Celia Hatton

Celia Hatton is a Canadian journalist who is now based in the UK and works for the BBC. She spent fifteen years living in Beijing, working primarily for CBS News before becoming one of the BBC’s China correspondents in 2012.

In 2016, she moved to London to become one of the BBC’s Asia Pacific regional editors. A year later, Celia began presenting on BBC radio and television and making documentaries. She regularly hosts Newshour, the flagship radio programme on the BBC World Service.

Early Life

Hatton was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada where she attended Westdale Secondary School. She took an early interest in journalism and studied politics at university with the goal of working as a foreign correspondent in the future.

Career in Asia

Celia Hatton started in television at CityTV in Toronto, working as a news writer and producer. She moved to China in 2001 and after freelancing, she began working for ABC News and then for CBS.

In 2009, Hatton was promoted to become a CBS News correspondent, based in Beijing. That year, she also won a Gracie Award for her breaking news coverage of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

In 2011, she was one of the only foreign journalists in Fukushima  in the aftermath of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant.

In 2012, Hatton became one of the BBC’s China correspondents. In 2015, her documentary on illicit ketamine trafficking aired across the BBC. 

Career in UK

In 2016, Hatton moved to the UK to become one of the BBC’s Asia Pacific editors, offering on-air analysis on radio and tv, primarily for the BBC World Service. She also began working as a presenter, appearing on BBC World News, the BBC World Service and occasionally, Radio 4.

In 2019, Hatton’s BBC Radio 4 documentary on the history of instant noodles was also featured in BBC History Magazine. She also appeared in the magazine in 2022 for her television and radio documentaries on looted Cambodian artefacts.

Hatton now presents most often on Newshour, the flagship radio programme on the BBC World Service. In December 2024 and January 2025,{{Cite web , title=BBC Radio 4 - Canadian Immigration: Boom or Bust? , url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026v0c , access-date=2025-05-07 , website=BBC , language=en-GB she filed documentaries from Canada for the first time.

References

External links

# Hatton, Celia  Promotion (2009) to CBS News Correspondent, based in Beijing ress Release


Living people
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Canadian expatriates in England
Canadian women journalists
People from Hamilton, Ontario
Queen's University at Kingston alumni