Jon Snow (journalist)


Jonathan George Snow[1992 United Kingdom general election|] HonFRIBA is an English journalist and television presenter. He is best known as the longest-running presenter of Channel 4 News, which he has presented since 1989. Although Channel 4's news programming is produced by ITN, Snow is employed directly by the broadcaster.
Snow has held numerous honorary appointments, including Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008.

Early life

Snow was born in Ardingly, Sussex, the son of George D'Oyly Snow, Bishop of Whitby, and Joan, a pianist who studied at the Royal College of Music. He is a grandson of First World War General Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow and is the cousin of retired BBC television news presenter Peter Snow. He grew up at Ardingly College where his father was headmaster. In 2013, he recounted how the inquiry into Sir Jimmy Savile had allowed him to re-evaluate his own childhood when he at age 6 he was molested by one of the college's domestic staff.
Snow won a choral scholarship by Winchester Cathedral and spent five years at the Pilgrims' School. He subsequently attended St Edward's School in Oxford. When he was 18, he spent a year as a VSO volunteer teaching in Uganda.
After mixed success in his first attempt to pass his A-level qualifications, he moved to the Yorkshire Coast College, Scarborough, where he later obtained the necessary qualifications to gain a place reading Law at the University of Liverpool. However, he did not complete his undergraduate studies, being expelled for his part in a 1970 anti-apartheid socialist student protest, which he later described as "an absolute watershed in my life".

Career

After leaving Liverpool, Snow was hired by Lord Longford to direct the New Horizon Youth Centre, a day centre for homeless young people in central London, an organisation with which he has remained involved and of which he subsequently became chairman.
By 1978 he was working as a correspondent for ITN, and in November of that year was sent on a mission to Vietnam to report on the plight of the boat people. He served as ITN's Washington correspondent and as diplomatic editor before becoming the main presenter of Channel 4 News in 1989. In 1992 he was the main anchor for ITN's election night programme, broadcast on ITV; he presented the programme alongside Robin Day, Alastair Stewart and Julia Somerville. He has won several RTS Awards – two for reports from El Salvador, one for his reporting of the Kegworth air disaster as well as the 1995 Award for Best Male Presenter and the 1980 Award for TV Journalist of the Year for his coverage of Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East.
Snow is known for sporting his vast collection of colourful ties and socks.
While working as a journalist in Uganda, he flew alongside President Idi Amin in the presidential jet. He has recounted how whilst Amin appeared to be asleep he thought seriously about taking Amin's revolver and shooting him dead, but was worried about the consequences of firing a loose round in a jet.
In 1976, Snow reportedly rejected an approach by British intelligence services to spy on his colleagues. At first he was asked to supply information about the Communist Party, but he was then asked to spy on certain "left-wing people" working in television. In return he would have received secret monthly, tax-free payments, matching his then salary.
In 1980, in the early stages of the Iran–Iraq War, he helped rescue a British ship that had become trapped in Iranian waters.
In 2002 he returned to radio, presenting Jon Snow Reports on Oneword Radio, a weekly show and podcast. He wrote regular articles for the Channel 4 News website and Snowmail – a daily email newsletter on the big stories coming up on the evening edition of Channel 4 News.
In 2003, at the height of the dodgy dossier affair, Alastair Campbell walked into the studio to rebut statements by the BBC. Without notes or preparation, Snow attempted to question Campbell about the affair.
In 2004, Snow published an autobiography, Shooting History. The book was published by Harper Perennial and detailed Snow's life from his childhood up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Snow refuses to wear any symbol that may represent his views on air; in the run up to Remembrance Day, he condemned what he called "poppy fascism" because "in the end there really must be more important things in life than whether a news presenter wears symbols on his lapels".
On 28 February 2008, Snow said that the silence of the British media on the decision to allow Prince Harry to fight in Afghanistan was unacceptable: "I never thought I'd find myself saying thank God for Drudge. The infamous US blogger has broken the best kept editorial secret of recent times. Editors have been sworn to secrecy over Prince Harry being sent to fight in Afghanistan three months ago." These remarks provoked criticism from some viewers and media outlets.
On 9 February 2009, Snow interviewed Lt-Col Yvonne Bradley, the military counsel for Binyam Mohamed, a British resident detained for five years at Guantánamo Bay. Snow asked whether Mohamed's allegations of torture were justified; Bradley said there was no doubt at all that he had been tortured. Mohamed was released and returned to Britain on 23 February 2009.
In November 2010 Snow was sent to Haiti to report on the cholera outbreak.
On 14 June 2011, Snow presented the multiple award-winning investigation documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, directed by Callum Macrae, which documented war crimes committed in the final days of the Sri Lankan conflict in 2009. The second part, was broadcast in March 2012.
In early 2014, Snow had a debate with comedian and actor Russell Brand who appeared in a Channel 4 interview about his petition for a debate on British drug laws.

Accusations of bias

In June 2017, it was reported that Snow had shouted "fuck the Tories" at Glastonbury. He was criticised for his views on air by a guest on Channel 4 News, and former Conservative minister Grant Shapps later refused to appear on the show, doubting its neutrality. Shapps stated: "I don’t think he can deal in an even handed manner in any interview with a Conservative MP. He has lost all credibility." MP Andrew Bridgen called for Snow's resignation, arguing that Snow's "extreme views" were incompatible with an impartial interviewer. Rival presenter for the BBC, Andrew Marr, commented that if he had made similar comments, he would have lost his job.
Channel 4 released a statement saying that Snow had been “spoken to and reminded of his responsibilities around due impartiality”.
In March 2019, whilst reporting at a pro-Brexit protest, Snow said that he had "never seen so many white people in one place". Media regulator Ofcom received 2,644 complaints about Snow's comment; viewers "considered the comment unnecessary". A Channel 4 spokeswoman released a statement stating that it was "an unscripted observation" and that the broadcaster regretted any offence caused. Ofcom investigated whether the comment "broke our rules on offensive content", and ruled in August to clear him over the remarks.

Awards and honours

Snow declined an OBE because he believes working journalists should not take honours from those about whom they report.
In May 2015, Snow accepted a BAFTA Fellowship at the 2015 BAFTA Awards Ceremony.
Snow was also awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Liverpool in 2011,
by Sussex University in 2015 and by Keele University in 2018.

Personal life

In 1979 Snow was briefly engaged to fellow ITN journalist Anna Ford, ITN's first female newsreader on News at Ten. For 35 years his partner was human rights lawyer Madeleine Colvin, by whom he has two daughters. In March 2010 he married Precious Lunga, a Zimbabwe-born scientist.
He was a school governor for many years at Brecknock Primary School, Camden.

Affiliations