Adrian Masters is a Welsh journalist, presenter, author and political moderator. He is currently the Political Editor at

ITV Cymru Wales ITV Cymru Wales is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region ITV Wales & West serving Wales and the West of England, which had previously used the branding " ...

. He previously worked for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, contributing to

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's Yesterday In Parliament, most BBC Wales television programming, and both the Good Evening Wales and Good Morning Wales radio shows.

Early life and career

Masters was born and grew up in Newport, Wales, where he continues to live. Masters began his journalism career at the now defunct

Touch Radio {{Use British English, date=June 2016 The Touch FM network was a group of Independent Local Radio stations owned by Quidem. The network included stations in Coventry, South Staffordshire, Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, Nuneaton & Hinckley, Loughboro ...

, and later

Red Dragon fm Capital South Wales is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global as part of the Capital (radio network), Capital network. It broadcasts to Cardiff and Newport, Wales, Newport and the ...

in 1993 (now

Capital South Wales Capital South Wales is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global as part of the Capital (radio network), Capital network. It broadcasts to Cardiff and Newport, Wales, Newport and the ...

BBC News

Masters worked on a number of BBC television broadcasts including Dragon's Eye, the Welsh edition of the Politics Show, and

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

's am.pm. On radio he hosted shows including Called to Order, Good Evening Wales, and occasionally he presented Good Morning Wales. He also worked on broadcasts throughout the year covering election and conference programmes, as well as moderating constituency hustings. Masters later became a BBC Wales political correspondent, where he was responsible for covering news about the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

on BBC Wales radio and television programmes. He was a contributor on Welsh news for

’s Yesterday In Parliament and also went on to also serve as a main political reporter on Good Morning Wales. During his time at the BBC, he twice won Radio Journalist of the Year at the Celtic Film and Television Festival.

ITV Cymru Wales

Masters joined

in 2010. As ITV political editor in Wales, Masters reports all political stories for the nightly news programme

Wales at Six ITV News'' Wales at Six'' is the evening news programme broadcast and produced by ITV Cymru Wales. Overview ''Wales at Six'' and all other ITV Wales news programming is broadcast live from studios at Assembly Square in Cardiff Bay, with a Nort ...

, as well as a specialist Thursday night political debate show titled Sharp End. He moderated ITV Wales' debates as part of the 2015 General Election. In June 2015 he was named in the top fifty most influential Welsh figures on Twitter by

Wales Online Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was fou ...

. In February 2017 Masters was nominated for Welsh Political Journalist of the Year at the Wales Media Awards. In January 2016 he moderated the

Institute of Welsh Affairs The Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) () is an independent charity and membership-based think-tank based Cardiff, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Ir ...

Brexit debate in Cardiff between

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Carwyn Jones Carwyn Howell Jones, Baron Jones of Penybont, (born 21 March 1967), is a Welsh politician who served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 2009 to 2018. He previously served as Counsel General for Wales from 2007 to 20 ...

and then

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

leader

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage ( ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton (UK Parliament constituency), Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 20 ...

. The event was broadcast on ITV Cymru Wales. In 2017 Masters released his novel "Nothing Has Changed" which covered his political diaries from the 2017 General Election. BBC presenter Huw Edwards described the novel as "a terrific account of the surreal 2017 campaign in Wales with great access to the main players." In February 2019 Keith Flett's Beard Liberation Front named Masters in their annual St David's Day Beard of Wales poll. He came second behind

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

Media and Entertainment Editor Grant Tucker. In July 2019 Masters became the subject of coverage for turning down a question to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Johnson's staff had informed the attending Welsh journalists during the Prime Minister's trip to the country that they would not be permitted to hold on camera interviews, and stated that only oral questions would be asked of the Prime Minister. Masters refused the interview, stating staff at Number 10 were restricting the access of the Welsh press during the visit.

Other programming and appearances

Masters produced a BBC Wales documentary about the Newport Art College era in the city, which launched the careers of the likes of Joe Strummer of The Clash, Green Gartside, and Justin Kerrigan. He also writes frequently for the Wales Arts Review.

Other activities

Masters runs a personal blog where he discusses books, music, and art, and his appreciation of the Scottish rock band

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

Personal life

Masters lives in Newport. He divides his time between Westminster and Cardiff Bay.

Awards

Bibliography

* 2017, ''Nothing Has Changed'',

Parthian Books Parthian Books is an independent publisher based in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Cardigan, Wales. Editorially-led, it publishes a range of contemporary fiction, poetry, drama, art books, Translation, literature in translation, and non-fiction. Since its ...

References

External links

Personal website

Professional blog

ITV News profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Adrian 1984 births Living people People from Newport, Wales Welsh television journalists British political commentators British political journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC television presenters