Ben McGrail (born 4 November) is a British broadcast journalist, best known for his work at

ITV News West Country ''ITV News West Country'' is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV West Country. It is broadcast from studios in Brislington, Bristol, with district reporters and camera crews based in newsrooms at Plymouth, Exeter, Tru ...

as their

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Correspondent.

Career

McGrail studied

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

from 2004 to 2007 where he started in radio at the

student radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

station LSR. After graduating, McGrail worked as a freelance journalist before joining Andover Sound in September 2008 as news editor and drivetime presenter. In 2011 McGrail was appointed as the drivetime presenter on

BBC Somerset BBC Radio Somerset is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Somerset, England. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Blackbrook area of Taunton. According to RAJAR, the station has a ...

and in 2013 he took over the 9am mid-morning

phone-in In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...

programme. In 2017 McGrail was announced as the new Somerset Correspondent for

Awards

In 2010 McGrail and the Andover Sound news team won a silver at the

Sony Radio Academy Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

in the Journalist of the Year category. In 2014 McGrail's radio show won the South West Media Award for Radio News/Current Affairs Programme of the Year. Meanwhile in 2015 McGrail won a national

Mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

Media Award for his coverage of mental health in Somerset.

References

External links

Ben McGrail official website

Ben McGrail on Twitter

Ben McGrail on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrail, Ben Year of birth missing (living people) BBC radio presenters English radio presenters English reporters and correspondents ITN newsreaders and journalists ITV regional newsreaders and journalists Living people