Tim Franks
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Timothy Henry Franks (born 14 May 1968) is a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
journalist and radio presenter who presents '' Newshour'', the flagship news and current affairs programme on BBC World Service radio. He also, from time to time, presents ''
Hardtalk ''HARDtalk'' is a BBC television and radio programme broadcast on the BBC News Channel, on BBC World News, and on the BBC World Service. Broadcast times and days vary, depending on broadcasting platform and geographic location. ''HARDtalk' ...
'' on
BBC World News BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and ...
, and documentaries across
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
TV and radio. He was previously an award-winning foreign correspondent for the BBC.


Early and personal life

Franks was born in
Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
. He was educated at
King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent day school for boys in the British public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by King Edward VI in 1552, it is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Bir ...
, and at
Wadham College Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...
,
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
, where he graduated with a 2:1 (B.A.Hons) in Oriental Studies (Chinese). He is married, and has three children.


Early career

He joined the BBC in 1990, as a World Service Production Trainee, and spent five years as a producer, reporter and part-time presenter. In 1995, he was appointed World Service Political Reporter, based at Westminster, and then World Service Political Correspondent in 1997. He covered not just British politics but events in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, including the breakdown of the
IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
ceasefire in 1996, civil disorder over the Parades in Northern Ireland, and the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
. In 1999, he became a political correspondent for domestic BBC TV and radio, including a spell as the political correspondent for
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
. He also started presenting, from time to time, ''
The World at One ''The World at One'', or ''WATO'' ("what-oh") for short, is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, produced by BBC News, which is currently broadcast from 13:00 to 13:45 from Monday to Friday. The programme de ...
'' and contributing to the arts pages of the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'' magazine.


Foreign correspondent

In 2001, Franks became a BBC Foreign Correspondent. His first posting was to Washington, in the six months after the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
. In March 2002 he began a five-year tour of duty as Europe Correspondent, based in Brussels. He reported from across Europe, as well as from
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
during the war of 2003. In 2004, his training for the
London marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...
coincided with a month spent in
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
. He was also, during this time, used as an occasional presenter on the ''
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' programme. In 2007, he was appointed BBC Middle East Correspondent, based in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. He broadcast across the region, but with a particular focus on
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and the occupied
Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The ...
. His 2008 TV report about witnessing a deadly attack in Jerusalem drew complaints from the public for its graphic nature. In 2009, Franks won a Bayeux-Calvados Award for war correspondents for reporting for his piece on Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish, who lost three daughters in Israel's offensive during the Gaza War. Through his three and a half years in the region, Franks kept a diary, which the BBC regularly published. His valedictory ''
From Our Own Correspondent ''From Our Own Correspondent'' is a weekly BBC radio programme in which BBC foreign correspondents deliver a sequence of short talks reflecting on current events and topical themes in the countries outside the UK in which they are based. The pro ...
'', which dealt with the relationship between his Jewishness and his journalism, garnered wide attention.


2010–2013

In 2010, he returned to London, to take up a role as BBC Sports Correspondent – a position he combined with occasional presenting on ''Newshour'' on BBC World Service, ''Hardtalk'' on BBC World News, and radio documentaries. In December 2012, his reports for ''Newshour ''on the activities of the Greek far right made headlines in Greece.


Presenter, '' Newshour''

In May 2013, he joined '' Newshour ''full-time, as the main evening presenter. He continued to present ''
Hardtalk ''HARDtalk'' is a BBC television and radio programme broadcast on the BBC News Channel, on BBC World News, and on the BBC World Service. Broadcast times and days vary, depending on broadcasting platform and geographic location. ''HARDtalk' ...
'' from time to time, along with documentaries on TV and radio. In November 2013, Franks secured the first broadcast
interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
since Lance Armstrong's "limited confession" to doping in January 2013 with Oprah Winfrey.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franks, Tim 1968 births Living people Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC World Service presenters British radio presenters People from Moseley People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham English Jews