Ronald Edward Derek Onions

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(27 August 1929—27 May 2012) was an English

broadcast journalist Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

who in the 1970s pioneered a new style of

radio news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...

on the emerging local independent stations in Britain. Inspired by US radio stations heard while he was working in New York, Onions established significant change in news presentation with regular hourly bulletins which were brisk, vivid and immediate. His populist, almost tabloid, presentation was in contrast to the cautious, traditional and less frequent bulletins of the national broadcaster. The style quickly became established throughout the United Kingdom. Onions' career in journalism began with local newspapers in London and on the south coast of England. In the 1960’s he joined the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's television and radio news department, working on the nightly

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * Current Affairs (magazine), ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format): a genre of broadcast journalism * Current Affairs, former name for Behi ...

programme ''Tonight'' and then reporting and presenting on the broadcaster's new channel,

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. After taking charge of the BBC's emergency coverage of the

Aberfan disaster The Aberfan disaster was the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip on 21 October 1966. The tip had been created on a mountain slope above the Welsh village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, and overlaid a natural spring. Heavy rain led t ...

in Wales in 1966, he was appointed the broadcaster's first news organiser in the Americas at a momentous period of US history. There he produced the BBC's coverage of the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

s of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

and

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

and of the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

Moon landing A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959. The United St ...

. Onions was later Head of News at

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

in London where he introduced his pioneering news presentation with immediate success. He was then appointed Editor-in-Chief of the London Broadcasting Company and

Independent Radio News Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom and beyond. The managing director, Tim Molloy, succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009. Perkins had been ...

, where the style was developed and sustained. As a result of its success it was copied and established permanently throughout British radio.

Early life

Onions was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

on 27 August 1929 to Benjamin Onions, a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

, and Elizabeth Amelia Onions, née Lewin. He was raised in hard financial circumstances"Ron Onions: Broadcast journalism pioneer", 1 June 2012, https://pressgazette.co.uk/ron-onions-broadcast-journalism-pioneer/. in neighbouring

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

and educated at Edmonton County Grammar School."Ron Onions", ''The Telegraph'', London, England, 3 June 2012. On leaving school Onions carried out two years'

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

as an Aircraftman First Class, serving as a clerk in Equipment Accounts at

RAF Abingdon Royal Air Force Abingdon or more simply RAF Abingdon was a Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps. History The airfield was opened in 1932, initially as ...

in Oxfordshire.Ron, Doris & Sarah Onions, ''Don't Bring Lulu: Her Family's Tale of Trial and Triumph'', Book Guild Publishing, Brighton, England, 2012, ISBN 978 1 84624 709 5.

Early career

Onions learnt his trade in journalism on the ''Enfield Gazette''"Ron Onions", ''Times'', London, England, 2 July 2012. and as a sports reporter and sports editor for the ''Tottenham Weekly Herald'' in North London. In 1958 he moved to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on the south coast of England to become a sub-editor on the local ''Evening Argus''.Tony Stoller, "Ron Onions obituary", ''The Guardian'', London, England, 11 June 2012. In 1960 Onions left print journalism to join the

newsroom A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournalists, videojournalists, associate editor, residence editor, visual text editor, Desk Head, s ...

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...

, an independent broadcaster based in the port city of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in southern England. After less than a year with Southern TV, Onions joined the BBC in their new local television and radio operation in Southampton to write, report and present news programmes. He remained with the BBC in Southampton for four years.

BBC national television

In 1965 Onions returned to London to join the production staff of the BBC's early evening flagship current affairs programme, ''Tonight'', where he served for a short time before moving to BBC Television News as a

sub-editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...

. He was soon fast-tracked into reporting and presenting news on the BBC's new second channel, BBC2, as well as directing film reports on political affairs and elections. In October 1966 he was called on to organise the BBC's emergency television coverage of the Aberfan disaster in

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

in which 116 schoolchildren and 28 adults were killed when a

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

waste tip collapsed. For days without much sleep he ensured “the catastrophe’s awful scope was properly understood and told".Christopher Terry, "Ron Onions: Journalist who brought the energy of American radio to the UK with LBC", ''The Independent'', London, 18 June 2012. In a "remarkable and humane piece of broadcasting" Onions' arrangements for the televising of the children's funerals placed five cameras in the village and in the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

and he insisted that commentary would be superfluous and intrusive, and so the edited images were transmitted with only the natural sound of the procession and the ceremony. Onions' recollection towards the end of his life of his role at Aberfan was "self-effacing ... and gives little hint of the pivotal part he played or the emotional reaction I know he felt," wrote his former BBC News colleague Tony Crabb.Tony Crabb, "Don't bring Lulu by Ron, Doris and Sarah Onions", ''Prospero'', BBC, London, England, August 2012.

News organiser, New York

Onions' multi-abilities in presenting, reporting, directing, producing and facilitating the work of others, particularly as demonstrated by his work at Aberfan, were highly regarded by BBC News. In November 1967 the BBC, realising "the need to have field producers organising coverage of big breaking stories", appointed him to the "prestigious" newly created post of Television News Organiser, based in New York, covering North and South America and the Caribbean from an office in the

Rockefeller Centre Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Here, for five years, working with correspondents of the stature of Charles Wheeler and

Gerald Priestland Gerald Francis Priestland (26 February 1927 – 20 June 1991) was a foreign correspondent, presenter and, later, a religious commentator for the BBC. Early life and work Gerald Priestland was the son of (Joseph) Francis ('Frank') Edwin Priestl ...

, he orchestrated the BBC's coverage of major events. Notable among them were the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F Kennedy, the

Mỹ Lai massacre The Mỹ Lai massacre (; vi, Thảm sát Mỹ Lai ) was the mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by United States troops in Sơn Tịnh District, South Vietnam, on 16 March 1968 during the Vietnam War. Between 347 and 504 unarmed ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, the fatal student protests at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

and the achievements of the

crew in landing on the Moon. Onions enjoyed notable successes in this role. As the UK ''

Press Gazette ''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Publis ...

'' reported, "It was a golden professional period. Far from being daunted by history in the making, Onions relished his instinct for it." At the end of Onions' five-year term in America, the BBC invited him to replace their correspondent Charles Wheeler in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

when Wheeler returned to London. Largely for family reasons, Onions turned down that opportunity and also a subsequent offer to become the BBC's news organiser in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. In 1972 he returned to London. There he was offered the post of deputy foreign editor but, finding himself increasingly at odds with the BBC, he declined. He later recalled: "In a foolish display of petulance, I said I didn't see myself as deputy to anyone". Despite his "restlessly creative spirit" he returned to the sub-editors' desk.

Capital Radio News

In 1973

Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2003, ...

was launched in the United Kingdom. Applications were invited by the

Independent Broadcasting Authority The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television (ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Authorit ...

for two franchises in London, one for an

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

station and one for news.Local Radio Workshop, ''Capital: Local radio and private profit'', Comedia Publishing Group, London, 1983, ISBN 0 906 890 14 4. One of the applicants for the entertainment franchise invited Onions to become its Head of News if it won the franchise. Onions accepted but the applicant failed in its bid. Onions was disillusioned by the BBC and its news department and wanted to develop and work on a different style of news broadcasting after being impressed by radio news in New York. In the spring of 1973 Onions approached a former BBC colleague,

Michael Bukht Mirza Michael John Bukht (10 September 1941 – 4 August 2011) was a British commercial radio executive. Under the pseudonym Michael Barry, he was a chef and television personality who was a regular co-presenter on the BBC2 television ...

, the programme controller of the winner of the entertainment franchise, Capital Radio. Bukht told Onions he was looking for a Head of News and invited him to meet the company's chairman,

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...

, and the managing director, John Whitney. They immediately offered Onions the post and he left the BBC to join Capital in late July 1973, ten weeks before the station was to go on air. Onions recruited an 18-strong teamMike Baron, ''Independent Radio: The Story of Commercial Radio in the United Kingdom'', Terence Dalton, Lavenham, Suffolk, England, 1975 ISBN 0 900963 64 6. of mostly unknown radio writers, editors, reporters, producers and presenter/newsreaders to run Capital's round-the-clock news service. Some came from BBC radio, some from hospital and industrial radio services, some from Australia, New Zealand and Canada with experience in commercial radio, and one or two from theatre and television. A number of the young team, such as Tricia Ingrams from

United Biscuits Network United Biscuits Network (UBN) was an internal radio station serving the factories of United Biscuits (UB) in Britain that operated from 1970 to 1979. In 1970 the BBC had a monopoly on radio broadcasting in Britain, although there were a few off ...

Robin Houston Robin Houston (born London, 1947) is a British voiceover artist and former announcer, radio and television newsreader and quiz show host. After starting his career as an announcer and stage manager, he became one of the pioneers of commercial ra ...

from a voiceover and

technical theatre Stagecraft is a technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes constructing and rigging scenery; hanging and focusing of lighting; design and procurement of costumes; make-up; stage management; audio engineering; an ...

background and

Greg Grainger Greg Grainger is an Australian filmmaker and TV presenter and known for travel and adventure documentaries and wildlife programs. Grainger is a Logie Awards, Logie Award winner for "Best News Coverage" When in New York, Onions had been a keen admirer of the non-stop all-news radio stations,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

and

WINS WINS may refer to: *WINS (AM), an all-news radio station in New York City *WINS-FM, a radio station in New York City *World Institute for Nuclear Security *Windows Internet Name Service *WINS (solution stack), a set of software subsystems *Wireles ...

. He later recalled that "they had a dynamic quality not yet experienced in the United Kingdom." It was this energy that Onions wanted to harness and introduce to Capital's hourly (and in the breakfast show, half-hourly) news bulletins 24 hours a day, in contrast to the BBC's traditional, cautious, moribund news presentation.Hugh Chignell, ''Public Issue Radio: Talks, News and Current Affairs in the Twentieth Century'', Palgrave Macmillan, United Kingdom, 2011. At Capital Radio he was responsible for introducing to the UK the fast three-minute "synopsis" or "snapshot" bulletin. "Relying on pace, brilliant writing, vivid interview snippets and short, punchy eyewitness reports - immediate, upfront, sometimes brash, and always with an 'angle' - it helped pave the way in this country for the modern concept of 'rolling news'." It was a "lighter, jauntier approach ... akin to that of a tabloid newspaper," wrote the ''Times''. Broadcaster

Martha Kearney Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme ''The World at One'' for 11 years, and in April 2018 became a presenter of the ear ...

, later to be one of Onions' journalist "finds", described the new style: "Everything was live, much more immediate, and for reporters ... everything had to have actuality: it was about sound, it was being ''in'' the situation, you used very short news clips, you always had to make sure you were there, gathering the material yourself."Martha Kearney, ''Last Word''. BBC Radio 4, London, transmitted 29 June 2012. The ''Press Gazette'' maintained that Onions' approach to radio news "swept away the more traditional 'bulletin of record' style. In an Onions bulletin "news was always moving forward, rather than just a summary of recent history." Despite ensuring that Capital Radio News was a pioneer in the new, vigorous and brisk presentation of news, Onions' time at the station was brief. He later recalled: "I spent only six months working for Capital but I now think of it as perhaps the happiest time of my life." Under heavy pressure from the Independent Broadcasting Authority, concerned at the low quality of presentation achieved by Capital's London news competitor, the London Broadcasting Company (LBC) and Independent Radio News (IRN), Onions was head-hunted to move to LBC. "'No!', I said 'Not that!'", he recalled later. "Not easily, I decided to join LBC".Ron Onions in a recorded conversation with Paul Easton, Surrey, United Kingdom on SoundCloud, c1983/https://soundcloud.com/paul-easton/ron-onions. Early in April 1974 he left Capital Radio to join LBC.

LBC and IRN

In 1974 Onions was appointed Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the London Broadcasting Company (LBC) and Editor of Independent Radio News (IRN). LBC had won the franchise for the London news station with responsibility also for IRN which was to provide a news service for local independent radio stations around the UK as they began operating. In starting up it had employed mostly newspaper journalists who had little or no experience in radio broadcasting, and it was said to be "disorganised and amateurish, unstable, financially precarious, beset by union problems". The Independent Broadcasting Authority judged LBC's output as a news-based 24-hour speech station to be extremely poor, audience figures were low and there were severe financial problems. Onions' task there was to "nurture and professionally stabilise a chaotic and financially vulnerable" LBC/IRN by introducing the authority, energy and brisk news presentation style that had proved successful at Capital Radio. "It meant straightening out some of the early problems that seemed horrendous at the time," Onions remembered years later. "...growing up was traumatic, and all of those early problems one wouldn't want to go through again. One can look back and reminisce about them and now laugh about them in some instances, but it was tough going." The most immediate problem of inexperienced personnel was eased by Onions rapidly headhunting staff from the BBC and recruiting from his former team at Capital Radio. Further expertise arrived in December 1974 when Capital, facing its own financial problems, closed its newsroom and made the 12 remaining staff redundant. As a result, LBC was boosted from Capital by two newsreader/presenters who were already well known to London listeners, and a number of seasoned radio reporters, all experienced practitioners of the Onions news style. Onions was still faced with pitifully low advertising income, increasing financial problems and continual industrial unrest, prompted by pay demands at a time of fast-rising inflation. A round of voluntary redundancies placed Onions' staffing at risk but throughout 1974, supported by the Editor-in-Chief Marshall Stewart and Output Director Peter Robins (both recent BBC imports), he began to build up the presentation, reporting, writing and producing expertise the station needed. There were a few original LBC staff who had shown promise like Jon Snow,

Adrian Love Adrian Love (3 August 1944 – 10 March 1999) was a British radio presenter, remembered for his ''Love in the Afternoon'' programme on BBC Radio 2. Early life Adrian Love was born in York on 3 August 1944 to Cicely Joyce (née Peters) and music ...

and Peter Allen and others who had arrived with BBC experience (though several of them left within months, despairing at the lack of resources and the inexperience of much of the staff recruited from newspapers). Others added to the team were BBC incomers

Bob Holness Robert Wentworth John Holness (12 November 1928 – 6 January 2012) was a British-South African radio and television presenter and occasional actor. He presented the British version of '' Blockbusters''. Early life Holness was born in Vryheid, ...

and Douglas Cameron, whose double-headed ''AM'' breakfast programme attracted more London listeners than the BBC's ''Today'' programme.Vincent Graff, "How we beat the BBC", ''The Independent'', London, England, 14 October 2003. Former Capital Radio newsreaders Tricia Ingrams and Robin Houston and deputy-editor Tony Tucker boosted the presentation team, while Capital reporters like Bill Spencer, Ian Gilchrist, Paul Michaels and Christopher Hourmouzious joined "Onions' squad of dynamic young reporters", and constantly scooped their BBC rivals. Increasingly, also, Onions recruited experienced writers and producers. Gradually, Onions was able to send a few reporters overseas on important stories, and the station's parliamentary unit began to break a number of leading political exclusives. Using

rolling news The 24-hour news cycle (or 24/7 news cycle) is 24-hour investigation and reporting of news, concomitant with fast-paced lifestyles. The vast news resources available in recent decades have increased competition for audience and advertiser attent ...

, reportage,

vox pop ( )Vox Populi
. Oxford Diction ...

s and

phone-in In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...

s, airborne traffic reports and parliamentary broadcasting - and the sprightly vigour of its presentation - LBC/IRN began to increase its listening figures. All the while the news style which Onions had successfully established in the first six months of Capital Radio provided the key. "Almost every significant change in the practice of radio news gathering in the final quarter of the last century was pioneered at LBC," one media commentator has written. "LBC/IRN made a major contribution to radio journalism and, unfettered by the caution and smugness of the BBC, innovated to the point of recklessness." The sound of British news "became much more immediate and altogether fresher and part of the modern world", Martha Kearney has maintained. One-time LBC phone-in presenter Brian Hayes has reported that "it was more alive and you had reporters telling stories in a way that made you think as a listener that you knew them and then you therefore started to trust them." Despite the growing success of the station in terms of output and listener appreciation, it was still severely hampered by low revenue, industrial strife and management turmoil. Onions later recalled that "there was quite a militant union which had got used to running the place itself, and which wanted pay parity with the BBC, for understandable reasons. But the money just was not there. At one point we had just one commercial running on the station ... bringing in an income of about £5000 when we had a wage bill running at 20 times that." There was a change of managing director and a change of chairman. At one stage when the Editor-in-Chief was on sick leave, and without consulting Onions, the new Chairman trimmed LBC's already meagre budgets. In 1977, the Editor-in-Chief left and Onions took over his job, but was not given his title. 1978 saw another new chairman who, despite listening figures reaching two million, was increasingly concerned about the station's industrial relations. He brought in a new managing director, and Onions, in a perceptible demotion, was given a new title, beneath the MD, of editorial director. Despite that, in 1979 Onions was voted Local Radio Personality of the Year by the Local Radio Association. In 1980 he was also appointed to the Board of LBC. In 1982 a profound influence on LBC/IRN's development was seen when Britain went to war with Argentina in the South Atlantic. Onions fought trenchantly, and ultimately successfully, against a reluctant

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

for one of his reporters, Kim Sabido, to be allowed to join the accredited press ranks, travel to the Falkland Islands and be embedded with the troops on the front line. Sabido's reports, and those of another IRN reporter, Antonia Higgs, stationed in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, gave IRN, LBC and all the other independent radio stations around the UK a new and unprecedented level of credibility. Onions later remarked of that time: "It left us with the feeling that we had more than made our mark in the story of radio reporting in Great Britain." He also observed that research figures taken during the war showed LBC's audience to be at its highest ever. However, once the war was over, listeners, tiring of news, returned to the music stations and LBC's figures dropped to almost their lowest. Later in 1982 Onions fought, against keen competition, for LBC/IRN to win the renewal of its licence. Negotiations were tense, but the Independent Broadcasting Authority agreed that the franchise would be renewed. "Somehow," wrote Onions in his memoir of the time, "we battled our way through, but for me it was one of those climactic moments in life and convinced me that it was time to move on." He was further convinced when a subsequent surprise change to programme schedules was carried out while he was on leave, without him being consulted. Onions left LBC/IRN nine-and-a-half years after he joined the station, in October 1983. "Both modest and a realist", wrote the ''Press Gazette'', "Onions knew the revolutionary impact of LBC/IRN, but would always downplay his role, preferring to credit the talent of the teams he employed." Nevertheless, later in 1983, Onions was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting.

Visnews

In 1983 Onions was invited to join

Visnews {{nofootnotes, date = March 2016 Visnews was a London-based international news agency. It began as the British Commonwealth International Newsfilm Agency (BCINA), which was setup with help from The Rank Organisation when that company closed its cin ...

, a leading distributor of news film to television stations all over the world. His task was to launch a non-stop news channel aimed at the growing

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

market. The project was called World News Network and was much trailed by Onions around the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, but the lack of enthusiasm from potential purchasers together with financial problems prevented the proposed channel going ahead.

Jazz FM

As a lifetime lover of

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, in 1989 Onions advised a group interested in opening a jazz music radio station in London. Using his expertise in franchise applications learned while with LBC/IRN, Onions took an active part in the process. There were 30 other applications, two of which were also based on jazz, but the bid with which Onions was involved was successful.James Green, "It's all green for Onions", ''The Stage and Television Today'', London, England, 25 October 1990. He was invited to join the board of the company, Jazz FM, and was appointed Station Director.Ron Onions, "Media: JazzFM - Between the Lines", ''The Guardian'', London, 05 March 1990. He had only six months from the winning of the franchise to employ staff and work on programme policy before the station's first day on air in March 1990. By his own account, he found the task difficult. There were differences of opinion with his fellow board members and strains within management, which persisted even after the station went on air. His choice of DJs was queried by the board. They made some appointments with which Onions disagreed and other presenters to whom Onions had offered jobs were rejected. But his ability to spot and encourage young talent brought two presenters to the station who later enjoyed sustained success in jazz radio broadcasting:

Helen Mayhew Helen Mayhew is a British radio presenter and producer, specialising in jazz music. Mayhew started with the BBC, and then moved to 102.2 Jazz FM at its launch, then rejoined the BBC where she presented her own weekly show, and finally returned t ...

and

Jez Nelson Jeremy Nelson MBE (born 1 April 1964) is a jazz broadcaster and television producer. Education Nelson was educated at Dulwich College (a boys' independent school in Dulwich, South London) and at King's College London, where he first began to D ...

. Jazz FM had initial problems with a computerised system of playing output which was unreliable and, while at first enjoying over a million listeners, the station was launched into an economic recession. After nine months there was a slump in advertising revenue. Audiences, retuning to news stations while the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

took place, halved to around 500,000 a week. As a result, in February 1991 the station was forced to shed half of its 40 staff. Onions was among them, being fired as Programme Director before the station's first year was up.Suzan Leavy, "There's no crisis at Jazz FM says station director", ''The Stage and Television Today'', London, England, 28 February 1991. In a light-hearted piece Onions had written for ''The Guardian'' in the days just before Jazz FM launched, he complained: "Really, I'm just a hack. I should have stayed with News. I shouldn't have left the BBC. Or LBC. Or Visnews. I'm good at news."

London News Radio

In the time since Onions had left in 1983, LBC/IRN had gone through a number of owners and different formats. By 1992 it was owned by an Australian company and was facing a fight to renew its licence in 1993. Onions, who felt the station had lost its way, joined some other senior figures who had worked with him at LBC/IRN to launch a bid to win the franchise and take over the two frequencies the Australian company used. Onions’ team,

London News Radio LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...

, won the new franchise in September 1993. Short of finance to run the operation themselves, they sold their interest to the news agency

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

for £5-million. This left the team unencumbered by financial problems and free to set up the two new stations they envisaged. The FM frequency provided a general service of rolling news, similar to WINS in New York which had been Onions' original inspiration, repeating and updating the news every 20 minutes. The medium-wave service offered London Forum Radio, a talk and phone-in service. The new stations were launched in October 1994.Andrew Culf, "LBC vows to fight loss of licence", ''The Guardian'', London, England, 4 September 1993. Onions did not stay long at London News Radio once transmission had started. He had now reached retirement age. "Thirty-five years in the rough and tumble of broadcasting, BBC and commercial, home and abroad, was more than enough," he later maintained. London News Radio was his last job in broadcasting.

Character

The ''Press Gazette'', in writing about Onions, celebrated his "characteristic combination of vision and chutzpah ... Many will remember not only Onions' brisk and exacting standards, but also the happy alliance of these to his handsome charm and an unexpectedly quirky good humour." Onions, it went on, "never forgot the human side of what he was doing, either in the workplace or in terms of the output he editorially oversaw. Instinctively kind and considerate beneath the demands of his professional nature, he won many friends among his employees." .

Personal life

Onions married his "childhood sweetheart" Doris Moody in Edmonton in 1951. She was a graduate of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

with a teaching diploma in speech and drama. The couple had two daughters, the younger of whom, Louise, was born without a thyroid gland, and her resulting severely-disruptive symptoms posed a huge challenge to her family. After her death in 2009, which caused Onions "huge grief", the family jointly authored a book, ''Don't Bring Lulu: Her Family's Tale of Trial and Triumph'', about her life and the family's problems and joy in looking after her, combined with a memoir of Ron Onions' professional life. The book was the idea of Onions' elder daughter, Sarah, also a journalist, and "it rescued Ron from the black-dog melancholy that had sometimes been the dark side of his creative spirit." It was published shortly before Onions' death. As well as his OBE in 1983, Onions was awarded a

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'argent de la reine Elizabeth II) is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is p ...

in 1977. He died unexpectedly in his sleep on 27 May 2012, at the family home in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

, overlooking the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

in London. He was 82.

Legacy

On Onions' death the ''Press Gazette'' stated that "almost every news programme on British television and radio bears the stamp, in some degree, of the mercurial genius who in the 1970s and 80s created the whole ethos of commercial radio news and current affairs ... The list of people who passed through Ron Onions' tutelage at LBC/IRN now reads like a who's who of some of the most distinctive names in broadcast news."

Notes

References

English journalists English reporters and correspondents 1929 births 2012 deaths {{Improve categories, date=September 2022