Mark William Austin (born 1 November 1958) is an English journalist and television presenter, currently working for ''

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 ...

''. Austin is best known as the former co-newscaster for the ''

ITV Evening News The ''ITV Evening News'' is the evening news programme produced by ITN on the British television network ITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 6:30pm usually until 7.30pm (since March 2022) though the finishing time of the bulletin can occasiona ...

'', alongside

Mary Nightingale Mary Nightingale (born 26 May 1963) is an English journalist and television presenter. She has presented the '' ITV Evening News'' since 2001. Education and early career Nightingale was born in Scarborough, the third of four daughters. She mov ...

, and the former co-newscaster of the ''

ITV News at Ten ''ITV News at Ten'' (or more commonly ''News at Ten'') is the flagship evening news programme on British television network ITV, produced by ITN and founded by news editor Geoffrey Cox in July 1967. The bulletin was the first permanent 30-mi ...

'', alongside

Julie Etchingham Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with ITV News. A graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on ...

. He also presented the ITV documentary series '' Real Crime'' from 2008 until 2011. From 24 September 2018, he has presented ''The News Hour'' and ''Sky News at 6'' as part of schedule changes on

Education

Austin was educated at

Bournemouth School Bournemouth School is an 11–18 boys grammar school, with a co-educational sixth form, located in Charminster, Bournemouth, Charminster, Bournemouth, Dorset, England, for children aged 11 to 18. The school was founded by E. Fenwick and opened o ...

, a state grammar school in the town of

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, followed by Highbury College in the city of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

Career

Early career

Austin started his career in the media as a general reporter on the ''

Bournemouth Daily Echo The ''Bournemouth Daily Echo'', commonly known as the ''Daily Echo'' (a.k.a. the ''Bournemouth Echo''), is a local newspaper that covers the area of southeast Dorset, England, including the towns Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch. Published b ...

'' (1976–1980). He then joined 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 ...

as a newsroom writer, becoming a general news reporter in 1982. He was made a sports reporter in 1985. Austin joined

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 ...

, who produce the news for ITV, in October 1986 as Sports Correspondent. He was given his first assignment on day one – to cover England's successful Ashes tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, as well as the

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

. He stayed in Australia for four months and during this time unexpectedly found himself reporting on the "Spycatcher" trial.

1990s

Austin has covered all the major sporting events for ITV News, including the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, the British Open, rugby internationals, football news and cricket. Austin was one of the first British journalists to report from the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

during the

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country for the next seven months ...

in 1990. From the start of the war early in 1991, he was in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, the base for many of the Tornado squadrons, sending back regular reports including those on the recapture of the islands of Qaruh and Um-al-Maradin. Austin was based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1993 as Asia Correspondent for ITV News. He returned there for his second tour as Asia Correspondent in 1996, spending over two years reporting, including the handover of the island to the Chinese in July 1997. He returned to London in mid-1998. 1994–1995 saw Austin in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

as Africa Correspondent for ITV News. Austin reported on the transition from

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

to democracy in South Africa,

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

's election victory, and on the civil war in Rwanda. He also briefly returned to sport as part of ITV's presentation team in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

for the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

coverage. During 1995, he also covered the

Bosnian crisis The Bosnian Crisis, also known as the Annexation Crisis (, ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Aneksiona kriza, Анексиона криза) or the First Balkan Crisis, erupted on 5 October 1908 when Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

, following the fall of

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War in 1995, Srebr ...

. His reporting won him a joint gold medal, with fellow-correspondent Paul Davies, at the 1996 Film & Television Festival of New York. In 1999, Austin covered the

War in Kosovo The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

. Based on the

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n border for much of the conflict, Austin reported on the refugee crisis caused by the war. On the day in June

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

troops finally entered

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 ...

he was airlifted in with the Gurkhas, the first troops to enter the country, reporting on their role as mine clearers, and witnessing an early confrontation with Serb police. Austin's reporting of the war was part of ITV News' coverage which received a Gold Nymph at the 1999 Monte Carlo Television Festival.

2000s

In September 2001, he covered the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington before reporting on the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

. In 2001, he presented the first series of ITV reality series ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

''. In 2002, Austin was promoted to ITV News' flagship news programme, the ''

.'' He also reported on the invasion of

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 ...

in March 2003, where coalition troops invaded to remove

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

from power. This saw Austin spend long periods of time in Iraq. In October 2006, Austin travelled to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

as part of a series of reports on China's economic growth. Austin had been to Beijing many times previously and covered the

Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square () is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("''Gate of Heavenly Peace''") located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains th ...

uprising in 1989. Austin became chief presenter of

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 ...

when

Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor Lawson McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with Independent Television News (ITN). McDonald began his career working as a ...

retired on 15 December 2005. He took up the role of presenting the flagship ITV News programme on 3 January 2006. Austin also co-presented an ITV prime-time crime programme, '' Manhunt - Solving Britain's Crimes'', a live 90 minute programme appealing to the public for information on the UK's most wanted criminals. On 31 October 2007, ITV confirmed they would be resurrecting the ''News at Ten'' in 2008. Trevor McDonald would return as host with

presenter

co-anchoring the bulletin every night. In August 2008, Austin reported and presented for ITV News' Olympics: Beijing 2008 coverage. On 30 October 2008, ITV confirmed Trevor McDonald was stepping down from ''News at Ten'' and Austin would replace him. It was announced in August 2009, that Austin would be replaced by

Alastair Stewart Alastair James Stewart OBE (born 22 June 1952) is a retired English journalist and newscaster. Stewart joined Southern Television in 1976, then joined ITN in 1980, where he served three years with ''Channel 4 News'' and went on to become a ma ...

on the ''

'', in order for Austin to concentrate on his duties on ''News at Ten''.

2010s

On 22 March 2013, Austin presented ''Who Killed My Dad? The Death of Terry Lloyd'', which explained the death of his colleague Terry Lloyd. He co-presented the programme with Lloyd's daughter Chelsey. On 6 December 2013, following the death of

the previous day, Austin fronted a tribute programme ''Nelson Mandela: His Life and Legacy''. In October 2015, Mark was replaced by Tom Bradby on ''ITV News at Ten''. He then moved back to the ''

'', presenting alongside

. In 2016, Austin guest presented numerous episodes of '' Good Morning Britain'' alongside Ranvir Singh and Charlotte Hawkins. After thirty years with ''

'', it was announced in October 2016, that Austin would be leaving at the end of the year. He presented his last programme on 22 December 2016. Austin joined LBC Radio for a series of guest shows across the Easter weekend in April 2017. On 24 April 2017, it was announced that Austin would join ''

'' as a U.S. correspondent. In August 2017, Austin co-presented a one-off documentary for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

called ''Wasting Away: The Truth About Anorexia'' with his daughter Madeleine. In September 2018, Austin started presenting '' The News Hour with Mark Austin'' on

, broadcast from Sky Central between 5pm to 6pm each weekday. He also presents ''Sky News at 6'' between 6pm and 7pm each weekday.

2020s

In February 2022, Austin presented Sky News live from

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

during the first day of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Awards and honours

Austin has won 6 BAFTA awards. In 1995 for his role in ITV's Rwanda coverage; in 2010, for his role in the ''

'' coverage of the Haiti earthquake; in 2011 for the Cumbria Murders coverage and in 2014 for reporting of the Woolwich attacks. With Sky News in 2020, Austin won a BAFTA for coverage of the Hong Kong protests. And in 2021, for a programme on the crisis in

Idlib Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey. History ...

in Syria, also for Sky News He won an international Emmy in 2000 for his reporting of the 2000 Mozambique floods, as well as a Gold Nymph at the 2000 Television Festival of Monte Carlo, and Gold and silver medals at the ''New York Television Programming Awards''. In 2014 and 2015, Austin won the 'RTS Presenter of the Year Award'. *In 1993, he won top prize in the Sports News category at the Royal Television Society Awards for his coverage of the drug scandal affecting three British sportsmen at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. *He was awarded an honorary doctorate in November 2008 by

Bournemouth University Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s. The universi ...

Personal life

Austin lives in

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south-west Surrey, England, around south-west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

with his wife Catherine, an A&E doctor, and their three children Jack, Madeleine, and Beatrice. He is a supporter of

Chelsea FC Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

and regularly posts comments about the club on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Career

References

External links

Sky Profile
* * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Mark 1958 births BBC newsreaders and journalists International Emmy Award winners ITN newsreaders and journalists Sky News newsreaders and journalists Living people People educated at Bournemouth School Writers from Bournemouth Journalists from London English rugby union commentators