James Naughtie

Alexander James "Jim" Naughtie (surname pronounced /ˈnɔːxti/; born 9 August 1951) is a British radio and news presenter for the BBC. From 1994 until 2015 he was one of the main presenters of Radio 4's Today programme.

In July 2015 he announced, via the BBC, that in early 2016 he would retire from regular presenting duties on the programme and would, instead, be its 'Special Correspondent' with 'responsibility for charting the course of the constitutional changes at the heart of the UK political debate', as well as the BBC News's Books Editor, contributing a book review to the Saturday morning editions of Today.^[2] In his 21-plus years on Today, Naughtie had anchored every BBC Radio UK election results programme since 1997 and had worked on every US presidential election since 1988, the BBC added.

"After 21 years, I can turn off that 3am alarm at last," the Daily Telegraph quoted Naughtie as having said.^[3] He presented his last edition of Today on 16 December 2015.^[4]

Early life and career

James Naughtie was born and brought up in Milltown of Rothiemay, near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He was educated at Keith Grammar School, the University of Aberdeen and then Syracuse University in New York. He is a Fellow of the British-American Project.

Naughtie began his career as a journalist in 1975 at the Aberdeen Press & Journal, moving to the London offices of The Scotsman in 1977. The following year he joined the paper's Westminster staff, and became its Chief Political Correspondent. In 1981, he worked for The Washington Post as the Laurence Stern fellow on its national staff. Naughtie joined The Guardian in 1984, and became its Chief Political Correspondent in 1985.

Radio presenter

In 1986, Naughtie moved into radio presenting, hosting The Week In Westminster before moving to The World At One in 1988. He has also made several radio documentaries and series and has written three books, Playing the Palace: A Westminster Collection, The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage, and The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency.

Naughtie has been a presenter of the televised Proms since 1992, and has also presented opera programmes such as Radio 3's Opera News. Naughtie is also the current host of Radio 4's Bookclub.^[5]

In 1994 he became one of the main presenters of Radio 4's Today programme. His practice of asking particularly long questions is sometimes noted by commentators. Shortly before the 2005 General Election he opened a question to Labour politician Ed Balls "If we win the election...", which led to criticism that he was not neutral as required of BBC political journalists.^[6] He has a distinctive Scottish accent which has been named as the "best voice to wake up to" in a comparative survey.^[7]

Throughout June, July and August 2012, and in early September 2012, he presented The New Elizabethans on Radio Four, a programme about notable people under the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. This programme was put on to honour the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. It has dealt with various famous names, including Richard Doll, Philip Larkin, Elizabeth David, Margot Fonteyn, Peter Hall, Cicely Saunders, John Lennon and Paul McCartney and Tim Berners-Lee. The final week of the programme dealt with Tony Blair, Fred Goodwin, Rupert Murdoch, Simon Cowell and finished with the Queen herself.^[8]

On 16 July 2013, it was announced that Naughtie's presentational role on Today would be temporarily reduced, as he was to become a presenter of Good Morning Scotland for two days a week in the run up the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.^[9][10] Naughtie returned to his usual role on Today in time for the 2015 general election.^[11]

Awards and positions

Naughtie was voted Sony Radio Awards Radio Personality of the Year in 1991 and Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award in 2001. He is a member of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission and a United Kingdom advisory board member for the British-American Project, which exists to promote the British-American relationship.

Naughtie was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Stirling in 2001, and installed as chancellor of the University of Stirling on 9 October 2008, succeeding Dame Diana Rigg when her ten-year term ended.^[12]

Naughtie chaired the judges for the inaugural 2010 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine

On-air expletive

On 6 December 2010, Naughtie was co-presenting the Today Programme, and trailing the guests who would be interviewed after the 8am news bulletin. Introducing Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, he inadvertently replaced the "H" at the beginning of "Hunt" with a "C". Choking on his words, he was clearly embarrassed by the mistake, and gave a full apology once he had recovered. However, only an hour later, another BBC presenter, Andrew Marr made the same mistake when discussing Naughtie's error.^[13][14]

Personal life

Naughtie is married to Eleanor Updale, author of the Montmorency books and a former producer of The World at One.^[15] They have three children, and live in south-west London.^[16]

Works

• Naughtie, James (2001) The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage Fourth Estate, ISBN 1-84115-473-3
• Naughtie, James (2004) The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency Macmillan, ISBN 1-4050-5001-2
• Naughtie, James (2007) The Making Of Music John Murray, ISBN 0-7195-6254-6
• Naughtie, James (2012) The New Elizabethans Collins, ISBN 0-0074-8650-2
• Naughtie, James (2014) "The Madness of July" Head of Zeus, ISBN 978-1-7818-5599-7

References

External links

• James Naughtie on Twitter
• BBC Presenter biographies - James Naughtie
• Overview of James Naughtie