Mark Austin (journalist)

English journalist and television presenter

Mark Austin

Born|

Mark William Austin

(1958-11-01) 1 November 1958 (age 65)

Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Education| Bournemouth School
Highbury College
Homefield School
Occupation(s)| Journalist, television presenter
Years active| 1982–present
Employer| Sky News
Notable credit(s)| ITV News
Survivor
Real Crime
Good Morning Britain
Sky News
Height| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Spouse| Catherine Austin
Children| 3

Mark William Austin (born 1 November 1958) is an English journalist and television presenter, currently working for Sky News.

Austin is best known as the former co-newscaster for the ITV Evening News, alongside Mary Nightingale, and the former co-newscaster of the ITV News at Ten, alongside Julie Etchingham. He also presented the ITV documentary series Real Crime from 2008 until 2011. From 24 September 2018, he has presented The News Hour and Sky News at 6 as part of schedule changes on Sky News.

## Education[edit]

Austin was educated at Bournemouth School, a state grammar school in the town of Bournemouth, in Dorset,[1] followed by Highbury College in the city of Portsmouth in Hampshire.

## Career[edit]

### Early career[edit]

Austin started his career in the media as a general reporter on the Bournemouth Daily 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, in October 1986 as 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 "Spycatcher" trial.

### 1990s[edit]

Austin has covered all the major sporting events for ITV News, including the Olympics, Wimbledon, the British Open, rugby internationals, football news and cricket.

Austin 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 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, including the handover of the island to the Chinese in July 1997. He returned to London in mid-1998.

1994–1995 saw Austin in Johannesburg as Africa Correspondent for ITV News. Austin reported on the transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa, Nelson Mandela's election victory, and on the civil war in Rwanda. He also briefly returned to sport as part of ITV's presentation team in South Africa for the 1995 Rugby World Cup coverage.

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.

In 1999, Austin covered the War in Kosovo. Based on the Albanian border for much of the conflict, Austin 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 role as mine clearers, and witnessing an early confrontation with Serb police. Austin's reporting of the war was part of ITV News' coverage which received a Gold Nymph at the 1999 Monte Carlo Television Festival.

### 2000s[edit]

In September 2001, he covered the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington before reporting on the War in Afghanistan. In 2001, he presented the first series of ITV reality series Survivor.

In 2002, Austin was promoted to ITV News' flagship news programme, the ITV Evening News. He also reported on the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, where coalition troops invaded to remove Saddam Hussein from power. This saw Austin spend long periods of time in Iraq. In October 2006, Austin travelled to Beijing as part of a series of reports on China's economic growth. Austin had been to Beijing many times previously and covered the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989.

Austin became chief presenter of ITV News when Trevor McDonald retired on 15 December 2005. He took up the role of presenting the flagship ITV News programme on 3 January 2006. Austin also co-presented an ITV prime-time crime programme, Manhunt - Solving Britain's Crimes, a live 90 minute programme appealing to the public for information on the UK's most wanted criminals.

On 31 October 2007, ITV confirmed they would be resurrecting the News at Ten in 2008. Trevor McDonald would return as host with Sky News presenter Julie Etchingham co-anchoring the bulletin every night.[2] In August 2008, Austin reported and presented for ITV News' Olympics: Beijing 2008 coverage. On 30 October 2008, ITV confirmed Trevor McDonald was stepping down from News at Ten and Austin would replace him.[3] It was announced in August 2009, that Austin would be replaced by Alastair Stewart on the ITV Evening News, in order for Austin to concentrate on his duties on News at Ten.

### 2010s[edit]

On 22 March 2013, Austin presented Who Killed My Dad? The Death of Terry Lloyd, which explained the death of his colleague Terry Lloyd. He co-presented the programme with Lloyd's daughter Chelsey.

On 6 December 2013, following the death of Nelson Mandela the previous day, Austin fronted a tribute programme Nelson Mandela: His Life and Legacy.[4][5] In October 2015, Mark was replaced by Tom Bradby on ITV News at Ten. He then moved back to the ITV Evening News, presenting alongside Mary Nightingale.

In 2016, Austin guest presented numerous episodes of Good Morning Britain alongside Ranvir Singh and Charlotte Hawkins.[6]

After thirty years with ITV News, it was announced in October 2016, that Austin would be leaving at the end of the year.[7] He presented his last programme on 22 December 2016.

Austin joined LBC Radio for a series of guest shows across the Easter weekend in April 2017.[8] On 24 April 2017, it was announced that Austin would join Sky News as a U.S. correspondent.[9][10]

In August 2017, Austin co-presented a one-off documentary for Channel 4 called Wasting Away: The Truth About Anorexia with his daughter Madeleine.

In September 2018, Austin started presenting The News Hour with Mark Austin on Sky News, broadcast from Sky Central between 5pm to 6pm each weekday.[11] He also presents Sky News at 6 between 6pm and 7pm each weekday.

### 2020s[edit]

In February 2022, Austin presented Sky News live from Kyiv during the first day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[12]

## Awards and honours[edit]

Austin has won 6 BAFTA awards. In 1995 for his role in ITV's Rwanda coverage; in 2010, for his role in the ITV News coverage of the Haiti earthquake.In 2011 for the Cumbria Murders coverage and in 2014 for reporting of the Woolwich attacks. With Sky News in 2020, Austin won a BAFTA for coverage of the Hong Kong protests. And in 2021, for a programme on the crisis in Idlib in Syria, also for Sky News

He won an international Emmy in 2000 for his reporting of the 2000 Mozambique floods, 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 2014 and 2015, Austin won the 'RTS Presenter of the Year Award'.

* In 1993, he won top prize in the Sports News category at the Royal Television Society Awards for his coverage of the drug scandal affecting three British sportsmen at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
* He was awarded an honorary doctorate in November 2008 by Bournemouth University.[13][14][15]

## Personal life[edit]

Austin lives in Haslemere, Surrey with his wife Catherine, an A&E doctor, and their three children Jack, Madeleine, and Beatrice.[16] He is a supporter of Chelsea FC and regularly posts comments about the club on Twitter.

## Career[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Episodes

|
|
|

1993  | ITV News | Asia Correspondent  |
1994–1995  | Africa Correspondent  |
1996–2002  | Correspondent  |
1999–2001  | ITV Nightly News | Relief presenter  |
1999–2015  | ITV Weekend News | Occasional presenter  |
2001  | Survivor | Presenter  |
2002–2004,
2008–2015  | ITV News at Ten | Relief presenter
Main presenter  |
2002–2007, 2015–2016
2008–2015  | ITV Evening News | Main presenter
Deputy presenter  |
2005–2008  | ITV News at 10.30 | Main presenter  |
2005  | Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? | Contestant  | Single episode
2006–2007  | Manhunt – Solving Britain's Crimes | Co-presenter  |
2008  | The Late News | Co-presenter  |
2008–2011  | Real Crime with Mark Austin | Presenter  | 4 series
2013  | Daybreak | Guest  | Single episode
Who Killed My Dad? The Death of Terry Lloyd | Co-presenter  | Single episode
Nelson Mandela: His Life and Legacy | Presenter  | Single episode
2013, 2015, 2016  | Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway | Himself  | Guest appearances
2015  | And Here is the News | Contributor  | Single episode
2016  | Good Morning Britain | Guest presenter  | Five episodes
2017  | Wasting Away: The Truth About Anorexia[17] | Presenter  | One-off documentary
2017–2018  | Sky News | U.S. correspondent  |
2018–present  | The News Hour
Sky News at 6 | Main presenter  |

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Mark Austin" (PDF). University of Bournemouth. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
2. ^ Brook, Stephen (2 January 2008). "News at Ten date confirmed". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
3. ^ Conlan, Tara (30 October 2008). "Sir Trevor McDonald to leave News at Ten next month". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
4. ^ "Nelson Mandela: His Life and Legacy ITV". Itv.com. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
5. ^ "Mandela: His Life and Legacy - National Geographic Channel - Canada". Natgeotv.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
6. ^ Harp, Justin (24 March 2016). "Jeremy Kyle is replacing Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain over Easter". Digitalspy.com. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
7. ^ Ponsford, Dominic (26 October 2016). "ITV News presenter Mark Austin to step down after 30 years with ITN". Press Gazette. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
8. ^ "Mark Austin to host Easter programmes on LBC". RadioToday. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
9. ^ "Mark Austin joins Sky News as US Correspondent". ATV Today. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
10. ^ "Sky Group". www.skygroup.sky. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
11. ^ "Sky's Kay Burley and Mark Austin launch new shows". Sky News. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
12. ^ "Ukraine-Russia news live: Putin accused of 'genocide' in Mariupol as Zelenskyy asks for sit down with Russian president".
13. ^ "Honorary doctorate for ITN journalist Mark Austin". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
14. ^ Wightman, Catroina (7 June 2010). "In Full: BAFTA TV Awards 2010 - Winners". Digital Spy. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
15. ^ "ITV News wins four coveted Royal Television Society awards". ITV News. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
16. ^ "News at Ten's Mark Austin on Prince William and Kate, the big stories and life in the Surrey Hills". Surrey Life. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
17. ^ Mangan, Lucy (25 August 2017). "Wasting Away: The Truth About Anorexia review – a brutally honest account". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 September 2020.

## External links[edit]

* Sky Profile
* Mark Austin at itv.com
* Mark Austin on Twitter
* Mark Austin at IMDb

Media offices

Preceded by

Alastair Stewart

|  Male co-host, ITV Evening News
2015 - 2016  | Succeeded by

N/A

Preceded by

Sir Trevor McDonald

|  Male host, ITV News at Ten
2008 – 2015  | Succeeded by

Tom Bradby

Preceded by

Sir Trevor McDonald

|  Main host, ITV News at 10.30
2005 – 2008  | Succeeded by

N/A

Preceded by

Dermot Murnaghan

|  Male co-host, ITV Evening News
2002 – 2009  | Succeeded by

Alastair Stewart