Mark McFadden facts for kids
Mark McFadden (born in 1965 in Derry, Northern Ireland) is a well-known journalist and broadcaster. He used to work for ITV News and was a familiar face on UTV, a TV channel in Northern Ireland. For 30 years, he was the main reporter for the North West region on UTV Live, their evening news show.
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About Mark's Early Life
Mark McFadden was born in Derry in 1965. He went to St. Columb's College, a famous school where Nobel Prize winners Seamus Heaney and John Hume also studied. After school, he went to Queen's University in Belfast to study English and French.
Mark's Journalism Journey
Mark started his career in journalism in 1988 at the Derry Journal. This newspaper is one of the oldest English-language newspapers in the world!
For six years, he worked on different types of stories, including news, special features, and sports. He also wrote news and sports reports for big newspapers in London like The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.
Mark's Broadcasting Career
In April 1994, Mark joined the UTV Live team. He became the main reporter for UTV in the North West of Ulster. He mostly covered important news stories, like politics (how the country is run) and big events. He also created many reports for the sports and features sections of the news.
Mark was UTV's main reporter for the entire Bloody Sunday Inquiry. This was a very long and important investigation led by Lord Saville. It looked into the events of Bloody Sunday, a sad day in Derry's history. The inquiry took place in the Guildhall in Derry and in London. It was the longest and most expensive investigation in UK history. Mark was the only TV journalist who reported on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry from when it started in 1998 until its findings were shared in June 2010.
In April 2011, Mark was one of UTV's experts who helped explain Queen Elizabeth II's special visit to the Republic of Ireland. He reported live from Dublin Castle and Croke Park. Mark also presented 12 seasons of a UTV show called "Rare Breed." This show explored Ireland's huge farming industry. The program was even shown on international channels, including Netflix!
Mark was mainly based at UTV's studio in Derry. However, he also reported from different places across Britain and Ireland.
Awards and Achievements
Mark McFadden has won many important journalism awards. These awards were given at local, national, and even international levels. In April 2011, he won two top awards at the New York Festival's World Film & Television Awards. He received the World Gold Medal for his excellent reporting on the Lord Saville inquiry into the Bloody Sunday events. He also won the World Silver Medal for his 2010 UTV documentary called 'Insight: Bloody Justice'. This film looked at Bloody Sunday and the Saville Inquiry.
The 'Bloody Justice' documentary also won the News & Current Affairs Programme of the Year award in 2011. The head judge for the awards said that the film was very powerful and helped him understand Bloody Sunday better.
After winning these awards, Mark became a judge himself for the World Film and TV Awards.
Mark retired from ITV and UTV in April 2024. This marked the end of his 36-year career in media.
