Trevor McDonald

Sir Trevor Lawson McDonald OBE (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with ITN.

After working as a print and broadcast journalist in Trinidad, McDonald was employed by BBC Radio as a producer, based in London but still broadcasting to the Caribbean. In 1973, he began his long association with Independent Television News as a general reporter and was also ITN's first black reporter. McDonald was promoted in 1992 as the sole presenter of News at Ten and became a well-known face on British television screens.

He was knighted in 1999 for his services to journalism.

Trevor McDonald was born on 16 August 1939 in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, to Josephine and Lawson McDonald. McDonald is of Dougla heritage, his mother being of African descent and his father being of Indian descent.

After working as a print and broadcast journalist in Trinidad during the 1960s, in 1969, McDonald was employed by BBC Radio as a producer, based in London but still broadcasting to the Caribbean. In 1973, he began his long association with Independent Television News as a general reporter and was also ITN's first black reporter. McDonald later became a sports correspondent, but he ultimately concentrated on international politics. In the 1980s, he spent some time with the ITN-produced Channel 4 News, but returned to ITV in 1989, presenting the early-evening news.

McDonald was promoted in 1992 as the sole presenter of News at Ten and became a well-known face on British television screens. McDonald stayed with ITN when News at Ten was axed in 1999, moving to present the new ITV Evening News. News at Ten was briefly relaunched on 22 January 2001, to which McDonald returned as a presenter. He presented the ITV News at 10.30 following News at Ten' s second axing.

From 1999 to 2007, McDonald hosted ITV's flagship current affairs programme Tonight with Trevor McDonald. The show was revived in 2010 with presenter Julie Etchingham.[10]

McDonald presented his last ITV News bulletin on 15 December 2005.[11] He stepped down from his role as anchor after more than 30 years at ITN, but said he had no plans to retire completely from television.[12] McDonald told his ITN colleagues that he wanted a low-key departure after having observed the departures of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather in the United States.[13] At the end of the final programme, he signed off with the words:

Over the closing titles of the last bulletin that McDonald presented, the November 1992 to March 1999 News at Ten theme was played as a tribute to him.[14]

On 31 October 2007, ITV announced that, early in 2008, McDonald would come out of retirement to present the relaunched News at Ten together with Julie Etchingham.[15]

It was announced on 30 October 2008 that McDonald would step down from News at Ten once the 2008 US presidential election was over, to be replaced by Mark Austin.[16] His last bulletin was on 20 November 2008. It was reported at the time that he would continue to present links for Tonight.[17]

McDonald holds honorary degrees from the University of Plymouth[51] and Liverpool John Moores University.[52] He was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 1999 Birthday Honours for his services to broadcasting and journalism, having previously been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1992 New Year Honours.[53][54] He was awarded with "Special Recognition" at the National Television Awards in 2003[55] and with a BAFTA fellowship at the 2011 British Academy Television Awards.[56]