Mark Austin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark Austin (born November 1, 1958 in Portsmouth, Hampshire) is an Emmy-award winning British journalist. He currently co-presents the ITV Evening News and News at Ten. Since joining ITV News in 1986 Mark has specialised in covering foreign events, travelling all round the globe.
Austin was born in Portsmouth, England and educated at Bournemouth School.
Austin started his career in the media as a general reporter on the Bournemouth Evening Echo (1976-1980). He then joined the BBC as a newsroom writer, becoming a general news reporter in 1982. He was made a sports reporter in 1985.
Austin joined ITN, who produce the news for ITV, from the BBC in October 1986 in the role of Sports Correspondent. He was given his first assignment on day one - to cover England's successful Ashes tour of Australia as well as the America's Cup. He stayed in Australia for four months and during this time unexpectedly found himself reporting on the extraordinary "Spycatcher" trial.
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[edit] 1990s
Austin has covered all the major sporting events for ITV News, including the Olympics, Wimbledon, the British Open, Rugby internationals, football news and cricket. In 1993 he won top prize in the Sports News category at the Royal Television Society Sports Awards for his coverage of the drug scandal affecting three British sportsmen at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In 1995 he was seconded to ITV to report from South Africa on the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Mark was one of the first British journalists to report from the Gulf during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. From the start of the war early in 1991 he was in Bahrain, the base for many of the Tornado squadrons, sending back regular reports including those on the recapture from the Iraqis of the islands of Qaruh and Um-al-Maradin.
Austin was based in Hong Kong in 1993 as Asia Correspondent for ITV News. He returned there for his second tour as Asia Correspondent in 1996, spending over two years reporting on all the major events in the region including the handover of the island to the Chinese in July 1997. He returned to London headquarters in mid-1998.
1994-1995 saw him in Johannesburg as Africa Correspondent for ITV News. In that role he reported on the historic transition to democracy in South Africa, Mandela's victory in the elections and on the bloody civil war in Rwanda as well as other major events throughout the continent. During 1995 he also covered the Bosnian crisis following the fall of Srebrenica. His reporting won him a joint Gold Medal, with fellow-correspondent Paul Davies, at the 1996 Film & Television Festival of New York.
He has covered wars in several countries and in mid-1999 he played a key role in the coverage of the War in Kosovo. Based on the Albanian border for much of the conflict, Mark reported on the refugee crisis caused by the war. On the day in June Nato troops finally entered Kosovo he was airlifted in with the Gurkhas, the first troops to enter the country, reporting on their vital role as mine clearers and witnessing an early confrontation with Serb police. Mark's reporting of the war was part of ITV News' coverage which received a Gold Nymph at the 1999 Television Festival of Monte Carlo.
[edit] 2000s
His reporting of the devastating floods in Mozambique in the early part of 2000 received an International Emmy award in the US - American television's equivalent of an Oscar - as well as a Gold Nymph at the 2000 Television Festival of Monte Carlo and Gold and Silver Medals at the New York Television Programming Awards.
In Sept 2001 he covered the terrorist attacks in New York and later reported on the War in Afghanistan.
In 2001 and 2002 he presented the ITV reality series Survivor which saw him travel to a desolate island in Fiji and later Panama in series 2.
In October 2006 he travelled to Beijing as part of a series of reports of ITV News on China's rapid economical growth. Austin had been to Beijing many times previously and covered the Tianmannen square uprising back in 1989.
In January 2007 he travelled to Antarctica to cover a series of reports that ITV were making addressing climate change.
In September 2007 he travelled to Zimbabwe where the ITV were investigating the current severe economic problems that the country is facing related to its leader Robert Mugabe.
Austin subsequently became head anchor of ITV News when Sir Trevor McDonald retired in December 15, 2005. He took up the role of presenting the flagship ITV News programme on the 3rd of January 2006.
He continues to co-present the ITV Evening News with Mary Nightingale as well as presenting the flagship ITV News at 10.30.
Mark Austin earns a reported £300,000 for reading ITV News.
He is often chosen to be the 1st ITN newsreader at major news stories and can be seen at these stories as they unfold with the scene behind him.
Austin recently fronted a new prime-time crime programme with ex-news reader Sarah Heaney for ITV. Manhunt - Solving Britain's Crimes is a live 90 minute programme where Austin and Heaney appeal to the public for information on the UK's most wanted criminals.
Austin participated on behalf of a charity in the celebrity version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (first aired at Christmas 2005, repeated September 4, 2007 in the UK) he and his partner won £32,000 for their chosen charities.
On Wednesday October 31, 2007 ITV confirmed they would be resurrecting the News at Ten in 2008. Sir Trevor McDonald would return, anchoring the show two or three times a week, with Austin on duty for the rest of the week. Sky News presenter Julie Etchingham would co-anchor the bulletin every night.[1] News at Ten returned on January 14, 2008.
[edit] Personal life
Mark and his wife Catherine live in London; they married in July 1991. He has two daughters, Madeleine (born 1994 in South Africa) and Beatrice (born 1998) and one son, Jack (born 1993). His pastimes include reading, walking on the Cornish cliffs and playing cricket and golf.
He is part of the cricket team the Lord's Taverners which includes celebrities like Chris Tarrant.
He is also known for his height; at 6 feet and 3 inches he is one of the tallest news readers.
Austin was sent to court after there were claims he drove his BMW through a set of red lights near to his former home in Barnes, London. He now lives in Surrey.
[edit] References
- ^ "News at Ten returns to ITV", itv.com, 31 October 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-31.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Sir Trevor McDonald |
ITV News anchorman
Mark Austin |
Succeeded by Sir Trevor McDonald |
