In The News

Former News at Ten presenter passes away

Former News at Ten presenter passes away

THE former News at Ten presenter Sir Alastair Burnet has passed away. He was 84.

Sir Alastair had already had a distinguished career as a print journalist before becoming one of the best known and respected figures in television news.

He was a former editor of The Daily Express and had also been in charge of The Economist magazine before turning to broadcasting. 

He joined independent television’s news service ITN in 1963, first as political editor and then as a newsreader. Among the many news events that he anchored was the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in 1969.

While Sir Alastair was to spend much of his broadcasting career with ITN, he did move to the BBC for a short spell which began in 1973. While there he worked on Panorama.

But he soon returned to ITN where he remained until 1991 when he retired, aged 63.

Among those to pay tribute to Sir Alastair was John Hardie, CEO of ITN.

He said: “ITN stands on the shoulders of giants, none greater than Sir Alastair Burnet.

“He defined newscasting for a generation and his influence is still clearly evident today. Sir Alastair set the bar to a standard that has never been surpassed and perhaps not even equalled. He will be sorely missed by many here at ITN, but his legacy lives on.”

Sir Alastair passed away at a nursing home in London. He had suffered several strokes in recent times.

To view archive footage of Sir Alastair Burnet presenting a News at Ten bulletin, click here.

 

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