John Humphrys
About
John Humphyrs joined the BBC in 1966 as the district reporter for Liverpool and the Northwest, where he reported the dock strikes of that time, sometimes for the national news.
He reported the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974 on television by satellite from the United States, the execution of Gary Gilmore in 1977, and later, when based in South Africa, he covered the transformation of Rhodesia into Zimbabwe.
John returned to London in 1980 to take up the post of BBC Diplomatic Correspondent.
In 1981 he became the main presenter of the BBC’s flagship Nine O’Clock News. This appointment marked a change in the BBC’s approach to news broadcasting. With the appointment of Humphrys and John Simpson, the presenters of the news became part of the process of preparing the broadcast, rather than just reading a prepared script as with previous presenters.
He started presenting Today in January 1987, joining Brian Redhead. He still made occasional appearances fronting BBC TV news bulletins in the 1990s.
From 1993 he presented the weekly On The Record political TV show until its demise in 2002.
Humphrys has also presented Panorama. He has won many industry awards, including being named Journalist of the Year in February 2000 at an awards ceremony organised by The House Magazine and Channel 4; the Gold Sony Radio Award in 2003; and a silver platter for Crystal Clear Broadcasting from the Plain English Campaign.
He is also currently the host of the popular BBC Two television quiz show Mastermind.
John Humphrys has written several books, including Lost for Words, in which he criticizes what he sees as the widespread misuse of the English language, plus ‘Devil’s Advocate’, ‘Beyond Words’, ‘The Great Food Gamble’ and ‘In God We Doubt: Confessions Of A Failed Atheist’.
During the 1991 Gulf War he was a volunteer presenter on the BBC Radio 4 News FM service.
On 12 November 2009 he became the only person to replace David Dimbleby as the host of Question Time when Dimbleby was recovering from a minor farming injury.
One of the most respected figures in broadcasting history, John Humphrys is in demand as an after dinner speaker and event host.
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