Former BBC news correspondent and leading journalist, Kate Adie, will be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Society of Editors’ 20th Anniversary Conference in November.
Kate Adie’s career as BBC Chief News Correspondent covered the most important dispatches of the age, including both Gulf Wars and coverage throughout the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, as well as the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement.
Her most memorable broadcasts include her overseas assignments from the Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing in 1989 and the final NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999.
She has served as Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent for many years, alongside writing several books – one of which documented her life as a female war correspondent.
Receiving a BAFTA Fellowship and CBE last year, Adie’s ground-breaking news reporting has garnered recognition across the world as her contribution to journalism continues to be valued.
It is expected that Adie, who was appointed Chancellor of Bournemouth University in January, will address conference members at the Gala dinner on the evening of November 12 when she will receive her award.
Ian Murray, executive director of the Society of Editors commented: “Kate Adie is one of the most influential journalists of our age. Her record speaks for itself and her dedication to our profession and the high standards the public demands of it is legendary.
“I’m delighted that the Society is able to recognise Kate’s achievements and her on-going commitment to our profession with a Lifetime Achievement Award.”
The Anniversary Conference has already secured a line-up of key industry figures including the UK’s Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham and national newspaper editors James Harding (Tortoise), Ted Verity (The Mail on Sunday), Alison Phillips (Daily Mirror) and Chris Evans (The Telegraph).
A panel scrutinising the survival of investigative journalism has also been announced with Claire Newell (Daily Telegraph), Paul Henderson (Daily Mirror), Jane Bradley (BuzzFeed) and Tom Bristow (Archant Investigations Unit).
More details of the conference programme and speakers are soon to be announced.
Kate Adie’s career . . .
Kate grew up in Sunderland and gained her BA from Newcastle University where she read Swedish.
She became a familiar figure through her work as BBC Chief News Correspondent. She is considered to be among the most reliable reporters, as well as one of the first British women, sending despatches from danger zones around the world. Kate is also the long-serving presenter of Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent and a presenter or contributor to many other radio and television programmes.
As a television news correspondent, Kate’s memorable assignments include both Gulf Wars, four years of war in the Balkans, the final NATO intervention in Kosovo and elections in 2000; the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster at Zeebrugge, the massacre at Dunblane, the Selby rail crash, the SAS lifting of the Iran Embassy Siege in London, the Bologna railway station bombing and the Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing in 1989.
Kate carried out numerous assignments in Northern Ireland throughout “The Troubles” as well as reporting on the referendum to ratify the Good Friday Agreement.
Kate covered the Lockerbie bombing and reported from Libya after the London Embassy siege of 1984, reporting from Libya many times thereafter, including the bombing of Tripoli by the US in 1986. She also covered the Rwandan Genocide and the British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War.
She has served as a judge for the Orange Prize for Fiction, now the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and the Whitbread, now the Costa Prize, and recently, the RSL Ondaatje Prize.
Kate has also served as a trustee of the Imperial War Museum and is a trustee of Sunderland Football Foundation.
Kate has honorary degrees from universities including Newcastle, Bath, Nottingham, Cardiff and St Andrews and is Honorary Professor of Journalism at Sunderland University.
Kate was honoured with a Bafta Fellowship in 2018.
Other awards include:
Royal Television Society Reporter of the Year 1980, for her coverage of the SAS end to the Iranian Embassy siege.
Winner, 1981 & 1990, Monte Carlo International Golden Nymph Award.
The Richard Dimbleby BAFTA Award 1990.
Kate received a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2018.
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