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Chris Mason (journalist)

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Chris Mason
Born
Christopher Richard Mason

(1980-04-21) 21 April 1980 (age 44)
Steeton with Eastburn, West Yorkshire, England
Alma materChrist's College, Cambridge
City, University of London
EmployerBBC
Notable workNewscast
Any Questions?

Christopher Richard Mason (born 21 April 1980)[1][2] is a British journalist who is a political correspondent for BBC News. He is a presenter of the podcast and television programme Newscast (formerly Brexitcast) and the host of the radio programme Any Questions?[3]

Early life

Mason was born on 21 April 1980[1][2] in Airedale Hospital in Steeton with Eastburn, West Yorkshire.[4] He grew up in Grassington, North Yorkshire,[4] and attended Ermysted's Grammar School in Skipton.[4][5] He listened to radio, in particular BBC Radio Lancashire, from an early age and his childhood ambition was to present his own programme.[6] He attended Christ's College, Cambridge, where he studied Geography, before gaining a postgraduate diploma from City, University of London.[4][7]

Career

Mason started his career as a trainee in broadcast journalism at ITN in 2001.[1][4] After a year, he relocated to BBC Newcastle, where he befriended future broadcaster Rob Young,[6] and then to the BBC regional desk at Westminster.[1][4] His first report from Westminster was in 2004.[6] For two years, Mason reported for BBC News as a Europe correspondent,[1][4] followed by a short stint as a political reporter on BBC Radio 5 Live.[4] He then became a political correspondent for BBC News in 2012.[1][4]

On 20 February 2016, Mason broadcast from outside 10 Downing Street as he unsuccessfully attempted to engage ministers arriving for the cabinet meeting called to discuss David Cameron's renegotiation of the UK's European Union membership.[8]

In June 2017, he started presenting the podcast Brexitcast with Adam Fleming and was later joined by Laura Kuenssberg and Katya Adler.[1][4] From 12 September 2019 to 30 January 2020, Brexitcast was also broadcast on BBC One television.[9] Brexitcast was renamed Newscast after the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020. The first edition of Newscast aired on 6 February. It was again renamed The Coronavirus Newscast, also known as Coronacast, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 2018 he presented the BBC Radio 4 documentary Could the PM Have a Brummie Accent?[10]

In November 2018, live on BBC Breakfast, Mason asked "So where are we in all of this Brexit process? To be quite honest, looking at things right now, I haven't got the foggiest idea what is going to happen in the coming weeks. Is the Prime Minister going to get a deal with the EU? Dunno! Is she going to be able to get it through the Commons? Don't know about that, either. I think you might as well get Mr Blobby back on to offer his analysis, because, frankly, I suspect his is now as good as mine." Mason was praised for his honesty after his comments were shared on social media[1][11][12][13] and translated into French in newspaper Le Parisien.[8]

In December 2018 he unveiled a blue plaque honouring the Yorkshire-born journalist W. R. Mitchell (1928–2015).[1][14] A 2018 study of "the Twitter output of 10 seasoned UK political correspondents" found that Mason was a "prolific" tweeter,[15] and had 66,000 followers between month 1 September and 3 October 2018.[15] Mason tweeted about a "diverse and humorous range of interests beyond the political scene", including his native Yorkshire and goldfish named for other journalists.[15]

In March 2019 he presented the BBC Radio 4 documentary The Country vs the City.[5] The following month in April, Mason abandoned a news bulletin on The Andrew Marr Show due to technical difficulties.[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]

In October 2019, the website The Conservative Woman described Mason as "mildly irreverent, self-deprecating and congenial... as well as being an experienced and highly competent political broadcaster".[21]

Mason is an occasional host of BBC Breakfast.[1] Despite previous reports that he might join the new digital station Times Radio, he remains at the BBC.[22]

Personal life

Mason is married. He and his wife have two children[23] and live in London. Mason took parental leave between July and September 2019.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. Retrieved 7 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b 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.
  3. ^ "Chris Mason's Diary: My Any Questions gig, why it's raining harder, and my favourite new word". New Statesman. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Chris Mason – Biography and Images". TV Newsroom. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  5. ^ a b "BBC political correspondent Chris Mason talks about growing up in the Dales in new radio documentary". Craven Herald. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ a b c Seel, Matt (18 October 2019). "Five things you never knew about Chris Mason". BBC. Retrieved 18 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Any Questions? - Chris Mason". BBC.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Brexitcast: Brex, Lies and Barnier Tapes". BBC. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Archive on 4, Could the PM Have a Brummie Accent?". BBC.
  11. ^ 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ Morris, James (13 November 2018). "BBC reporter Chris Mason hailed for refreshing Brexit analysis: 'I haven't got the foggiest idea... ask Mr Blobby'". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  13. ^ "A BBC journalist has perfectly summed up how many people feel about Brexit". The Irish News. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ a b c Jukes, Stephen (2019). "Crossing the Line between News and the Business of News: Exploring Journalists' Use of Twitter" (PDF). Media and Communication. 7 (1): 248–258. doi:10.17645/mac.v7i1.1772. ISSN 2183-2439. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  16. ^ Morris, James (28 April 2019). "BBC technical issues: Moment journalist Chris Mason is forced to abandon news bulletin as 'gremlins' plague Andrew Marr Show". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "Chris Mason: BBC Brexitcaster to be new host of Radio 4's Any Questions?". BBC News. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "The Londoner: Chris Mason lands Any Questions job". London Evening Standard. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ "BBC Radio 4 host Chris Mason: 'Yorkshire accent helped me get Any Questions? job'". The Telegraph. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  20. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Any Questions?, Sian Berry, David Lammy MP, Brandon Lewis MP". BBC. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ Oliver, Gary (11 October 2019). "White man gets BBC job. What went wrong?". The Conservative Woman. Retrieved 18 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ Waterson, Jim (15 February 2020). "Times Radio offering big money in effort to lure BBC presenters". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  23. ^ Luckhurst, Pheobe (7 November 2019). "Chris Mason: There's never been a better time in my lifetime to do this job". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. ^ "BBC News correspondent Chris Mason takes leave". ResponseSource. Retrieved 7 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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