| content | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| George Alagiah | ||
|---|---|---|
| Born | George Maxwell Alagiah 22 November 1955 Colombo, Sri Lanka |
|
| Education | University of Durham | |
| Occupation | Journalist, Presenter, Newsreader, Author | |
| Other names | George Alagiah OBE | |
| Spouse | Frances Robathan (1984-present) | |
| Children | 2 | |
| Ethnicity | Tamil | |
| Religious belief(s) | Roman Catholic | |
| Notable credit(s) | BBC News at Six BBC World News |
|
George Maxwell Alagiah OBE (pronounced /ˌɑːləˈgaɪə/, ah-lə-geye-ə; born 22 November 1955) is a Sri Lankan born English journalist and presenter of Tamil descent.
Since 3 December 2007, he has been the sole presenter of the BBC News at Six. He has also been the main presenter of BBC World News's World News Today programme since its launch and is the main relief presenter for the BBC's flagship bulletin BBC News at Ten.
Contents |
Background
The Alagiah family were originally from Sri Lanka, where George was born and are Tamils, but his parents moved to Ghana in Africa, where George grew up from the age of five. Later, George attended a Catholic boarding school, St John's College, at Southsea in Hampshire before going to university.
George read politics at Van Mildert College, Durham University.1 Whilst at Durham he wrote for and became editor of the student newspaper Palatinate and was a sabbatical officer of Durham Students' Union. He worked on South Magazine from 1982 until joining the BBC, where he was the Developing World correspondent based in London and then Southern Africa correspondent in Johannesburg.2
In 2004 he returned to his grandfather's original home in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami to survey the damage.3 The family's former home had been destroyed, though an old well George recalled playing at with his sisters as a child was still recognisable, though unsalvageable.
He is married to Frances Robathan.
Broadcasting career
Alagiah joined the BBC in 1989 after seven years in print journalism with South Magazine.4
In 2000 he was part of the BBC team which collected a BAFTA award for its coverage of the Kosovo conflict.
He was the presenter of BBC Four News from its launch in 2002; the programme was later relaunched as The World.
George Alagiah joined the BBC Six O'Clock News in January 2003, which he co-presented with Sophie Raworth until October 2005, and with Natasha Kaplinsky until October 2007. Since 3 December 2007 he has been the sole presenter of the Six O' Clock News. Prior to this he was the deputy anchor of the BBC One O'Clock News from 1999. Since 3 July 2006, he has also presented World News Today, on BBC World News. He is also a relief presenter on BBC Ten O'Clock News.
Before going behind the studio desk, George was one of the BBC's leading foreign correspondents, reporting on events ranging from the genocide in Rwanda, the plight of the marsh Arabs in southern Iraq and civil wars in Afghanistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia.5
He is a specialist on Africa and the developing world and has interviewed, among others, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.6
His documentaries and features include reports on why affirmative action in America is a 'Lost Cause', for the Assignment programme, Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign against the Kurds of northern Iraq for the BBC's Newsnight programme and a report on the last reunion of the veterans of Dunkirk.7
Alagiah has won numerous awards including Best International Report at the Royal Television Society in 1993 and Amnesty International's Best TV Journalist award in 1994. He has also been a member of the board of trustees of the UK-based human rights organisation, ARTICLE 19 since 2003.8
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.
References
- ^ "BBC Press Office: George Alagiah". Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
- ^ "BBC Press Office: George Alagiah". Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
- ^ "BBC Press Office: George Alagiah". Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
- ^ "NewsWatch: George Alagiah". Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
- ^ "BBC Press Office: George Alagiah". Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
- ^ "BBC Press Office: George Alagiah". Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
- ^ "NewsWatch: George Alagiah". Retrieved on 2006-12-28.
- ^ "Article 19 - Staff". Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
External links
- Profile from BBC Newswatch
- Career (from World People's Blog)
- BBC World: George Alagiah joins BBC World to present new peak-time news programme
