Bill Neely (born 21 May 1959) is a retired Irish

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. He was the Chief Global Correspondent for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

from 2014 to 2021. He has been a broadcaster since 1981. Neely spent 25 years at

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British news television channel of ITV (TV network), ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. ITN, Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the netwo ...

. He now teaches & mentors journalists around the world.

Early life and education

Neely was born in

Glengormley Glengormley () is a townland (of 215 acres) and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Glengormley is within the urban area of Newtownabbey bordering Belfast, and is located in the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, Northern Ireland, in 1959 and graduated with joint honours in Modern History and English from

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. He was named the Queen's University Graduate of the Year in 2021 for his work as a broadcaster.

Career

Bill Neely has covered many of the major world news events over four decades, including the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

, which he describes as "the best story I ever covered", the break-up of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, numerous wars and terrorist attacks including 9/11, multiple natural disasters and national elections, particularly in the United States. He began his career with

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...

in 1981, covering the violence there for six years before joining the BBC in London in 1987. He was hired by

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

in 1989 to help launch the channel. He joined

in June 1989. He has won four

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

awards for news coverage, including an unprecedented three consecutive awards (2009–11), an Emmy award, a Monte Carlo Golden Nymph award, a Peabody prize, an Edward R. Murrow award, and numerous other nominations and awards for international news reporting over the past four decades, including eight

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

nominations for

. He has won four

Royal Television Society 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 ...

awards, including the International News Award for coverage of the Haiti earthquake. He has twice been nominated for Broadcasting Journalist of the Year by the London Press Club, winning in 2011. Neely was Washington correspondent and US Bureau Chief for six years (1991–97), covering two Presidential elections, the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

bombing, the OJ Simpson trial, the

Waco siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by US federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians, between February 28 and April 19, 1993 ...

as well as many major stories across North and South America and the Caribbean. From 1997–2002 he was Europe Correspondent, covering the

death of Diana, Princess of Wales During the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died from injuries sustained earlier that night in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. Dodi Fayed, Diana's partner, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz ...

for which he was part of the team nominated for a

award; the crash of Concorde and the wars in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. ITN received the Golden Nymph from the

Monte Carlo Television Festival The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony inaugurates each new edition, introd ...

, Europe's top award for television journalism, for his work in

. He has also reported regularly from the Middle East and the United States. For many years Neely was a presenter on

programmes including News at Ten & the ITV Evening News. He also presented many editions of

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

's International Correspondents. Neely has covered five US Presidential election campaigns since 1992. In addition, he has covered elections in Russia, Germany, France, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Jamaica, Iran, and Israel, and has interviewed numerous presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads of State. His reports from the deadly earthquake in China in 2008 won him the 2009 International

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for News and the 2009 BAFTA Award for Television News. Earlier in 2008 he reported from the

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

– 600 miles from the South Pole – on global warming. He covered the 2005 Pakistan earthquake for which ITV News won a

award and, in the same year, the devastating floods in New Orleans and the

Asian tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scienti ...

. He was nominated for a BAFTA for coverage of the Beslan siege. He was also part of the ITV News team whose reports from the Asian tsunami won the 2005 BAFTA award for news ("Seven Days That Shook The World"). In 2010, he reported on the

earthquake in Haiti Some of the earthquakes in Haiti have been very destructive to the country. The widespread damage and high-number of casualties of events in 2010 and 2021 can be partially blamed on the fact that most of the population in Haiti resides in structur ...

, for which he won the 2010 BAFTA (

British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

) award for the best news coverage. He covered the campaign of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

in the

1997 United Kingdom general election The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party led by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a Landslide victory, la ...

and

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

in the 2010 general election. He also reported on the

killing of Osama bin Laden On 2 May 2011, the United States conducted Operation Neptune Spear, in which SEAL Team Six shot and killed Osama bin Laden at his " Waziristan Haveli" in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden, who founded al-Qaeda and orchestrated the September ...

, the Iranian 'Green Revolution' of 2008, as well as terror attacks in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Israel and across Europe. He reported regularly on the "

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

", firstly from Egypt, then Libya, and during more than a dozen visits to Syria; frontline dispatches that have been broadcast around the world. He interviewed Syrian President

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

in 2016. In October 2013, he was voted one of the 100 most influential journalists in the world covering conflict. He won the 2011 BAFTA (

) for his reporting of the killings in Cumbria in July 2010; his third BAFTA success in three years. He was twice nominated as Broadcasting Journalist of the Year by the

London Press Club The London Press Club was established in 1882 as a London gentlemen's club. For much of its history, it occupied premises in Wine Office Court, near Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east fro ...

, winning the award in 2011. In 2011, Neely took part in a documentary called ''As Others See Us'' which looked back on his reporting of

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He highlighted reporting on the Droppin Well bombing in Ballykelly. He was joined by

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

Kate Adie Kathryn Adie (born 19 September 1945) is an English journalist. She was Chief News Correspondent for BBC News between 1989 and 2003, during which time she reported from war zones around the world. She retired from the BBC in early 2003 and ...

and

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war Journalist, reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Ta ...

. In 2013 he was nominated for the Bayeux War Correspondents Award and the

Golden Nymph Award The Golden Nymph Award(s) are the prizes awarded to the winners of the Official Competition of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. History Prince Rainier III of Monaco created the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo in 1961 to "encourag ...

at Monte Carlo for his work in Syria. On 25 November 2013, it was announced that Neely would be joining

. His final story for ITV News was on the

death of Nelson Mandela On 5 December 2013, Nelson Mandela, the first president of South Africa to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, as well as the country's first black head of state, died at the age of 95 after a prolonged respiratory infec ...

. He joined

on 20 January 2014. In 2014, Neely reported on the

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

wars, the

Russian invasion of Crimea In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrain ...

, the mystery of the missing Malaysian plane

MH370 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared from radar on 8 March 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned de ...

, the World Cup in Brazil and the

war in Gaza The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. With NBC News, Neely was part of the team that won a prestigious

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

for "Continuing Coverage of ISIS" in 2014. Neely reported less than seventy yards from the ISIS front line in Northern Iraq. In 2015 and 2016 he reported on the terrorist massacres in Paris, Nice, and Brussels. He was part of the Nightly News team that won the Edward R. Murrow Award for reports after the

Paris attacks of January 2015 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He interviewed President

Assad Asad (), sometimes written as Assad, is an Arabic male given name literally meaning "lion". It is used in nicknames such as ''Asad Allāh'', one of the by-names for Ali ibn Abi Talib. People Among prominent people named "Asad" or "Assad" a ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

in July 2016 and covered the fall of Aleppo from the city in December 2016. He has interviewed senior officials from

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

during four trips to the country in 2016–2017 and was told by officials that he was the first Western journalist in 70 years to visit a section of N. Korea's border with China. Neely received eight

nominations at NBC, including for work on the Brussels terror attacks in 2016 and in the Best Interview category for his exclusive interview with Syria's President Assad. Neely reported on the COVID crisis of 2020–21 from Hong Kong, Italy, Sweden, Austria, London, and Brazil. NBC paid tribute to him in broadcasts on the ''Today'' show and ''Nightly News'' on his final day, 2 April 2021. Neely recorded a TedX talk in 2022, asking if 'Mainstream Media' are 'Enemies of the People'. He has given talks at several UK Universities. After retiring from frontline reporting in 2021, Neely began teaching and mentoring television reporters around the world. He has worked for, among others,

and Feature Story News, in the US, South Africa, India, Pakistan and across the UK.

Marriage and family

Neely and his wife, Marion Kerr, live in Richmond, London and have two daughters. Bill Neely has completed eleven London marathons, most recently in 2021 with a time of 3.12.25 and with a best time of 3.09.48 in the 2011 event. He also competes in Triathlons and regularly takes part in

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

. He is a patron of the heart charity CRY, Cardiac Risk in the Young and has raised more than £60,000 for it to tackle undiagnosed heart defects in young people. He has been an active supporter of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

since 1967.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neely, Bill 1959 births ITN newsreaders and journalists Living people Journalists from Belfast People educated at St Malachy's College NBC News people British war correspondents Alumni of Queen's University Belfast People from Glengormley