Keir Hardie Brennan-Simmons (born 22 February 1972) is an English journalist. He has been the senior international correspondent for the NBC morning show ''Today'' since December 2018. He also appears regularly on the evening broadcast ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

'', and fills in as an anchor on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

. From August 2012 until December 2018, Simmons was a foreign correspondent for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

. Previously, he was the UK editor for ITN's ITV News.

Early life and education

Simmons was born in London, England and grew up in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He was educated at Wellsway School, a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

comprehensive school in the town of Keynsham in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and St Brendans College, a

Catholic school, followed by

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...

, a

constituent college A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the C ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree. His sister is actress and health campaigner

Mika Simmons Mika Simmons is a British actress, film-maker and podcaster, who is known for ''The Happy Vagina'', covering women's health. She started the Lady Garden Foundation, which aims to raise awareness of gynaecological cancers and fund research into t ...

Career

Simmons's first job in journalism was as a court reporter covering murders and scandals in London at the Old Bailey. Simmons then moved into radio, joining ITN as a reporter for UK's Independent Radio News ( IRN) in 1996, before becoming a general reporter on its ITV News service in 1998. While at ITV, Simmons reported on major domestic and international stories including the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the

poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko A poison can be any substance that is harmful to the body. It can be swallowed, inhaled, injected or absorbed through the skin. Poisoning is the harmful effect that occurs when too much of that substance has been taken. Poisoning is not to ...

and the

Virginia Tech shooting The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an u ...

. He was one of the first journalists to cover the 2007

disappearance of Madeleine McCann Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person who disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007, at the age of 3. '' The Daily Telegraph'' described the disappear ...

. In 2010, Simmons was the first to report that the UK government was paying millions of pounds in compensation to former prisoners of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. On 30 September 2010 ITV News announced that Simmons would be appointed as the new UK Editor.' In 2011, Simmons led ITV's coverage of the

News International phone hacking scandal The News International phone hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now-defunct ''News of the World'' and other British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police b ...

, breaking stories which included news of the arrest of key figures and the resignation of the

Metropolitan Police Commissioner The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service. Sir Mark Rowley was appointed to the post on 8 July 2022 after Dame Cressida Dick announced her resignation in February. The rank of Commission ...

, Sir Paul Stephenson While working as a reporter for ITV News, Simmons occasionally made on-air appearances on Sky News, ''

5 News ''5 News at 5'', also known as ''Channel 5 News'', is the news programme of British broadcaster Channel 5, produced by ITN from its main newsroom on Gray's Inn Road, London. History ''5 News'' was one of the new station's flagship programme ...

'', and

ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...

's ''London Tonight.'' In September and October 2011, he guest presented on

ITV Breakfast ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited (previously known as GMTV Limited) is the national ITV breakfast television licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November 2009. The breakfast license ...

program '' Daybreak''. On 27 August 2012 Simmons left ITN to join

as a London-based foreign correspondent. He reported for all platforms of

, including ''Today'', ''Nightly News'',

, and NBCNews.com.

NBC News (2012 - present)

In December 2018, Simmons was named Senior International Correspondent for ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'' on

. He appears regularly on ''

'' and as a fill-in anchor on

. Keir Simmons interviewed

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

in person in Moscow on June 11, 2021. Keir Simmons interviewed the Japanese Prime Minister in person in Tokyo in July, 2021. Keir Simmons reported on the death of Queen Elizabeth on September 8, 2022, standing in the rain outside of Buckingham Palace.

Awards

In 2003, he was nominated for a

Royal Television Society Award The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

. In July 2016 he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category 'Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine' for his contribution to a Dateline NBC special 'Terror in Paris'. In July 2017 he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category 'Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine' for his contribution to a TODAY Show special 'Terror in Brussels'.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Keir 1972 births 20th-century English non-fiction writers 21st-century English writers 5 News presenters and reporters Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London English editors English television journalists Financial Times people ITN newsreaders and journalists ITV Breakfast presenters and reporters Living people NBC News people News editors British newspaper journalists Journalists from Bristol Sky News newsreaders and journalists English television editors Television personalities from London Writers from London