Katya Adler

Last updated

Katya Adler
Born
Michal Katya Adler

(1972-05-03) 3 May 1972 (age 51)
London, England
Alma mater University of Bristol
Employer BBC
Notable work Brexitcast
TitleEurope editor of BBC News (2014–present)
Children3

Michal Katya Adler (born 3 May 1972) is a British journalist. She has been the BBC's Europe editor since 2014.

Contents

Early life

Adler was born on 3 May 1972 in Hampstead, north London, to German parents. [1] [2] [3] She attended the independent, fee-paying South Hampstead High School. [4]

While at the University of Bristol, she studied German and Italian [5] and was the president of a political society, and started its magazine. [6]

In late 1995, in a year abroad, she began working for FUNtastic Show [6] [7] on Blue Danube Radio, in Vienna. In the year abroad, she had work placements with Reuters, [6] NBC in Turkey, and at the Rome offices of The Times . [8]

She graduated in 1995. [6] One of her dissertation topics was denazification. [8] [9]

Career

After graduating, Adler initially briefly worked for The Times before moving to Vienna in August 1995 to work for Mondial Congress & Events, [10] a Destination Management Company and professional conference organiser, for International Congresses. [6] [11]

In late 1995, she began working as a correspondent for Austrian national public broadcaster ORF reporting locally and then internationally from Kosovo, Eastern Europe and across Southwest Asia and North Africa. [12]

Adler joined the BBC in Vienna in 1998, reporting on Austrian and Central European affairs. After becoming the BBC's Berlin correspondent for a short period, from 2000 she was based in London for the BBC World Service presenting on European current affairs, and commuting weekly to Berlin to work as a news anchor for Deutsche Welle Television. [12]

From August 2003, she was the BBC Madrid correspondent, travelling around Europe, Southwest Asia and North Africa to cover stories including the deaths of Pope John Paul II and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a Paris hospital. Adler also reported on the Madrid train bombings. [12] She admitted in an interview in 2019 that she had lied about being able to speak Spanish to get the Madrid correspondent job. Adler later learned the language by listening to Spanish political radio and Mexican soap operas. [1]

From December 2006 Adler was the BBC's Middle East correspondent, based in Jerusalem but reporting around the region from Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Libya. During this period she was also an occasional presenter or interviewer on HARDtalk . [13]

Adler has also presented a number of one-hour documentaries, such as Mexico's Drug Wars for BBC2. [14] Her film Spain's Stolen Babies was runner-up for an RTS award in 2012. [15]

At the end of April 2014 she was appointed the BBC's Europe editor, replacing Gavin Hewitt. Her appointment was controversial because her LinkedIn profile stated that for 15 years she had regularly facilitated conferences for a number of clients including one for the European Union. [16] This brought about criticism from Conservative Party MPs, including Andrew Bridgen and Philip Davies. Davies stated: "this cosy relationship between the BBC and the European Commission severely undermines your editorial integrity and ability to report matters in a strictly objective manner." The BBC in written response clarified that Adler had at the time been working freelance for the BBC and a number of other broadcast organisations, and in 19 years had only been paid to chair one EU event in 2005, invited by the UK presidency, not the European Commission. [17]

In early February 2017, the BBC broadcast a documentary by Adler titled After Brexit: the Battle for Europe in which she examined the mounting challenges facing the European Union over the next few years. [18] In June 2017 Adler became one of the four presenters of Brexitcast , a BBC podcast covering Brexit. In September 2019, Brexit Newscast became a regular television broadcast fixture on BBC One, usually following Question Time, as of December 2020. [19]

As of 2019, Adler was paid between £205,000-£209,999, placing her on the list of the highest-paid BBC news and current affairs staff. [20]

Although Adler is predominantly a news journalist, in July 2023, she started presenting the BBC Proms on television. [21] [22] Adler joined newsreaders Clive Myrie and Huw Edwards, plus former newsreader Katie Derham, in the presenting line-up. [23]

In September 2023, Adler presented Living Next Door to Putin; a two-part documentary series that aired on BBC One. [24]

On 30 September 2023, Adler made her presenting debut on the BBC One network bulletins, fronting the evening and late bulletins.

In November 2023, an interview with Adler and French President Emmanuel Macron aired on the BBC News channel. [25]

Criticism of Michael Gove

In September 2020 the BBC partially upheld a complaint against Adler after she sent a series of tweets on 28 April 2020 stating that an "observation" [26] put forward by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove was "delusional". Gove had stated "the COVID crisis, in some respects, should concentrate the minds of EU negotiators". In addition, Adler's analysis also altered Gove's words, changing the term "should" to "will" in her tweets. The BBC Editorial Complaint Unit ruled that although Adler backed up her opinion with detailed evidence and was entitled to state it, her use of the word "delusional" broke the guidelines' licence for "professional judgements, rooted in evidence". [27] [28]

Awards

In July 2017, Adler was awarded an honorary LL.D from Bristol University [8] and an honorary D.Lit from the University of London Institute in Paris. [29]

She was awarded the Charles Wheeler award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism in 2019. [30] She has also been awarded Broadcast Journalist of the Year 2018 at the PSA, Political Studies Association; Broadcast Journalist of the Year 2019 jointly with Laura Kuenssberg by the London Press Club; Listeners Choice Award at British Podcast awards 2019 for the Brexitcast podcast. In 2019 she was listed in the Evening Standard as one of London's most influential people, and by Politico magazine as one of Brussels top 20 most influential women in 2017.

Personal life

Adler is married [19] and has three children. [1]

As well as English, she speaks "Spanish, German, Italian and French", [31] and basic Arabic and Hebrew. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Francois</span> British politician

Mark Gino Francois is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford, since the 2001 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Gove</span> British politician (born 1967)

Michael Andrew Gove is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since October 2022, having previously held both offices from September 2021 to July 2022. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Surrey Heath since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, he has also served in various Cabinet positions under Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. Gove has twice run to become Leader of the Conservative Party, in 2016 and 2019, finishing in third place on both occasions. Apart from a period of just over one year, he has served continuously in the Cabinet since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Maitlis</span> British journalist and documentary filmmaker

Emily Maitlis is a British journalist, documentary filmmaker, and former newsreader for the BBC. She was the lead anchor of the BBC Two news and current affairs programme Newsnight until the end of 2021. She is currently a presenter of the daily podcast The News Agents on LBC Radio.

Robert Adam Fleming is a Scottish journalist and presenter for BBC News. He was formerly its Chief Political correspondent, Brussels correspondent, and has previously worked for Daily Politics and Newsround. He co-presented the podcast and television programme Brexitcast, before becoming lead presenter of its successor, Newscast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Kuenssberg</span> British journalist (born 1976)

Laura Juliet Kuenssberg is a British journalist who presents the BBC's flagship Sunday morning politics show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Jenkyns</span> British politician (born 1974)

Dame Andrea Marie Jenkyns is a British politician serving as Deputy Chairwoman of the European Research Group (ERG) since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vote Leave</span> Organization that campaigned for UK withdrawal from the EU

Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leaving the European Union in the Referendum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premiership of Theresa May</span> Period of the Government of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019

Theresa May's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 13 July 2016 when she accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government after the resignation of her predecessor David Cameron in the aftermath of the European Union (EU) membership referendum, and ended upon her resignation on 24 July 2019. As prime minister, May served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury and as Minister for the Civil Service. May's premiership was dominated by Brexit, terrorist attacks in Westminster, the Manchester Arena and London Bridge, the Grenfell Tower fire, and the Salisbury poisonings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union</span> Bilateral relations

As of January 2021, the United Kingdom's post-Brexit relationship with the European Union and its members is governed by the Brexit withdrawal agreement and the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The latter was negotiated in 2020 and has applied since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Conservative Party leadership election</span> British Conservative Party leadership election

The 2019 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered when Theresa May announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June and as prime minister of the United Kingdom once a successor had been elected. Nominations opened on 10 June; 10 candidates were nominated. The first ballot of members of Parliament (MPs) took place on 13 June, with exhaustive ballots of MPs also taking place on 18, 19 and 20 June, reducing the candidates to two. The general membership of the party elected the leader by postal ballot; the result was announced on 23 July, with Boris Johnson being elected with almost twice as many votes as his opponent Jeremy Hunt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Research Group</span> Eurosceptic faction within UK Conservative Party

The European Research Group (ERG) is a research support group and caucus of Eurosceptic Conservative Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The journalist Sebastian Payne described it in the Financial Times as "the most influential [research group] in recent political history".

Operation Yellowhammer was the codename used by the British HM Treasury for cross-government civil contingency planning for the possibility of Brexit without a withdrawal agreement – a no-deal Brexit. Had the UK and EU failed to conclude such an agreement, the UK's unilateral departure from the EU could have disrupted, for an unknown duration, many aspects of the relationship between the UK and European Union, including financial transfers, movement of people, trade, customs and other regulations. Operation Yellowhammer was intended to mitigate, within the UK, some of the effects of this disruption, and was expected to run for approximately three months. It was developed by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS), a department of the Cabinet Office responsible for emergency planning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Led By Donkeys</span> British anti-Brexit political campaign group

Led By Donkeys is a British political campaign group, established in December 2018 as an anti-Brexit group, but which has also criticised other actions of the Conservative government. Since the group's creation its four founders have been calling out what they call "thermonuclear hypocrisy" and used satire targeted at pro-Brexit politicians. Led By Donkeys' main campaign consists of billboards containing past tweets by pro-Brexit politicians, or quotes presented as tweets. These tweets state the politicians' previous political positions, which according to the group have not stood the test of time.

Alexandra Lesley Phillips is a British journalist and former politician. She served as a Brexit Party member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South East England constituency from 2019 to 2020. She was the second candidate on the party's list for the constituency after party leader Nigel Farage. Phillips was previously head of media at the UK Independence Party (UKIP), which she left in September 2016. She was a GB News presenter between June 2021 and September 2022. In February 2023, Phillips joined Reform UK.

Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. As of 2020, the UK is the only sovereign country to have left the EU. Britain's membership of the EU began on 1 January 1973, when it entered the European Communities (EC), the predecessor to the EU. Following this, Eurosceptic groups formed in the UK, opposing aspects of both the EC and the EU. In January 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a speech at Bloomberg London, in which he called for reform of the EU and promised an in–out referendum on the UK's membership if the Conservative Party won a majority at the 2015 general election. The Conservatives won 330 seats at the election, giving Cameron a majority of 12, and a bill to hold a referendum was introduced to Parliament that month.

<i>Brexitcast</i> BBC podcast

Brexitcast is a British political talkshow and television programme produced by BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC News. It was launched on 5 June 2017 following the success of Electioncast, a podcast that had covered that year's general election. Originally aired on radio, it was announced on 3 June 2019 that Brexitcast had been commissioned as a television programme for BBC One. It was the first BBC podcast to be commissioned for television.

Christopher Richard Mason is an English journalist, who has been the political editor of BBC News since 2022. He is also a presenter of the podcast and television programme Newscast. He was formerly the BBC's political correspondent.

Tessa Szyszkowitz is an Austrian historian, journalist and author.

Newscast is a British daily podcast and weekly television programme produced by BBC News. It takes a look at the day’s main news, political events and talking points. It is the most listened to podcast on BBC Sounds and consistently ranks as the most popular news podcast in the United Kingdom. It is presented by the BBC's former chief political correspondent Adam Fleming with political editor Chris Mason.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wheeler, Caroline; Ramzan, Iram (30 June 2019). "'No more Brexit, Mum,' groan Katya Adler's kids". The Times .(subscription required)
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "The Interview: Katya Adler on how the EU is preparing for Boris Johnson". The Times Sunday Magazine. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  4. ↑ "Culture List for Lockdown". South Hampstead High School . 19 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "Bristol University – School of Modern Languages – 2012: german christmas lecture 2012". bristol.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Katya Adler". Blue Danube Radio . Vienna: Österreichischer Rundfunk. Archived from the original on 27 July 1997. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  7. ↑
  8. 1 2 3 Allinson, Mark (14 July 2017). "Katya Adler, degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa". University of Bristol. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "2022 Alumni Award winner for Arts and Media: Dr Katya Adler (BA 1995, Hon LLD 2017)". Alumni Blog. University of Bristol. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  10. ↑ "Imprint". Mondial GmbH & Co KG. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  11. 1 2 Walker, Harriet (29 May 2019). "There's something about Katya Adler: Brexit's bright star". The Times .(subscription required)
  12. 1 2 3 "Katya Adler bio at BBC". Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  13. ↑ "BBC News – Hardtalk – Brooke Magnanti: Prostitution was empowering". bbc.co.uk.
  14. ↑ "This World, Mexico's Drug War, Mexico's Drug War". BBC Two. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  15. ↑ Winners (30 November 2012). "Television Journalism Awards 2012". Royal Television Society. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  16. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/katyaadler/ [ self-published source ]
  17. ↑ "People diary: the BBC attacked over Europe editor 'bias'". The Telegraph. 24 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "BBC's Europe editor Katya Adler: the EU is flirting with the flames of extinction".
  19. 1 2 "Newscast - Series 1: Brexitcast: 10/12/2020". BBC iPlayer. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  20. ↑ "BBC pay 2020 - full list of salaries and highest-paid stars announced". Radio Times.
  21. ↑ Iorizzo, Ellie (14 May 2023). "Huw Edwards and Katya Adler join BBC Proms 2023 presenting line-up". Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  22. ↑ "The One Show". BBC iPlayer. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  23. ↑ "Who is Katie Derham and when did she start presenting the BBC Proms?". Classical Music. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  24. ↑ "Living Next Door to Putin". bbc.com/mediacentre. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  25. ↑ "President Macron in conversation with Katya Adler". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  26. ↑ @BBCkatyaadler (28 April 2020). "Am not first to comment on this today but below observation by Michael Gove that #coronavirus will focus EU minds o…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ↑ Tobitt, Charlotte (7 September 2020). "BBC Europe editor breached impartiality with tweet declaring Michael Gove's Brexit hopes 'delusional'". Press Gazette.
  28. ↑ "Tweet by Katya Adler, 28 April 2020 | Contact the BBC". www.bbc.co.uk.
  29. ↑ "Graduation Ceremony 2017". Institute in Paris . University of London. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  30. ↑ "Katya Adler Wins 2019 British Journalism Review Charles Wheeler Award". Camri. University of Westminster. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  31. ↑ "Katya Adler". BBC News. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
Media offices
Preceded by Europe Editor: BBC News
2014–present		Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.