Emily Maitlis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Emily Maitlis
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Maitlis in 2010
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| Born | 6 September 1970 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Education | Queens' College, Cambridge (BA) |
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Notable credit(s)
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Mark Gwynne
(m. 2001) |
| Children | 2 |
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Emily Maitlis (born 6 September 1970) is a well-known British journalist. She used to be a main news presenter for the BBC. She was the lead anchor of Newsnight, a news show on BBC Two, until 2021. Now, she hosts a daily podcast called The News Agents on LBC Radio.
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Early Life and Learning
Emily Maitlis was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her parents were British. Her grandmother was a Jewish refugee who escaped Nazi Germany. Emily's father, Peter Maitlis, was a professor of chemistry. Her mother, Marion Maitlis, was a psychotherapist.
Emily grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. She went to King Edward VII School, Sheffield. Later, she studied English at Queens' College, Cambridge. She was the only Newsnight presenter who did not go to a private school.
Emily Maitlis's Career
Starting in Asia
Emily Maitlis first wanted to be a director because she loved drama. But she ended up working in radio. Before becoming a news reporter, she made documentaries. She worked in countries like Cambodia and China.
She spent six years in Hong Kong. She worked for TVB News and NBC Asia. She started as a business reporter, making documentaries. Then she became a presenter. She reported on the economic problems in Asia in 1997. She also covered the return of Hong Kong to China. She worked with Jon Snow for Channel 4.
After that, she moved to Sky News in the UK. She was a business reporter there. In 2001, she joined BBC London News.
Working at the BBC
In 2005, Emily Maitlis was a question-master on a game show. It was called The National Lottery: Come And Have A Go. For ten years, from 2006 to 2016, she was a regular presenter on the BBC News Channel. She worked with Ben Brown and Jon Sopel.
She also presented BBC Breakfast. From 2006 to 2007, she hosted STORYFix on BBC News. This show looked at the week's news in a fun way. In 2012, Maitlis covered the US election on BBC One. She worked with David Dimbleby. They reported on the race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. In 2016, she hosted This Week's World on BBC Two.
Maitlis became a main presenter of Newsnight on BBC Two. She joined the show in 2006. She became the lead anchor after Evan Davis left in 2018. After each show, she would answer emails from viewers. In April 2019, she wrote a book called Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News. It explains how TV news is made.
The interview was shown on Newsnight on 16 November 2019. Because of how Prince Andrew performed, he stepped back from his royal duties. In February 2020, her interview with Prince Andrew won awards. It won Interview of the Year and Scoop of the Year. These were at the 2020 RTS Television Journalism Awards.
Maitlis was a producer for A Very Royal Scandal (2024). This film is about the interview. Another film, Scoop, also came out that year. It was based on a book by Sam McAlister, a former BBC producer.
In 2019, Emily Maitlis was one of the highest-paid BBC news staff. She earned between £260,000 and £264,999. From 2020, Maitlis hosted the BBC podcast Americast. She hosted it with Jon Sopel, the BBC's North America editor. The podcast focused on the 2020 election. It shared analysis and interviews. Americast was very popular. It became one of the most listened-to podcasts in the UK.
After the BBC
On 22 February 2022, Maitlis left the BBC. She signed a deal with Global, which owns LBC. She started a daily podcast and radio show. She worked again with Jon Sopel. At the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival, Maitlis spoke about journalism. She warned against journalists holding back. She said they should not be afraid to challenge critics.
The News Agents is a daily podcast from Global Media. Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall present it. It started on 30 August 2022. The first episode was about Donald Trump. It discussed the FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of presidential documents.
In May 2023, Maitlis was in a Channel 4 documentary. It was called Andrew: The Problem Prince. This show looked at the events leading up to Prince Andrew's famous Newsnight interview in 2019.
In November 2023, Maitlis was named an executive producer for A Very Royal Scandal. In the film, Ruth Wilson plays Maitlis. Michael Sheen plays Prince Andrew.
Maitlis hosted the overnight coverage for two big elections. She covered the 2024 United Kingdom general election. She also covered the 2024 United States elections. She hosted these for Channel 4 with Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
Discussions on Fairness
Sometimes, Emily Maitlis faced questions about being fair. In a Newsnight discussion about Brexit in 2019, a viewer complained. They said Maitlis was "sneering and bullying" towards a writer named Rod Liddle. Maitlis had asked Liddle if he was racist. The BBC Executive Complaints Unit agreed that she had been "persistent and personal." They said she was not "even-handed" in the discussion.
On 27 May 2020, the BBC said Maitlis's introduction to Newsnight was not fair. She had talked about allegations that a government adviser, Dominic Cummings, had broken lockdown rules. The BBC said her comments "did not meet our standards of due impartiality." She did not present Newsnight that night. A report in September 2020 also said her comments were too strong. They said her language "placed the presenter closer to one side of the debate."
In February 2021, Maitlis was criticized again. She shared a tweet that criticized the government. Some people said she was not being impartial. In August 2022, Maitlis spoke about this incident. She said BBC editors first praised her. But after the Prime Minister's office complained, the BBC apologized. They removed the segment from their streaming service.
Personal Life
Emily Maitlis is married to Mark Gwynne. He is an investment manager. They met while working in Hong Kong. They live in Kensington, London. They have two sons.
Maitlis enjoys running. She is also a Celebrity Ambassador for WellChild. This charity helps sick children. She can speak French, Spanish, and Italian very well.
In 2012, Maitlis hosted the World Jewish Relief dinner in London. Her parents are Jewish. However, she has said that she is "not very practising" herself.
Awards and Recognition
In 2012, Emily Maitlis received an honorary doctorate. This was from Sheffield Hallam University. She won Broadcast Journalist of the Year in 2017. This award was from the London Press Club. She also won Network Presenter of the Year. This was at the RTS Television Journalism Awards in 2019 and 2020. In 2020, she received the German Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Award.
