Chris Eakin is a journalist who was a newsreader on the BBC's 24-hour rolling news channel,

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, and a relief presenter on BBC News at One at weekends. He was one of the channel's launch presenters in 1997, and is a published author. He left the BBC on 28 May 2015.

Early life

Eakin was born in Northern Ireland and lived at Helen's Bay in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

, then briefly moved to Spain. His father was a civil engineer. He moved to

Heswall Heswall is a town on the Wirral, Merseyside, England. At the 2001 Census, the population was 16,012, including the nearby villages of Barnston and Gayton. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 it was part of the administr ...

when he was 12. He learned to sail with the Fourth Heswall

Sea Scouts Sea Scouts are a part of the Scout movement, with a particular emphasis on boating and other water-based activities on the sea, rivers or lakes (canoeing, rafting, scuba, sailboarding). Sea Scouts can provide a chance to sail, cruise on boats, ...

, sailing at the West Kirby Marine Lake. He left Calday Grange Grammar School in 1979, which he attended with his two brothers, Michael and Clive.

Career

From 1979-83 he was at ''Wirral News''. From 1983-85, he was a freelance journalist in Cheshire. From 1985-89 he was at the ''

Liverpool Daily Post The ''Liverpool Post'' was a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The newspaper and its website ceased publication on 19 December 2013. Until 13 January 2012 it was a daily morning newspaper, with the tit ...

'' where he won North West Reporter of the Year. From 1989-90 he worked at Central TV as a journalist. From 1990-97 he was a reporter for ''

Look North ''BBC Look North'' is a name used by the BBC for its regional news programmes in three regions in the North of England: *''BBC Look North'' for the BBC North East and Cumbria region *''BBC Look North'' for the BBC Yorkshire region *''BBC Look No ...

'' at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

. He twice won regional journalist of the year.

BBC News

Eakin was most recently a presenter on

. He has anchored outside news broadcasts from locations including Belgrade, Belfast, Beirut, Buckingham Palace, Tavistock Square in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and numerous UK floods including in Cockermouth, Tewkesbury and Boscastle,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

. He was the main on-site anchor for BBC News after the Glasgow Airport terror attack in 2007. Eakin left the BBC on 28 May 2015 with his final show running from 11 am until 2pm.

Publishing

Eakin's book ''A Race Too Far'' describes the 1968 sailing race to be the first person to sail non-stop round the world single-handed.

Personal life

Eakin is a qualified

RYA Rya or RYA may refer to: Biology * Rya sheep, breed of sheep native to Sweden * ''Rya'', a genus in subfamily Blennocampinae People * Rya Kihlstedt (born 1970), American actress * Rya W. Zobel (born 1931), judge of the United States District Cou ...

Yachtmaster Offshore. He lives in London with his wife, Deborah, who is a GP. His older brother Michael is Chief Executive of the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

, and his younger brother Clive works in BBC local radio in Warwickshire.Clive Eakin
/ref> He is a world-class sailor and multiple award-winning skier, and a fan of

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

. He has a 34-foot

Hallberg-Rassy Hallberg-Rassy Varvsaktiebolag (HR) is a Swedish shipyard internationally known for producing high quality blue water sailing yachts. The company's yard is located in Ellös Ellös () is a locality situated in Orust Municipality, Västra Götal ...

yacht.

References

External links

His web page

TV Newsroom

BBC News

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eakin, Chris British reporters and correspondents BBC newsreaders and journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British broadcast news analysts People from Heswall