James_Naughtie

James Naughtie

James ("Jim") Naughtie (born 9 August 1952) is a Scottish journalist and radio news presenter for the BBC. Since 1994 he has been one of the main presenters of Radio 4's Today programme.

Biography

James Naughtie was born and brought up in Milltown of Rothiemay, near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He was educated at Keith Grammar School, the University of Aberdeen and then Syracuse University in New York. He is a Fellow of the British-American Project.

He began his career in journalism in 1975 at the Aberdeen Press & Journal, moving to the London offices of The Scotsman in 1977. The following year he joined the paper's Westminster staff, and became its Chief Political Correspondent. In 1981, he worked for The Washington Post as the Laurence Stern fellow on its national staff. Naughtie joined The Guardian in 1984, and became its Chief Political Correspondent in 1985.

In 1986, he moved into radio journalism, presenting The Week In Westminster, and in 1988 he joined The World At One. He has also made several radio documentaries and series, and has written three books, Playing the Palace: A Westminster Collection, The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage, and The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency.

He has been a presenter of the televised Proms since 1992, and has also presented opera programmes such as Radio 3's Opera News. Naughtie is also the current host of Radio 4's Bookclub.

He was voted Radio Personality of the Year in 1991 as part of the Sony Radio Awards and Voice of the Listener and Viewer Award in 2001.

He is a member of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission and a United Kingdom advisory board member for the British-American Project, which exists to promote the British-American relationship.

On 31 December 2004, he appeared on a Radio 4 Hamish and Dougal Hogmanay special. He played Mrs. Naughtie's son.

Naughtie is married to Eleanor Updale, author of the award-winning Montmorency books and a former producer of The World at One. They have three children.

He succeeded Dame Diana Rigg as chancellor of the University of Stirling on 31 July 2008, when her current term ended.

Today

He has been known to let his left-of-centre views affect his interviews on the Today programme. One example is an infamous gaffe in April 2005, when he referred to the Labour Party as "we" in an interview with Ed Balls. He said: "If we win the election...", before hastily correcting it to "If you win the election. Such political partiality contradicts the BBC's commitment to impartiality as stated in the BBC Charter. Conservative ex-Cabinet minister Norman Tebbit said this of Naughtie’s gaffe: “How often a slip of the tongue betrays the true thoughts in the mind of the speaker. We could all see the shape of the cat in the bag, but Mr Naughtie has now let it out for all to see.”

It is also notable that Naughtie often manages to insert his personal and professional interest in opera into the programme. In December 2005 in a week when UK politics were consumed by two party leadership contests, Naughtie was covering the re-opening of La Scala.

Works

Naughtie, James (2001). The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage Fourth Estate, ISBN 1-84115-473-3
Naughtie, James (2004). The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency Macmillan, ISBN 1-4050-5001-2
Naughtie, James (2007). The Making Of Music John Murray, ISBN 0719562546