^ http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1928/

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Charlotte Hawkins Born 16th May 1975. is a British television news presenter for Sky News, where she is the summary presenter for Sunrise and is the presenter for Sky News With Charlotte Hawkins.

Early life[link]

Hawkins attended the Bishop Luffa School in Chichester,^[2] and the University of Manchester from where she graduated with a BA in English Literature. She later undertook a Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the London College of Printing.^[3]

Broadcasting career[link]

Hawkins started her broadcasting career with ITN in 1999 as a news reader and reporter for LBC Radio. She was one of the first journalists at the fatal Paddington rail crash and provided live reports from the scene. In January 2000, She moved to ITV Meridian in the southeast and co-presented the hour-long current affairs series The Big Story.^[3]

Hawkins worked for ITV Meridian from October 2003, as the co-anchor of its main news programme Meridian Tonight, in the South East of England. She also presented on the ITV News Channel. At Meridian she presented several pan-regional documentaries, including a half-hour special, Britain on the Move. In 2007, Charlotte co-presented The London Boat Show for ITV1.^[3]

She left Meridian in December 2006 to join Sky News in January 2007,^[4] where she now presents news updates on Sunrise with Eamonn Holmes each weekday.^[3]

Charlotte presented several stints on Five News,^[5] in the absence of stand-in Matt Barbet who was providing maternity leave cover for main presenter Natasha Kaplinsky, for a period in 2010.^[6] She is also an occasional guest news reviewer on ITV programme This Morning.^[7]

Personal life[link]

Hawkins married her partner of five years, Mark Herbert, over the 2008 August Bank Holiday weekend.^[8] The ceremony took place at Chichester Cathedral where Hawkins' uncle is a clergyman.^[9][10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Charlotte Hawkins at the Internet Movie Database

v t e Sky News in the United Kingdom British Sky Broadcasting Programmes Sky News Sunrise The Live Desk Sky News Today Boulton & Co Afternoon Live Live at Five Jeff Randall Live News, Sport & Weather Sky News at Ten Sky News Tonight Sky Midnight News CBS Evening News Sky News On The Hour Sky World News Saturday Live Weekend Lunchtime Sky News at Seven Murnaghan Reporters and presenters Main Anna Botting Adam Boulton Colin Brazier Lukwesa Burak Kay Burley Stephen Dixon Lorna Dunkley Charlotte Hawkins Eamonn Holmes Sarah Hewson Gillian Joseph Mark Longhurst Dermot Murnaghan Jeff Randall Samantha Simmonds Martin Stanford Jeremy Thompson Andrew Wilson Business Dharshini David Joel Hills Sport Jacquie Beltrao Rob Curling Jon Desborough Karthi Gnanasegaram Lisa Knights Sarah-Jane Mee Nick Powell Chris Skudder Matt Teale Charlie Thomas Graeme Winch Weather Nazaneen Ghaffar Isobel Lang Denise Nurse Jo Wheeler Other Philippa Hall Anna Jones Ashish Joshi Lisa Knights Sarah-Jane Mee Paula Middlehurst Tim Marshall Gemma Morris Chloe Potter Jayne Secker Matt Smith Category

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Jon Snow
At the Channel 4 awards on 23 January 2008
Born	Jon Snow (1947-09-28) 28 September 1947 (age 64) Ardingly, Sussex, England
Ethnicity	English
Occupation	Journalist, television presenter
Notable credit(s)	Channel 4 News
Relatives	Peter Snow, Dan Snow

Jon Snow (born 28 September 1947) is an English journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News.

He was Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008.

Early life[link]

Snow was born in Ardingly, Sussex. He is the son of schoolmaster and Bishop of Whitby, George D'Oyly Snow, grandson of First World War general Thomas D'Oyly Snow (about whom he writes in his Foreword to Ronald Skirth's war memoir The Reluctant Tommy^[1]), and cousin of retired BBC television news presenter Peter Snow.^[2]

Education[link]

Snow was educated at independent school, Ardingly College, where his father was headmaster. He later attended the independent St Edward's School in Oxford. At age 18 he was for a year a VSO volunteer teaching in northern Uganda.^[3][4]

After mixed success in his first attempt to pass his A level qualifications he moved to the Yorkshire Coast College, Scarborough, where he later obtained the necessary qualifications to gain a place studying law at the University of Liverpool. However, he did not complete the degree, being rusticated for his part in a student protest. However he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at Liverpool University in 2011.^[5]

Life and career[link]

After leaving Liverpool, Snow worked for New Horizon Youth Centre, a day centre for homeless young people in central London - an organisation with which he has remained involved and of which he subsequently became chairman. Snow was an assistant to Lord Longford.^{[citation needed]}

Journalist[link]

Snow in June 2007.

He served as ITN's Washington correspondent (1983–1986) and as diplomatic editor (1986–1989)^[3] before becoming the main presenter of Channel 4 News in 1989. In 1992 he was the main anchor for ITN's Election Night programme, broadcast on ITV; he presented the programme alongside Sir Robin Day, Alastair Stewart, and Julia Somerville. (Previously ITN's programme had typically been presented by Sir Alastair Burnet, who left ITN in 1991. The 1992 election night programme was the only one hosted by Snow. He was replaced by Jonathan Dimbleby from 1997 onwards.) He has won several RTS Awards^[3] - two for reports from El Salvador, one for his reporting of the Kegworth air disaster, and two as "Presenter of the Year".^{[citation needed]}

In 2002 he returned to radio, presenting Jon Snow Reports on Oneword Radio, a weekly show and podcast. He wrote regular articles for the Channel 4 News website, and writes 'Snowmail' – a daily email newsletter on the big stories coming up on the evening edition of Channel 4 News.

He is known for his vast collection of colourful ties and socks.^[3][6]

On 14 June 2011, Snow presented the multiple award-winning investigative documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, directed by Callum Macrae, which documented war crimes committed in the finals days of the Sri Lankan conflict in 2009. The program consisted of some of the most horrific footage ever broadcast in the UK; its second part, Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished was broadcast in March 2012.^[7]

Snow declined an OBE because he believes working journalists should not take honours from those that they report on.^[8][9]

Memorable incidents[link]

Whilst working as a journalist in Uganda he flew sitting next to president Idi Amin in the presidential jet. He has recounted how whilst Amin appeared to be asleep he thought seriously about taking Amin's revolver and shooting him dead, but was worried about the consequences of firing a loose round in a jet.^[10]

In 1976, Snow rejected an approach by the British intelligence services to spy on his colleagues. At first he was asked to supply information about the Communist Party, but he was then asked to spy on certain "left-wing people" working in television.^[8][11] In return he would have received secret monthly tax-free payments into his bank account, matching his then salary.^[12][13]

In 2003, at the height of the "dodgy dossier" affair, Alastair Campbell walked into the studio to rebut statements by the BBC. With no notes or preparation Snow questioned Campbell about the affair.^[14]

In 2004, Snow published an autobiography, Shooting History.

He refuses to wear any symbol which may represent his views on air; in the run up to Remembrance Day he condemned what he called 'Poppy Fascism' because "in the end there really must be more important things in life than whether a news presenter wears symbols on his lapels".^[15]

On 28 February 2008 Snow courted controversy by claiming that the silence of the British media on the decision to allow Prince Harry to fight in Afghanistan was unacceptable with the following statement:^[16] "I never thought I'd find myself saying thank God for Drudge. The infamous US blogger has broken the best kept editorial secret of recent times. Editors have been sworn to secrecy over Prince Harry being sent to fight in Afghanistan three months ago." These remarks provoked criticism from some members of the public and other media outlets,^[17] with some accusing Snow of wishing to undermine the safety of the Prince and his troops, and (according to Snow himself at the end of that day's bulletin, and later reported in the Daily Mail) one captain in the armed forces called Snow's actions "treason".^[18]

On 9 February 2009, Snow interviewed Lt-Col Yvonne Bradley, the military counsel for Binyam Mohamed, a British resident detained for five years at Guantanamo Bay. Snow asked if Mohamed's allegations of torture were justified. Lt-Col Bradley said there was no doubt at all that he had been tortured.^{[citation needed]} Mohamed was released and returned to Britain on 23 February 2009. In November 2010 Snow was sent to Haiti to report on the cholera outbreak.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Snow was briefly engaged in 1979 to fellow ITN journalist Anna Ford, who later became an equally high profile television news presenter.^[4] For 35 years his partner was human rights lawyer Madeleine Colvin, with whom he has two daughters.^[4] In March 2010 he married Precious Lunga, a ­Zimbabwe-born academic.^[19]

He was a school governor for many years at Brecknock Primary School, Camden, London.^[20]

Affiliations[link]

• Trustee of the National Gallery and Tate Gallery from 1999 to 2008.^[21][22]

• Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008, regularly attending ceremonial events at the University. In 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford Brookes - Doctor of the University.^[23]

• Honorary professor and guest lecturer on Stirling University's Film & Media Studies course.^[24]

• Honorary Fellow (since 15 February 2006) of the Royal Institute of British Architects, an annually-conferred lifetime honour which allows the recipient to use the initials Hon FRIBA after his or her surname.^[25] Snow has an honorary degree from Aberdeen University, in recognition of his services to broadcasting.

• Chairman of the Prison Reform Trust from 1992 to 1997.^[3]

• President of the Cyclists' Touring Club in January 2007, succeeding Phil Liggett.^[26]

• Patron of Reprieve, a legal action charity which uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay.^[27]

• Patron of the African Prisons Project, an international non-governmental organisation with a mission to bring dignity and hope to men women and children in African prisons through health, education, justice and reintegration.^[28]

• Patron of Media Legal Defence Initiative, a UK-based charity that provides legal support to journalists and media outlets.^[29]

• Patron of the tree planting charity Trees for Cities.^[30]

• Patron of The DIPEx Charity, a UK-based charity that produces two health websites, Healthtalkonline^[31] and Youthhealthtalk,^[32] featuring people's real life experiences of health and illness.^[33]

Bibliography[link]

Snow published his autobiographical work, Shooting History, in 2004. The book was published by Harper Perennial and details Snow's life from his childhood, up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[34]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jon Snow's Blog on the Channel 4 News web site
• Jon Snow on Twitter
• Snowmail Jon Snow's daily email newsletter
• Jon Snow on the Impact of New Media at IIEA, 4 September 2009

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Ruth Langsford
Langsford in 2008
Born	(1960-03-17) 17 March 1960 (age 52) Singapore
Occupation	Presenter
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Eamonn Holmes (June 2010–present)
Children	Son
Website
http://www.ruthlangsford.tv

Ruth Langsford (born 17 March 1960) is an English television presenter.

Langsford began her career as a continuity announcer and newscaster with ITV regional station TSW in the South West of England. She left TSW when Westcountry Television took over the franchise on 1 January 1993, even closing down the station with fellow announcer, the late Ian Stirling.

Since then she has presented such programmes as Loose Women, Langsford Late, Gardens of the Millennium and The Really Useful Show. Since 2000 she has been a guest presenter on ITV's This Morning, and was made a regular presenter in 2006 and now presents every Friday, with her husband Eamonn Holmes. Together they also host This Morning during school holidays, when Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby are on a break.

Langsford was one of the main presenters on the now defunct TV Travel Shop which was on air from April 1998 to March 2005.

In December 2007, Langsford was revealed as the new face of ScS Furniture, replacing Martin Kemp.

Television appearances[link]

Programme credits: 1986–92[link]

• TSW Today, (TSW) presenter/newsreader - nightly, live six o'clock regional news programme

• The Boat Show, presenter for an innovative series of twelve half-hour sailing/holiday programmes directed by Chris Watson

• Interpub, presenter for two series of pub team quiz shows (filmed as live)

Programme credits: 1992–99[link]

• The Answer Lies in the Soil, (ITV) presenter - television’s first gardening quiz show

• The Great British Garden Show, (BBC Two) presenter - series of six half-hour programmes shown at 7.30pm

• Countryfile, (BBC One) reporter - various wide-ranging reports and interviews on countryside issues

• Langsford Late, (Carlton/Westcountry Television) presenter - Ruth's Friday night chat show

• Plates From the States, (Carlton Food Network) presenter - series of fifty programmes educating the Brits about food from the USA

• Really Useful Show, (BBC One) presenter – live daytime consumer/current affairs programme

• Stranger Than Fiction, (Westcountry Television) presenter – a series of programmes that unravelled some enduring mysteries surrounding the Westcountry, and its history

• Down To You, (Central Independent Television) presenter – live antiques programme. Series of 10 half hour programmes beginning January 1998 in which members of the public bid to buy the antiques of their choice

• Dressing Up, (Westcountry Television) presenter - fashion show

• Treasures, (LWT/Westcountry Television) presenter - series of eight half-hour programmes exploring the world of antiques and collecting in general. Filmed in most of the major auction houses in London interviewing their in-house experts

• Brief Encounters, (Westcountry Television) presenter - two series of light entertainment programmes taking a wry look at people's passions and pastimes – often getting involved - everything from hot air ballooning to underwater hockey

• Healthy by Nature, (Westcountry Television) presenter - series of six half-hour programmes investigating alternative health

• The Mysterious West, (Westcountry Television) presenter - series of ten half-hour programmes exploring the world of the paranormal. Interviewing people living with ghosts, UFO sightings, alien abductions, past lives etc.

• Home Movies, (HTV/Westcountry Television) narrator - series of six half-hour programmes looking back at people's lives using their old cine film footage (sold to Channel 4)

Programme credits: 1999–present[link]

Ruth has also worked on:
'Gardens of the Millennium' = ITV Presenter
'The Travel Shop' = Presenter
'Cruise Deals' = Presenter
'Granada Breeze' = Presenter
'Food Network Daily' = Presenter

Radio[link]

In September 2010 Langsford co-hosted the Breakfast Show on BBC London 94.9 alongside Paul Ross.^[1]

Personal life[link]

On 26 February 2002 Langsford had a child, Jack Alexander, with her husband and fellow television presenter Eamonn Holmes.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2007 Langsford and Holmes appeared as fictionalised versions of themselves in Rob Brydon's satirical sit-com on life behind the cameras on a topical news quiz, Annually Retentive.

Langsford lives in Weybridge, Surrey with Holmes and their son. After a viewer noticed a diamond ring on Langsford's finger, it was announced live on This Morning on 27 March 2009 that Langsford and Holmes were engaged. On 26 June 2010, they married in Hampshire.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ruth Langsford at itv.com