Jo Coburn

Jo Coburn
Born Joanne Coburn
(1968-11-12) 12 November 1968
Education North London Collegiate School for Girls
Alma mater University of Manchester
University of Oxford
Occupation Journalist, presenter, Political correspondent
Notable credit(s) BBC London
BBC Breakfast
BBC News Channel
The World This Weekend
Daily Politics
Children 2

Joanne "Jo" Coburn (born 12 November 1968) is a British journalist and political correspondent for BBC News, previously with special responsibility for BBC Breakfast. She is a former BBC political correspondent for London, who covered the 2000 London Mayoral election. She is an occasional relief presenter on the BBC News Channel and a regular presenter of Daily Politics alongside Andrew Neil and relief presenter on the Sunday Politics. She has presented on BBC Radio 4 in the past and can sometimes be heard on the weekend current affairs programme The World This Weekend.

Early life and education

Coburn was educated at the North London Collegiate School, an independent school for girls in north west London, followed by the University of Manchester, where she studied History and German, and the University of Oxford, where she studied Middle Eastern politics.

Career

Coburn worked for local radio stations in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire,[1] which included Mix 96 Aylesbury, Fox FM Oxford and Star FM in Slough.

After working as a regional correspondent for BBC London for four years, Coburn joined BBC Breakfast in 2001 as a political correspondent. She had first come to prominence when she covered events surrounding the 2000 London Mayoral election, and she went on to cover the 2001 general election. During her time at BBC Breakfast she covered events surrounding the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq war, and returned from maternity leave in 2005 to report on that year's general election. She spent some time presenting on the BBC News Channel and three months as presenter of Radio Four's political events programme The World This Weekend. She also covered the 2007 French presidential election and the European Constitution. In 2008, she was part of press pack during British prime minister Gordon Brown's visits to both Afghanistan and to Beijing for the closing days of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.[2]

Daily Politics

Coburn joined the BBC Two's weekday political programme Daily Politics in 2008, presenting the show alongside Andrew Neil on Thursdays. From January 2010, she took over Anita Anand's role, presenting four days a week while Anand was away on maternity leave.[3] Anand returned to the show in September 2010 meaning Coburn returned to presenting on the programme one day a week, this time on Fridays.

On 5 May 2010, Coburn joined Neil to present the final Daily Politics election debate, The Trust in Politics Debate, before the 2010 general election. The debate featured contributions from Harriet Harman, Sir George Young, Lynne Featherstone and Adam Price. In July 2011 Anand left the programme to present a new show on 5 Live resulting in Jo Coburn becoming a full-time co-presenter from September with Andrew Neil.[4]

Personal life

Coburn is married, has two children and lives in London.[5][6] She is a fluent speaker of German.

References

  1. Jo Coburn at BBC Team. Retrieved 25 April 2014
  2. "Jo Coburn's Daily Politics profile". BBC Online. 4 September 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  3. "Changing faces at the Daily Politics". BBC Online. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  4. "Anita Anand leaves BBC2's Daily Politics for 5 Live role". BBC News (BBC). 12 July 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  5. "Programmes | Breakfast | Reporters | Jo Coburn". BBC News. 31 January 2002. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  6. "Jo Coburn". BBC News. Retrieved 25 January 2012.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.