Sophie Long

Last updated

Sophie Long
Born
Sophie Rebecca Long

(1976-12-07) 7 December 1976 (age 46)
Torquay, Devon, England
Occupation(s) Journalist, Newsreader
Notable credit(s) Spotlight
BBC News Channel
Spouse
Will Green
​
​
(m. 2010;div. 2012)​

Sophie Rebecca Long (born 7 December 1976) [1] is an English journalist who works for BBC News, mainly appearing as a presenter on the BBC News Channel.

Contents

On 18 March 2013, Long and co-presenter Simon McCoy read the final BBC News bulletin from BBC Television Centre.

Early life

Long was born in Torquay, and in part raised in Weston-super-Mare when her parents moved there. She attended Broadoak School in Weston. She did her A-levels at Weston College's Sixth Form Centre. [2]

After graduating from King's College London with a degree in War Studies, she worked as an election monitor in Cambodia. Long returned to the UK, working for Reuters news agency before moving to ITN as a newsroom assistant in London.

Journalism career

After gaining a BBC scholarship, the first bursary endowed in honour of the late Jill Dando, [3] Long studied for a diploma in broadcast journalism at Falmouth College of Arts. On gaining her qualifications, she worked at BBC Radio Cornwall and as a reporter for Spotlight , [4] before joining the BBC's News Training Scheme, working for BBC Radio Shropshire and BBC Hereford and Worcester.

Long then became a news presenter for Midlands Today breakfast and lunchtime slots, before returning to Plymouth to become a main presenter on Spotlight. [5] Long also presented the South West issue of The Politics Show, before moving to be a stand-in presenter and News Correspondent on the BBC News Channel. She soon gave up reporting to cover Annita McVeigh's maternity leave, presenting between 7 pm and 10 pm on Fridays, and between 7 pm and midnight on Saturdays and Sundays alongside Chris Lowe, as well as occasionally filling in during the week. She became the presenter of the weekend on the 4-7 pm shift on Saturdays and worked as a general relief presenter, particularly on weekday afternoons alongside Jon Sopel and Julian Worricker respectively. From March 2013, Long presented on Monday and Friday mornings until the slots were axed in favour of the new Victoria Derbyshire programme in April 2015. [6] Long now appears as a news correspondent across the BBC, as well as regularly presenting the 8 pm BBC News Summary .

In May 2010, she travelled with Nick Clegg during the general election campaign, and in March 2011 reported live for the BBC News Channel from Central London during the anti-cuts protest march. [7]

On 27 July 2011, she provided reports and coverage from the Olympic Park site, which is home to various venues and stadia for the London 2012 Summer Olympics on the day the UK celebrated the year to go milestone.

In November 2011, Long travelled to the Middle East on a fact finding mission with the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM), visiting campaigning groups in Israel and the West Bank, and meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders. [8]

Shortly before 1 pm on 18 March 2013, Long and co-presenter Simon McCoy read the final BBC News bulletin from BBC Television Centre, with BBC News moving to Broadcasting House in the West End of London for the BBC News at One .

After a stint covering the Far East Sophie is now the BBC News LA Correspondent. [9]

Personal life

Sophie Long married Will Green in June 2010 in Cornwall after dating for many years. [10] The marriage ended two years later. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jill Dando</span> English journalist and television presenter (1961–1999)

Jill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her television work included co-presenting the BBC One programme Crimewatch with Nick Ross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sian Williams</span> Welsh journalist and television presenter

Sian Mary Williams is a Welsh journalist, current affairs presenter best known for her work with the BBC, and psychologist.

<i>BBC East Midlands Today</i> BBC television news programme for the East Midlands

East Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for the East Midlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Raworth</span> English journalist, newsreader and broadcaster

Sophie Jane Raworth is an English journalist, newsreader and broadcaster working for the BBC. She is a senior newsreader and is one of the main presenters of BBC News. She has presented state occasions. She also presents the BBC's Election Night coverage alongside various other presenters.

<i>BBC News at Ten</i> Flagship BBC evening news programme

BBC News at Ten — formerly known as the BBC Ten O'Clock News or the Ten O'Clock News — is the flagship evening news programme for the BBC News channel and British television channel BBC One on weekdays and Sundays at 10:00pm. Huw Edwards is the lead presenter for the bulletin on weekdays. The Sunday edition of the bulletin is presented by Mishal Husain or Clive Myrie. The programme was controversially moved from 9:00pm to 10:00pm on 16 October 2000.

<i>BBC News at Six</i> British TV series or program

The BBC News at Six is the evening news programme bulletin from the BBC. Produced by BBC News, the programme is broadcast on the BBC News channel and on British television channel BBC One on weekdays at 6:00pm. For a long period, the BBC News at Six was the most watched news programme in the UK but since 2006 it has been overtaken by the BBC News at Ten (10:00pm). On average it is watched by four million viewers.

<i>BBC News at One</i> Daily news programme on BBC News

The BBC News at One is the afternoon/lunchtime news bulletin from the BBC. Produced by BBC News, the programme is broadcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel from Monday to Sunday at 1:00pm for 30 minutes, although a shorter bulletin can be broadcast on the weekend. The programme is currently presented by Ben Brown, Jane Hill and Reeta Chakrabarti, Clive Myrie and Sophie Raworth.

<i>BBC Breakfast</i> Breakfast television programme on BBC One and BBC News channels in the United Kingdom

BBC Breakfast is the BBC television breakfast news programme. Produced by BBC News, the programme is broadcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. The simulcast is presented live, originally from the BBC Television Centre, London before moving in 2012 to MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester. The programme is broadcast daily and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items.

<i>BBC Look North</i> (Yorkshire and North Midlands) BBC television news programme

BBC Look North is the BBC's regional television news service for West, South and North Yorkshire and northern parts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The service is produced and broadcast from the BBC Broadcasting Centre at St. Peter's Square in Leeds with district newsrooms based in Bradford, Sheffield and York.

<i>BBC Spotlight</i> (South West) TV series or program

BBC Spotlight is the BBC's regional TV news programme for the South West of England, covering Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, southern and western Somerset, western Dorset and the Channel Islands. There is also a special version of the programme for viewers in the Channel Islands. It launched on 20 April 1961. The main version of the programme broadcasts between 18:30 and 19:00 on weekdays, with shorter bulletins at other times. The programme can be viewed anywhere in the UK on Sky channel 967/968 on the BBC UK regional TV on satellite service. Its main competitors are ITV West Country's main evening programme ITV News West Country in Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, southern and western Somerset and western Dorset; and ITV Channel Television's main evening programme ITV News Channel TV in the Channel Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Sanders</span> Australian television news presenter (born 1960)

Ann Sanders , is an Australian television journalist and news presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon McCoy</span> British journalist

Simon McCoy is a British journalist and former newsreader on BBC News and Sky News and presenter at GB News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veronica Pedrosa</span>

Veronica Pedrosa is a Filipino independent broadcast journalist, news presenter and moderator, based in London.

Maryam Moshiri is a television broadcaster who currently works for the BBC.

<i>BBC News at Five</i> Hour-long daily news programme broadcast at 17:00 on BBC News

The BBC News at Five was an hour-long daily news programme broadcast at 5:00pm on BBC News. The programme was fronted by Huw Edwards, the BBC's lead presenter for major breaking news. The show includes a detailed look at the news, as well as analysis with guests and sport and weather updates.

BBC Weekend News is the BBC's national news programme on BBC One at the weekend and bank holidays, although it is often referred to on guides simply as BBC News. It is called BBC Weekend News on all bulletins, apart from the late bulletin on Sunday where it is named BBC News at Ten.

The BBC News Summary is a news update created by BBC News.

References

  1. ↑ "Meet presenters Sophie Long & Chris Rogers". The Politics Show South West. BBC News. 2 March 2003. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
  2. ↑ Weston College visit
  3. ↑ Sonia McDuff (3 May 2001). "FCA Bursary Winners". Falmouth Navigator. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  4. ↑ "Sophie Long - Biography". Spotlight. BBC South West. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  5. ↑ "BBC Spotlight Late News Bulletin". 2 May 2006. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  6. ↑ "New digital-first TV show for Victoria Derbyshire". 19 January 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "Anti-cuts march: Tens of thousands at London protest". BBC News. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  8. ↑ "BBC anchor on 'bespoke delegation' with BICOM". Liberal Conspiracy. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  9. ↑ "Sophie Long" . Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  10. ↑ Walker, Tim (11 June 2010). "Olivia Inge offers advice on how to be a model" . Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "Husband of newsreader 'devastated' after she dumps him for co-presenter". 27 November 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
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.