| 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(s) | Frances Robathan (1984-present) |
| Children | 2 |
| Ethnicity | Tamil |
| Religious belief(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Notable credit(s) | BBC News at Six BBC News at Ten BBC World News |
George Maxwell Alagiah OBE (born 22 November 1955) is a Sri Lankan-born British journalist and television news presenter.
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 and has held this role since its launch in 2000, making George the longest serving presenter of the flagship news programme.
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Alagiah was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1955. His parents, Donald Alagiah, an engineer, and Therese, were Tamils.[1][2] In 1961 his parents moved to Ghana in Africa, where he went to primary school.[3]
For his secondary education Alagiah attended an independent Catholic boarding school, St John's College, at Southsea in England, after which he read politics at Van Mildert College, Durham University.[3] 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.[3]
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.[2]
George has spoken at the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society for Arts and at the Royal Overseas League.
His appearances at literary festivals include Cheltenham, Keswick, Hay-on-Wye and London.
He is on the Board of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
From 2002-2009 George Alagiah was a patron of the Fairtrade Foundation [4]
Alagiah joined the BBC in 1989 after seven years in print journalism with South Magazine.[5]
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 News at Six 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 that, he was the anchor of the BBC News at One 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 News at Ten presenting mainly Monday - Thursday when Fiona Bruce is unavailable.
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.[3]
He is a specialist on Africa and the developing world, and has interviewed, among others, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.[3]
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.[5]
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.[6]
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.
In July 2009, Alagiah was obliged by BBC Management to resign as a patron of the Fairtrade Foundation, citing professional conflict of interest.[7][8] That this caused many complaints from the public.[9][10]
| Preceded by Fiona Bruce |
Regular Relief Presenter of BBC News at Ten 2003- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Huw Edwards |
Main Presenter of BBC News at Six 2003- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Huw Edwards |
Main Presenter of BBC News at Six 2003 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Moira Stuart |
Deputy Presenter of BBC News at One 1999 – 2002 |
Succeeded by Darren Jordan |
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   | Profile from BBC Newswatch - NewsWatch | Profiles | George Alagiah |
| | BBC Press Office: George Alagiah - BBC - Press Office - George Alagiah |
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