British journalist
Gary O'Donoghue
is a British
journalist
, currently working for
BBC News
in
Washington, D.C.
as one of their North America political correspondents. He is one of the most prominent blind correspondents in British media.
Early life
[
edit
]
Gary O'Donoghue was born in 1969.
[
citation needed
]
His father was a semi-professional
football
player who also worked as a
taxi
driver, and his mother taught
ballroom dancing
. O'Donoghue was born partially sighted, but went totally
blind
by the time he was eight.
[1]
He was educated at
Worcester College for the Blind
(then a boys'
boarding school
though it has since merged with the similar girls' school),
[2]
where he played
blind football
for England. O'Donoghue then attended
Christ Church
at
Oxford University
, where he read philosophy and modern languages.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
O'Donoghue undertook work experience at the BBC.
[3]
He then joined the BBC on graduation from university, becoming a junior reporter on
BBC Radio 4
's
Today
programme; at one time, he was asked to
bungee jump
off
Chelsea Bridge
.
[1]
During his career, he has covered stories for
BBC News
in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2004, O'Donoghue became a
political
correspondent based at
Westminster
, reporting across the media of
radio
,
television
, and
internet
.
[1]
From October 2011, O'Donoghue was the Chief Political Correspondent for
BBC Radio 4
replacing
Norman Smith
, primarily reporting for the
Today
and
PM
programmes.
In 2007, he broke the story that new
UK Prime Minister
Gordon Brown
was returning early from holiday to deal with an outbreak of
foot-and-mouth disease
in
Surrey
. However,
BBC News at Ten
deputy editor Daniel Pearl handed the story to June Kelly, which, in 2008, resulted in an out-of-court five-figure payment to O'Donoghue on grounds of
disability discrimination
.
[4]
At the 2014 BBC News Festival, it was revealed that O'Donoghue would be moving to
Washington, D.C.
, as chief North America political correspondent for BBC News. Since then he has covered US politics, the
presidency of Donald Trump
and the
presidency of Joe Biden
. Between assignments, in summer 2014 he toured UK universities, telling journalism students about his time in the business.
[5]
Personal life
[
edit
]
O'Donoghue and his partner, Sarah Lewthwaite, have a home in
Yorkshire
, and one daughter.
[1]
[2]
[6]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media offices
|
Preceded by
|
Chief Political Correspondent:
BBC Radio 4
2011?2012
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Chief Political Correspondent:
BBC Radio 4
2012?2014 present
|
Succeeded by
Incumbent
|
Preceded by
New Post
|
Chief North American Political Correspondent:
BBC News
2014?present
|
Succeeded by
Incumbent
|