Sue MacGregor

Last updated

Susan Katriona MacGregor CBE (born 30 August 1941) [1] is a BBC Radio 4 broadcaster, best known as a former presenter of Woman's Hour and later the Today programme.

Contents

Early life

MacGregor was born in Oxford. Her parents were Scottish [2] and emigrated to South Africa where she was brought up. Her father was a doctor, a neurologist, who, during the Second World War was in the Royal Army Medical Corps with the British 14th Army in Burma. [3] She attended the Herschel Girls' School, a private boarding school in Cape Town. She completed her private education at the École de commerce in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and at an English college called the House of Citizenship. [2]

Career in broadcasting

For a time in London, she worked as a typist at Australia House, then became a temporary junior secretary at the BBC. This entitled her to an induction course, where she was taught the BBC's method of working. [2]

Returning to South Africa, she began her broadcasting career there on the SABC's English-language radio service. Initially joining the BBC in 1967 as a reporter for The World At One , she hosted Woman's Hour from 1972 until 1987. In 1984, she became one of the hosts of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, a position she held until 2002. [4]

That same year she was appointed a CBE for her services to broadcasting. [5] MacGregor is a trustee of UNICEF and was a trustee of the John Ellerman Foundation. She is also on the Chancellor's Forum for the London Institute and an honorary graduate of several universities, among them the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent and Dundee.

She hosted The Reunion on BBC Radio 4 from 2003 to 2019. [6]

In late 2010, she recorded her final episode as chair of the popular book programme A Good Read , also on BBC Radio 4. [7] After seven years and approximately 500 book reviews, she was the show's longest serving presenter at the time.

Personal life

A friend of Helen Suzman, via her niece Janet Suzman, MacGregor used her local knowledge in BBC broadcasts over many years about the struggle against South Africa's apartheid system [ citation needed ].

Her autobiography, Woman of Today, published in 2002, contained candid revelations and outlined her claimed relationships, including an affair with Leonard Rossiter. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Today</i> (BBC Radio 4) BBC Radio 4s long-running early morning news and current affairs programme

Today, colloquially known as the Today programme, is BBC Radio 4's long-running morning news and current-affairs radio programme. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 09:00, it is produced by BBC News and is the highest-rated programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks. In-depth political interviews and reports are interspersed with regular news bulletins, as well as Thought for the Day. It has been voted the most influential news programme in Britain in setting the political agenda, with an average weekly listening audience around 6 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moira Stuart</span> British newsreader (born 1949)

Moira Clare Ruby Stuart, is a British presenter and broadcaster. She was the first female newsreader of Caribbean heritage to appear on British national television, having worked on BBC News since 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Lawley</span> British broadcaster

Susan Lawley is a retired English television and radio broadcaster. Her main broadcasting background involved television news and current affairs. From 1988 to 2006, Lawley was the presenter of Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4.

Woman's Hour is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Rippon</span> English television presenter (born 1944)

Angela May Rippon is an English broadcaster, former newsreader, writer and journalist.

Judith Rosemary Locke Chalmers is an English retired television presenter who is best known for presenting the travel programme Wish You Were Here...? from 1974 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Bakewell</span> English journalist, television presenter and politician (born 1933)

Joan Dawson Bakewell, Baroness Bakewell, is an English journalist, television presenter and Labour Party peer. Baroness Bakewell is president of Birkbeck, University of London; she is also an author and playwright, and has received a Humanist of the Year award for services to humanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabby Logan</span> Welsh TV/radio presenter and rhythmic gymnast (born 1973)

Gabrielle Nicole Logan is a Welsh television and radio presenter, and a former rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted Final Score for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She has also presented live sports events for the BBC, including a revived episode of Superstars in December 2012 and the London Marathon since 2015. Since 2013, she has co-hosted Sports Personality of the Year for the BBC and she presented the second series of The Edge in 2015.

Fiona Armstrong, Lady MacGregor, is a British television journalist and is Lord Lieutenant of Dumfries. She is also the author of several books and has written for newspapers and made television programmes on Scottish topics including fishing and Scottish clans.

Elizabeth Mary Purves, is a British radio presenter, journalist and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Kearney</span> British-Irish journalist and broadcaster (born 1957)

Martha Catherine Kearney is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme The World at One for 11 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenni Murray</span> English journalist and broadcaster

Dame Jennifer Susan Murray, is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour from 1987 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeinab Badawi</span> Sudanese-British broadcaster (born 1959)

Zeinab Badawi is a Sudanese-British television and radio journalist. She was the first presenter of the ITV Morning News, and co-presented Channel 4 News with Jon Snow from 1989 to 1998 before joining BBC News. Badawi was the presenter of World News Today broadcast on both BBC Four and BBC World News, and Reporters, a weekly showcase of reports from the BBC. In 2021, Badawi was appointed as president of SOAS University of London.

A Good Read is one of BBC Radio 4's longest-running programmes in which two guests join the main presenter to choose and discuss their favourite books.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2003.

Garry Richardson is a British radio presenter. He presented the Sunday morning sports programme Sportsweek on BBC Radio 5 Live until 15 September 2019. He remained a sports presenter on the weekday morning Today show on BBC Radio 4 until 9 September 2024, after 43 years in the role. This coincided with his 50th anniversary at the BBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Barnett</span> British broadcaster and journalist (born 1985)

Emma Barnett is a British broadcaster and journalist who presented Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 from 2021 until 2024.

Sandra Locke "Sandy" Chalmers was a British radio producer and broadcaster, who was editor of Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 in the 1980s.

The Reunion is a radio discussion series presented by Kirsty Wark which reunites a group of people involved in a moment of modern history. It has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 since July 2003, with 163 episodes presented by the first presenter, Sue MacGregor.

References

  1. ↑ "BBC – Radio 4 – Presenter – Sue MacGregor". Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "British Journalism Review". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  3. ↑ Mount, Harry (2 August 2003). "Portrait of a driver". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  4. ↑ "MacGregor bids farewell to Today". BBC News. 27 February 2002. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  5. ↑ "BBC article on her CBE". BBC News. 14 June 2002. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  6. ↑ "Sue MacGregor stands down as host of Radio 4's The Reunion". BBC. 23 October 2019. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "Sue MacGregor steps down from A Good Read". BBC Radio 4 Blog. 3 December 2010. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  8. ↑ Luckhurst, Tim (29 January 2002). "Sue MacGregor: Her public loves her, but the whispers continue". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
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.