Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Encyclopedia
Krishnan Guru-Murthy is a British
television presenter
and journalist
employed by Channel 4
. He presents the Channel 4 Evening News
and the foreign affairs programme Unreported World.
in Blackburn, Lancashire
, followed by Hertford College
at the University of Oxford
, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
's DEF II
programme Open to Question in 1988, and later presented the BBC
's children's news programme, Newsround
from 1991 to 1994, starting when he was still at university. After spending three years as a producer and reporter for BBC's Newsnight
he became one of the first presenters of the BBC's then-new rolling news channel, BBC News 24
, in the 12-4 pm slot. During his ten years at the BBC
he also presented the news on BBC World
and took part in various special events such as the 1997 general election and the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
.
He joined Channel 4 in 1998. He has also presented some of Channel 4
's most controversial programmes including The Autopsy
and The Exorcism
, has reported from around the world covering many disasters and conflicts, and has also appeared in a mockumentary about the band Gorillaz
called Charts of Darkness.
He presented "The Operation : Surgery Live" for Channel 4 which featured live heart, brain and abdominal surgery. And also fronted "The Event - How Racist are You?" in which the controversial former American schoolteacher Jane Elliott
performed her "brown eyes, blue eyes" experiment on a group of British adults.
He has presented his own weekly radio programme on LBC 97.3
and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4
as a broadcaster and commentator.
He has appeared as a guest on the comedy
news show on Radio 4 The News Quiz
, and has had cameo appearances in several productions, including regular ones in Bremner, Bird and Fortune
and short cameos in one-off productions such as Shaun of the Dead
and Dead Set
. He also hosted the Channel 4 quiz show, Number One and The National Lottery. He used to write a weekly column in the Metro
newspaper.
He also presents The TV Show on Channel 4, a discussion programme about television. In the month before the 2010 General Election he moderated the first of the big debates featuring the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his counterparts in a special programme called Ask the Chancellors. He also hosted "How to save £100 Billion - Live" the night before the new government's Emergency Budget.
In 2011 Channel 4 announced that Guru-Murthy would become an "ambassador" for its foreign affairs programme Unreported World involving him reporting some documentaries and introducing others from the news studio. His first film was from South Africa called Trouble in the Townships.
He plays in a rock band with Peter Barron
, the former editor of Newsnight and Tim Hincks, the chief creative officer of Endemol UK
.
Guru-Murthy is married with two children. He lives in west London
. His sister is news presenter and journalist Geeta Guru-Murthy.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
television presenter
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
employed by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. He presents the Channel 4 Evening News
Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News is the news division of British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-Channel 4 News:...
and the foreign affairs programme Unreported World.
Education
Guru-Murthy was educated at the independent Queen Elizabeth's Grammar SchoolQueen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Blackburn, Lancashire, founded in 1509 as a boys' school. The term "school" is usually used to collectively refer to the following:...
in Blackburn, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, followed by Hertford College
Hertford College, Oxford
Hertford College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is located in Catte Street, directly opposite the main entrance of the original Bodleian Library. As of 2006, the college had a financial endowment of £52m. There are 612 students , plus various visiting...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Life and career
Guru-Murthy first appeared on the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's DEF II
DEF II
DEF II was a programming strand on BBC Two, which aired at 6pm on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 May 1988 to 23 May 1994, to serve the teenage market. It was produced by Janet Street-Porter, and followed on from her influential youth TV show Network 7, on Channel 4...
programme Open to Question in 1988, and later presented the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's children's news programme, Newsround
Newsround
Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children...
from 1991 to 1994, starting when he was still at university. After spending three years as a producer and reporter for BBC's Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
he became one of the first presenters of the BBC's then-new rolling news channel, BBC News 24
BBC News 24
BBC News is the BBC's 24-hour rolling news television network in the United Kingdom. The channel launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 17:30 as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic television channels, becoming the first competitor to Sky News, which had been running since 1989...
, in the 12-4 pm slot. During his ten years at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
he also presented the news on BBC World
BBC World
BBC World News is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel. It has the largest audience of any BBC channel in the world...
and took part in various special events such as the 1997 general election and the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
.
He joined Channel 4 in 1998. He has also presented some of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's most controversial programmes including The Autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
and The Exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
, has reported from around the world covering many disasters and conflicts, and has also appeared in a mockumentary about the band Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...
called Charts of Darkness.
He presented "The Operation : Surgery Live" for Channel 4 which featured live heart, brain and abdominal surgery. And also fronted "The Event - How Racist are You?" in which the controversial former American schoolteacher Jane Elliott
Jane Elliott
Jane Elliott is an American teacher and anti-racism activist. She created the famous “blue-eyed/brown-eyed” exercise, first done with grade school children in the 1960s, and which later became the basis for her career in diversity training.-Origin of the idea:While there are variations of the...
performed her "brown eyes, blue eyes" experiment on a group of British adults.
He has presented his own weekly radio programme on LBC 97.3
LBC 97.3
LBC 97.3 is a London-based talk and phone-in radio station. It is one half of the latest incarnation of LBC, the news and speech service which was Britain's first commercial radio station when it went on air in October 1973...
and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
as a broadcaster and commentator.
He has appeared as a guest on the comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
news show on Radio 4 The News Quiz
The News Quiz
The News Quiz is a topical panel game broadcast on British radio BBC Radio 4.-History:It was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently it was chaired by Simon Hoggart, Barry Took , and then again by Simon Hoggart until March 2006. Hoggart was replaced by Sandi Toksvig in...
, and has had cameo appearances in several productions, including regular ones in Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner.The show started in 1999. The fourteenth series...
and short cameos in one-off productions such as Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...
and Dead Set
Dead Set (TV series)
Dead Set is a critically acclaimed BAFTA-nominated horror drama created by English writer Charlie Brooker.The series takes place primarily on the set of a fictional season of the real television show Big Brother...
. He also hosted the Channel 4 quiz show, Number One and The National Lottery. He used to write a weekly column in the Metro
Metro (Associated Metro Limited)
Metro is a free daily newspaper in the United Kingdom published by Associated Newspapers Ltd . It is available from Monday to Friday each week on many public transport services across the United Kingdom.-History:The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 14 UK urban centres...
newspaper.
He also presents The TV Show on Channel 4, a discussion programme about television. In the month before the 2010 General Election he moderated the first of the big debates featuring the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his counterparts in a special programme called Ask the Chancellors. He also hosted "How to save £100 Billion - Live" the night before the new government's Emergency Budget.
In 2011 Channel 4 announced that Guru-Murthy would become an "ambassador" for its foreign affairs programme Unreported World involving him reporting some documentaries and introducing others from the news studio. His first film was from South Africa called Trouble in the Townships.
He plays in a rock band with Peter Barron
Peter Barron
Peter Barron is Google's head of public relations for Britain, Ireland and the Benelux countries.Immediately prior to his appointment in 2008 the Belfast-born journalist had for four years been editor of the BBC programme Newsnight.-References:...
, the former editor of Newsnight and Tim Hincks, the chief creative officer of Endemol UK
Endemol UK
Endemol UK plc is one of the largest independent producers in the country. The UK group is part of Endemol, a worldwide network of leading production companies spanning 24 countries....
.
Guru-Murthy is married with two children. He lives in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His sister is news presenter and journalist Geeta Guru-Murthy.