Leonard Parkin

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Leonard Parkin
Born	June 2, 1929(1929-06-02) Thurnscoe, Yorkshire, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	newsreader
Known for	News at Ten, News at One

Leonard Parkin, (born June 2, 1929 in Thurnscoe, Yorkshire, England) was a British TV journalist and newscaster who worked for both the BBC and ITN.

He was educated at Hemsworth Grammar School, Yorkshire. He worked as a reporter on the BBC's Panorama for many years before joining ITN, initially as a reporter but later as a newscaster for ITV's main early evening bulletins in the 1970s. In November 1963, he was deputy correspondent for the BBC in Washington and his Radio Newsreel report on the assassination of John F. Kennedy is a historic recording. Between 1976 and 1987 he was, along with Peter Sissons, one of the main presenters for ITN's News at One, and often hosted the News at 5:45 in the early 1980s. He occasionally presented News at Ten.

Parkin was one of the most popular newsreaders ever to work for ITN, and, like his former co-host of the News at 5:45 Michael Nicholson, he became renowned for his cheerful and friendly disposition. He always began the News at One by saying "Hello, Good Afternoon." then reading the headlines. In October 1979, he was the first ITN newscaster, after the ITV strike of 1979 from August-October of that year concluded, to be seen on ITV. In 1982, Parkin became the main presenter of the News at 5:45 that broke to the UK the news that the ARA General Belgrano had been sunk in a controversial incident during the Falklands War. He and Michael Nicholson provided a detailed report of this incident. He left ITN in the late 1980's, returning to his native Yorkshire to make a series of documentaries about the county for Yorkshire Television, entitled Pieces of Parkin.