Stephen Joseph Samuel Cole (born March 29, 1954) is a retired British journalist, producer,

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

and television presenter. He was the creative force behind BBC ''Click'' and its first host from 2000-2006. Cole was also part of the original launch lineup for Sky News in 1989, the revamped

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

in 1995 and the launch of Al Jazeera English in 2006, as well as anchoring for BBC World News from 1996-2006.

Early life

Cole was born on March 29, 1954, in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a populatio ...

, England, to Brian Cole, a businessman, and Patricia Cole (née Smith), who served in the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

(WAAF) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

, where she was tasked with decrypting

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

signals. He attended the independent

Solihull School Solihull School is a coeducational independent day school in Solihull, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History In 1560 the reve ...

. At the age of 19, he received occupational guidance which recommended a career with HM Customs & Excise, in agriculture, or in journalism.

Career

After receiving his National Certificate for the Training of Journalists from

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, Cole was hired by the Caters News Agency as a print reporter on national news and sports. His baptism of fire came during the

Birmingham pub bombings The Birmingham pub bombings were carried out on 21 November 1974, when bombs exploded in two Pub, public houses in Birmingham, England, killing 21 people and injuring 182 others. The Provisional Irish Republican Army never officially admitted ...

of 1974. Having been in the city on another assignment the night of the attack, Cole covered the aftermath and the subsequent trials. From 1978 to 1989, Cole broke into television news, filing reports for

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...

and BBC Nationwide. In 1989, Cole was hired as an anchor for Sky News, the first 24-hour television news channel in Britain, where he reported on the

Fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of ...

, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

. In 1994, Cole moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, to anchor for

, as part of a re-launch and re-branding of the channel. Returning to the UK in 1996, Cole joined BBC World News as an anchor. In May of 2005, 11,000 journalists, producers and technicians went on a one-day strike. As a non-union member under contract Cole was brought in to anchor the flagship Six O'Clock and Ten O'Clock News on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

, temporarily replacing regular newsreaders Sian Williams, George Alagiah and Huw Edwards. In the year 2000, BBC management approached Cole about creating a new show for the network, offering him a choice between business and

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system ...

(IT). He chose the latter, and BBC ''Click Online'' was born. Growing to reach a global audience in over 100 countries under Cole's tenure as producer and host from 2000-2006, ''Click Online'' - since renamed to simply ''Click'' - recently celebrated its 1,000th episode. Cole interviewed some of the biggest names in tech at the time, including

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

and

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

. When

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...

launched its English-language service in 2006, along with other British broadcasters like David Frost, Cole was “quickly snapped up” as senior anchor and news editor, in part due to the exposure he received during the BBC strike. Cole also reported from the field on meetings of the

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is official ...

, the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

in Davos, and the

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the ...

sale of antiquities in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

. From 2019 until his retirement from broadcast television in 2022, Cole was the executive producer and host of ''The Agenda with Stephen Cole'', the flagship current affairs program of

CGTN China Global Television Network (CGTN) is the international division of state media outlet China Central Television (CCTV), headquartered in Beijing, China. CGTN broadcasts six news and general interest channels in five languages. CGTN is reg ...

Europe, the Chinese state broadcaster. Since his retirement, Cole continues to work as a guest lecturer, event host and moderator.

Personal life

Cole is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts ( BAFTA) and has been a judge in the TV category, and has also hosted the Royal Television Society Technology Awards. He has also chaired the General Conference of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

and hosted the Eurasian Media Forum and the

World Innovation Summit for Education The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) is an international initiative aimed at transforming education through innovation. WISE was established by Qatar Foundation in 2009 under the patronage of its chairperson, Sheikha Mozah bint Nass ...

in Doha. A huge rugby fan, Cole is a supporter of the

London Welsh RFC London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons ...

, having previously served as a club Director. Cole married Ann-Marie, a former producer for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

, in 1984 and has three sons, Dominic, who works in finance, Daniel, a Major in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

, and Richard, a

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, Biological neural network, n ...

. He lives 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Stephen 1954 births Living people British broadcasters BBC World News BBC newsreaders and journalists Sky News newsreaders and journalists CNN people Al Jazeera people People from Hereford