Chris Mason (journalist)
Chris Mason | |
---|---|
Born | Christopher Richard Mason 21 April 1980 Steeton with Eastburn, West Yorkshire, England |
Education | Ermysted's Grammar School |
Alma mater | Christ's College, Cambridge City, University of London |
Employer | BBC |
Notable work | Newscast Any Questions? |
Title | Political editor of BBC News (2022–present) |
Children | 2 |
Christopher Richard Mason (born 21 April 1980) is an English journalist, who has been the political editor of BBC News since 2022. He is also a presenter of the podcast and television programme Newscast (formerly Brexitcast). He was formerly the BBC's political correspondent.
Early life and career
Christopher Richard Mason was born on 21 April 1980
Career
In 2002, Mason moved to
In December 2018 he unveiled a blue plaque honouring the Yorkshire-born journalist W. R. Mitchell (1928–2015).[1][13] A study of "the Twitter output of 10 seasoned UK political correspondents" found that Mason was a "prolific" tweeter,[14] and had 66,000 followers between month 1 September and 3 October 2018.[14] Mason tweeted about a "diverse and humorous range of interests beyond the political scene", including his native Yorkshire and goldfish named after other journalists.[14]
Brexitcast and radio
In June 2017, he began presenting the podcast Brexitcast (now known as Newscast) with Adam Fleming and was later joined by Laura Kuenssberg and Katya Adler. The podcast covered the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union from Brussels and London.[1][3] From September 2019 to January 2020, Brexitcast was also broadcast on BBC One television.[15] He has presented two BBC Radio 4 documentaries called Could the PM Have a Brummie Accent? and The Country vs the City, in July 2018 and March 2019.[5][16]
On 9 October 2019, Mason was appointed chair of the BBC Radio 4 debate programme Any Questions?[17][18] He said it was "daunting" to take over from Jonathan Dimbleby, who had been chair for 32 years. Mason suggested his Yorkshire accent helped him get the job and pointed at a lack of a broad range of regional accents more generally in British broadcasting.[19] His first show was broadcast from the University of Reading on 18 October with guests Siân Berry, Madeline Grant, David Lammy and Brandon Lewis.[20] Despite reports that Mason might join the new digital station Times Radio before its 2020 launch, he remained at the BBC.[21]
BBC political editor
Following Laura Kuenssberg's announcement of her departure as political editor of BBC News, Mason publicly said he did not want the job, with The Sunday Times reporting he wanted to concentrate on his Any Questions? role and on writing a book.[22] According to the same newspaper, he was later persuaded to apply for the job by BBC bosses after he was courted by rival broadcasters.[23] On 13 April 2022, it was announced that Mason would become the new political editor of BBC News and would begin in the role in May, replacing Kuenssberg.[24]
Personal life
Mason is married to a primary school teacher.[4] He and his wife have two children[25] and live in South East London.[26] Mason took parental leave between July and September 2019.[27]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Parsons, Rob (16 December 2018). "Chris Mason interview: Now is the best time I've ever known to be a BBC political correspondent". Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- ^ Wickham, Alex (21 April 2021). "POLITICO London Playbook: They think it's all over ... it is now — Change of Stratt — Liz vs. Oz". POLITICO. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Chris Mason – Biography and Images". TV Newsroom. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ a b "Chris Mason". Iain Dale All Talk (Podcast). Global. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ a b "BBC political correspondent Chris Mason talks about growing up in the Dales in new radio documentary". Craven Herald. Newsquest. 26 February 2019. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ a b c Seel, Matt (18 October 2019). "Five things you never knew about Chris Mason". About the BBC. BBC. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d "From geography to journalism with BBC presenter Chris Mason". Ask the Geographer (Podcast). Royal Geographical Society. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ^ "Any Questions? - Chris Mason". BBC Radio 4. BBC.
- ^ a b A.R. (15 November 2018). "Crise du Brexit : un journaliste de la BBC admet en plein direct ne plus rien comprendre". Le Parisien. Paris, France. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ Selk, Avi (14 November 2018). "A BBC reporter replaced his Brexit analysis with exasperated noises, and now he's a hero". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ Morris, James (13 November 2018). "BBC reporter Chris Mason hailed for refreshing Brexit analysis: 'I haven't got the foggiest idea... ask Mr Blobby'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "A BBC journalist has perfectly summed up how many people feel about Brexit". The Irish News. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ Tobitt, Charlotte (17 December 2018). "BBC's Chris Mason unveils blue plaque for 'incredible' Yorkshire journalist W. R. Mitchell". Press Gazette. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- ^ ISSN 2183-2439. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "Brex, Lies and Barnier Tapes". Brexitcast (Podcast). BBC. 12 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ Archive on 4, Could the PM Have a Brummie Accent?. BBC Radio 4. BBC. July 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Chris Mason: BBC Brexitcaster to be new host of Radio 4's Any Questions?". BBC News. 9 October 2019. Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ "The Londoner: Chris Mason lands Any Questions job". Evening Standard. 9 October 2019. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ Singh, Anita (26 November 2019). "BBC Radio 4 host Chris Mason: 'Yorkshire accent helped me get Any Questions? job'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- ^ Any Questions?, Sian Berry, David Lammy MP, Brandon Lewis MP. BBC Radio 4. BBC. 18 October 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ Waterson, Jim (15 February 2020). "Times Radio offering big money in effort to lure BBC presenters". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ Urwin, Rosamund (22 January 2022). "BBC political editor: the £260,000-a-year job that no one wants". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ Urwin, Rosamund; Shipman, Tim (2 April 2022). "Chris Mason leads the race as BBC's hunt for new political editor turns into real-life W1A". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ "Chris Mason appointed new BBC political editor". BBC News. 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- ^ Luckhurst, Pheobe (7 November 2019). "Chris Mason: There's never been a better time in my lifetime to do this job". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ^ https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/media/954539/chris-mason-who-is-the-bbcs-new-political-editor#:~:text=In%20October%202019%20Mason%20became,long%2Dtime%20host%20Jonathan%20Dimbleby.&text=Mason%20lives%20in%20southeast%20London,teacher%2C%20and%20their%20two%20sons.
- ^ Knuckles, Oswin. "BBC News correspondent Chris Mason takes leave". ResponseSource. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
External links
- Chris Mason at IMDb
- Chris Mason on Twitter