David Chater (born 1953) is a British broadcast journalist. Chater has more than 35 years' experience in international television news, having worked for

Independent Television News 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, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C. I ...

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 ...

and

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

. He joined ITN in 1976, Sky News in 1993 and Al Jazeera English in 2006. In 2008 he also took time out to serve as Head of News at Georgian television channel Kanal Pik, run under licence by ''K1''.

Early life and education

Chater was born on 5 March 1953 in the large village of

Meopham Meopham is a large linear village and civil parish in the Gravesham, Borough of Gravesham in north-west Kent, England, lying to the south of Gravesend. The parish covers , and comprises two villages and two smaller settlements; it had a popula ...

in Kent in

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...

. He was educated at

Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) is a grammar school in Maidstone, England. The school was founded in 1549 after Protector Somerset sold Corpus Christi Hall on behalf of King Edward VI to the people of Maidstone for £200. The Royal Charter fo ...

in the

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

in Kent, from November 1965 to February 1972, and in later life, he became President of the ''Old Maidstonian Society''. Immediately after leaving school, he took a ''Short-Service Limited Commission SLC' in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and served briefly as an officer, attached to a regiment of Gurkha Rifles in Hong Kong,

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

and

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

. He read Experimental Psychology at St John's College from 1972 to 1975, graduating with a BA from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Career

;Print-journalism Chater began his career working for the local newspaper, the ''

Kent Messenger The ''Kent Messenger'' is a weekly newspaper serving the mid-Kent area. It is published in three editions - Maidstone, Malling, and the Weald. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays. History The ''Kent Messenger'' grew fr ...

'' newspaper, but he stayed with the paper for only a very short time, before joining the broadcaster ITN. ;ITN Chater joined ITN in 1976, as a graduate trainee. Later, he became a scriptwriter and then a Chief Sub-Editor. As a reporter, he worked around the world, covering stories such as the

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

bombing,

Lockerbie Lockerbie (, ) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, located in south-western Scotland. The 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town had an estimated population of in . The town came to international attention in December 1988 when ...

, the

Piper Alpha Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea about north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was operated by Occidental Petroleum, Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited (OPCAL) and began production in December 1976, initially as an oi ...

disaster, the Falklands crisis and

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

in 1982 and the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

in 1991. In 1991, Chater was seriously injured whilst reporting on the front-line in

Vukovar Vukovar (; sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, , ) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern Regions of Croatia, regions of Syrmia and Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka (river), Vuka and the Danube. Vukova ...

during the

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n conflict, when he was shot in the back by a sniper's bullet. Surgeons saved his life but had to remove one of his kidneys. After making a full recovery he returned to report on the

Siege of Sarajevo The siege of Sarajevo () was a prolonged military blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the ethnically charged Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by Serbian forces of the Yugoslav People's Arm ...

and the continuing conflict in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. During his time with ITN, Chater filed stories from

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, which was under

Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the m ...

attack from

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 ...

during the first

, and went undercover to report on the opening of the civil war in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. ;Sky News Chater joined Sky News in 1993, and opened its Moscow bureau, becoming its first Moscow Correspondent. He moved to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in 1996, becoming Sky News' Middle East correspondent. He was nominated for a

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 ...

award for his coverage of the continuing conflict in that region. He reported from the conflict 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 the 1999 war against

Slobodan Milosevic Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...

. In 2001, Chater covered the war in

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 ...

after the

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

attacks, receiving a Gold Medal from the

New York Television Festival The New York Television Festival (NYTVF) is a yearly festival dedicated to the celebration and promotion of independent small-screen productions, web series, and television. Background The festival was founded in 2005, and is held in venues acr ...

for his reports on the siege of

Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...

, jointly with his Sky News colleague

Colin Brazier Colin Brazier (born 28 March 1968) is an English retired journalist, having previously worked for GB News between 2021 and 2022, and Sky News between 1997 and 2021. He presented ''Sky News Today'' on the channel alongside Jayne Secker from ...

. In April 2003, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Chater reported from the streets of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

before and during the arrival of US forces to the city, stayed throughout ''Operation Shock and Awe'' and also covered the Battle for Faluja. Chater was awarded the Gold Medal for International Reporter of the Year at the New York Television Festival for his coverage of the

Second Chechen War Names The Second Chechen War is also known as the Second Chechen Campaign () or the Second Russian Invasion of Chechnya from the Chechens, Chechen insurgents' point of view.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 19 ...

during the Siege of Grozny, in which he was caught in the middle of a Grad rocket attack while reporting to camera. The coverage was also nominated for an Emmy Award. He returned to the UK and was assigned to Sky News' Investigative Journalism Unit, and later became Sky News' Africa Correspondent. In 2006, Chater resigned from Sky News to join

. The then Head of Sky News, Nick Pollard, said Chater was leaving to pursue "other interests" and praised his "outstanding career" with the channel. ;Al Jazeera English Starting in 2006, Chater has been Al Jazeera English's correspondent in

and later

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. In Kabul, he documented the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Taking a break - in 2008 - to work in Georgia, Chater returned to concentrate on stories around Europe, frequently reporting from Paris. ;Kanal Pik In 2008, Chater left Al Jazeera to become Head of News at the Kanal Pik television channel in the former Soviet republic of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Kanal Pik is run under licence by a new production company, K1, co-owned by British broadcasting journalist Robert Parsons. Chater helped the new company bed-in before returning to Al Jazeera English.Georgia: Russian-Language News Satellite Station Reborn
Eurasianet.org, 25 January 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2013.

References

External links

David Chater's Blog on Al Jazeera English

"Live Chat with David Chater"
Sky News, 22 April 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chater, David Al Jazeera people Alumni of St John's College, Oxford English television journalists English television presenters ITN newsreaders and journalists ITV people Living people People educated at Maidstone Grammar School Sky News newsreaders and journalists 1953 births