Latest news with #ReetaChakrabarti
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Reeta Chakrabarti: ‘Fact-based journalism is under threat'
Born in Ealing, Reeta Chakrabarti was sent to India as a teenager to study – the opposite of many multicultural families growing up in the 1970s. She returned in her late teens to study at Oxford University, before working at the BBC as a news journalist and presenter. Over the last three decades she has reported on major news stories including the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the killing of Damilola Taylor, the European migrant and Rohingya crises, and the Covid pandemic. Today she is a patron of Pan Intercultural Arts, an organisation that promotes marginalised youths to unlock their creative potential, and has just published her first novel. My parents came to the UK in 1960 when the NHS wanted doctors from the Commonwealth. My father had qualified as a doctor in India. We lived in Yorkshire and moved to Birmingham when I was five. When I was three, my parents took me to London to see the Christmas lights. I remember the Coca-Cola sign at Piccadilly Circus and all the lights on Regent Street, it's a vivid memory in my mind. I remember being cold, but cosy, happy and mesmerised by the lights. I love having a foot in two different worlds with two different identities. I always think of myself as a great traveller. I travelled to India for the first time when I was five, we went back repeatedly when I was a child, and I lived there in my teens. But I am British. I was born here, I was brought up here, I sound British, my horizons are British. And yet I also feel very Indian, I feel both and I feel enriched by it. One of my bosses, who was very nice, quite pastoral, said, 'Reeta, when you go into the studio as a presenter, you want to be exactly the person that you are outside the studio.' And he was right. I talk to younger women, and I encourage them to be themselves, but also to be bold. I think women tend to be modest or feel they must be careful. I urge them to go for it, even if they are terrified inside. I tell them to say yes and work hard. That's the thing about journalism, you learn on the job, and you won't learn if you don't take risks. If I were trying to step back, I would say the greatest thing about the UK is its sense of fairness, balance and justice, keeping things in proportion. Although there are times when this country has a spasm of ugliness, by and large, people are fair-minded. I value that hugely. The best bit of India? Its sheer diversity: it's not really a country, it's a continent made up of many states, all with their own languages and histories. It's hard not to sound clichéd about India, but it is an extraordinary place where the ultra-modern sits next to the ancient and they coexist. I'm not minimising other news, but Stephen Lawrence was my first big story, and the most formative. Stephen was murdered in 1993 and in 1997 there was a public inquiry into his death after a bungled police operation. I reported extensively on the inquest and public inquiry. It shook the nation, prompting a huge amount of soul searching for people who believed that justice is done in this country. In this case, justice was not done, the inquiry found assumptions made about Stephen, his friend and his family, because they were black. I've got three children, all grown up and I'm constantly amazed that two people can produce three such different individuals. I think that's the best thing, they share the same outlook and values, they come from the same family. But as personalities, each one is so distinctively themselves. And I love that. I went to India and Pakistan for the 70th anniversary of independence in 2017. We broadcast from Lahore outside the main mosque and then we hot-footed it over the border by land to broadcast from Amritsar at the Golden Temple. It was such a thrill to be doing Pakistan one day and India the next. I've reported murders, wars, a pandemic, but these broadcasts were celebrations, and I remember them with fondness. I have an abiding horror of boiled milk! We would go to India quite a lot when I was a kid and back then nobody believed in pasteurisation. So, we'd always boil milk, and the bits of skin would sit on top. I'd be crouched over a mug of Bournvita for two hours – it's a childhood scar that has never left me. I cannot abide boiled milk or custard with skin. Oh, I wanted the floor to open and swallow me up when this one happened. I was in the BBC canteen and there was a very nice woman who worked there, and I asked her when her baby was due and she said: 'Oh, I had it five months ago'. I didn't go back for a long time, I was mortified. I can name no names, but the worst person was a politician who is presently in the House of Lords, they were an absolute bore and bully. We had to move furniture around for the interview, and then obviously you replace things once you've finished. They had said 'that's fine', then came back and started shouting about why had we moved the furniture, what a disgrace and how terrible the BBC is. As soon as the camera was on, they were sweet as pie. I really went off that person. I've done a lot of social stories about poverty and deprivation, when I go to places in the UK or Europe which have been left behind, where people have much less money than elsewhere. It is unjust. I feel strongly that there is no reason why in relatively prosperous countries, these things happen. It is often deprived inner-city areas or where there used to be heavy industry but there's been nothing to replace it. And young people, if they can, have left. It was at the end of a party conference many years ago. I was live and I could see the cameraman's eyes darting around behind me. I thought, something's going on, but I can't turn around because I'm live. Then all of a sudden, this man interposes himself between me and the camera, holding up a big sheet with something enormously libellous on it. I took him by the shoulders and shoved him to one side and put on my most school ma'am-ish voice and said, 'excuse me, I'm trying to broadcast'. Our very fact-based journalism, which I have done for 30 years, is under threat from opinion posing as fact. I fear misinformation, disinformation and sinister actors and people not being able to tell the difference. These things are sophisticated. I think we need to become savvier – a more news and fact-literate society. I'm not just talking about our country, I'm talking globally. Reeta Chakrabarti will be at the Bath Literature Festival, May 17-25, celebrating the launch of her first novel, Finding Belle (Harper Fiction, £16.99), pre-order from Telegraph Books Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Telegraph
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Reeta Chakrabarti: ‘Fact-based journalism is under threat'
Born in Ealing, Reeta Chakrabarti was sent to India as a teenager to study – the opposite of many multicultural families growing up in the 1970s. She returned in her late teens to study at Oxford University, before working at the BBC as a news journalist and presenter. Over the last three decades she has reported on major news stories including the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the killing of Damilola Taylor, the European migrant and Rohingya crises, and the Covid pandemic. Today she is a patron of Pan Intercultural Arts, an organisation that promotes marginalised youths to unlock their creative potential, and has just published her first novel. Best childhood memory? My parents came to the UK in 1960 when the NHS wanted doctors from the Commonwealth. My father had qualified as a doctor in India. We lived in Yorkshire and moved to Birmingham when I was five. When I was three, my parents took me to London to see the Christmas lights. I remember the Coca-Cola sign at Piccadilly Circus and all the lights on Regent Street, it's a vivid memory in my mind. I remember being cold, but cosy, happy and mesmerised by the lights. Best thing about a multicultural heritage? I love having a foot in two different worlds with two different identities. I always think of myself as a great traveller. I travelled to India for the first time when I was five, we went back repeatedly when I was a child, and I lived there in my teens. But I am British. I was born here, I was brought up here, I sound British, my horizons are British. And yet I also feel very Indian, I feel both and I feel enriched by it. Best advice you received working in news? One of my bosses, who was very nice, quite pastoral, said, 'Reeta, when you go into the studio as a presenter, you want to be exactly the person that you are outside the studio.' And he was right. I talk to younger women, and I encourage them to be themselves, but also to be bold. I think women tend to be modest or feel they must be careful. I urge them to go for it, even if they are terrified inside. I tell them to say yes and work hard. That's the thing about journalism, you learn on the job, and you won't learn if you don't take risks. Best thing about the UK and best thing about India? If I were trying to step back, I would say the greatest thing about the UK is its sense of fairness, balance and justice, keeping things in proportion. Although there are times when this country has a spasm of ugliness, by and large, people are fair-minded. I value that hugely. The best bit of India? Its sheer diversity: it's not really a country, it's a continent made up of many states, all with their own languages and histories. It's hard not to sound clichéd about India, but it is an extraordinary place where the ultra-modern sits next to the ancient and they coexist. Best moment of your career? I'm not minimising other news, but Stephen Lawrence was my first big story, and the most formative. Stephen was murdered in 1993 and in 1997 there was a public inquiry into his death after a bungled police operation. I reported extensively on the inquest and public inquiry. It shook the nation, prompting a huge amount of soul searching for people who believed that justice is done in this country. In this case, justice was not done, the inquiry found assumptions made about Stephen, his friend and his family, because they were black. Best thing about being a mother? I've got three children, all grown up and I'm constantly amazed that two people can produce three such different individuals. I think that's the best thing, they share the same outlook and values, they come from the same family. But as personalities, each one is so distinctively themselves. And I love that. Best live broadcasting moment? I went to India and Pakistan for the 70th anniversary of independence in 2017. We broadcast from Lahore outside the main mosque and then we hot-footed it over the border by land to broadcast from Amritsar at the Golden Temple. It was such a thrill to be doing Pakistan one day and India the next. I've reported murders, wars, a pandemic, but these broadcasts were celebrations, and I remember them with fondness. Worst childhood memory? I have an abiding horror of boiled milk! We would go to India quite a lot when I was a kid and back then nobody believed in pasteurisation. So, we'd always boil milk, and the bits of skin would sit on top. I'd be crouched over a mug of Bournvita for two hours – it's a childhood scar that has never left me. I cannot abide boiled milk or custard with skin. Worst mistake? Oh, I wanted the floor to open and swallow me up when this one happened. I was in the BBC canteen and there was a very nice woman who worked there, and I asked her when her baby was due and she said: 'Oh, I had it five months ago'. I didn't go back for a long time, I was mortified. Worst person you've interviewed? I can name no names, but the worst person was a politician who is presently in the House of Lords, they were an absolute bore and bully. We had to move furniture around for the interview, and then obviously you replace things once you've finished. They had said 'that's fine', then came back and started shouting about why had we moved the furniture, what a disgrace and how terrible the BBC is. As soon as the camera was on, they were sweet as pie. I really went off that person. Worst place you've visited? I've done a lot of social stories about poverty and deprivation, when I go to places in the UK or Europe which have been left behind, where people have much less money than elsewhere. It is unjust. I feel strongly that there is no reason why in relatively prosperous countries, these things happen. It is often deprived inner-city areas or where there used to be heavy industry but there's been nothing to replace it. And young people, if they can, have left. Worst live broadcasting moment? It was at the end of a party conference many years ago. I was live and I could see the cameraman's eyes darting around behind me. I thought, something's going on, but I can't turn around because I'm live. Then all of a sudden, this man interposes himself between me and the camera, holding up a big sheet with something enormously libellous on it. I took him by the shoulders and shoved him to one side and put on my most school ma'am-ish voice and said, 'excuse me, I'm trying to broadcast'. Worst fear for news? Our very fact-based journalism, which I have done for 30 years, is under threat from opinion posing as fact. I fear misinformation, disinformation and sinister actors and people not being able to tell the difference. These things are sophisticated. I think we need to become savvier – a more news and fact-literate society. I'm not just talking about our country, I'm talking globally. Reeta Chakrabarti will be at the Bath Literature Festival, May 17-25, celebrating the launch of her first novel, Finding Belle (Harper Fiction, £16.99), pre-order from Telegraph Books
Wales Online
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Saturday TV schedule shake-up as Saturday Kitchen bumped
Saturday TV schedule shake-up as Saturday Kitchen bumped The BBC has confirmed they will be making some changes to the channel's usual Saturday morning shows due to a big event This weekend's TV schedule will undergo changes due to a significant event, and that means that Saturday Kitchen has unfortunately been bumped. (Image: Saturday Kitchen/ BBC ) This weekend's TV schedule will undergo changes due to a significant event, and that means that Saturday Kitchen has unfortunately been bumped. The BBC has announced that on Saturday morning, April 26 it will broadcast the funeral of Pope Francis from St Peter's Square in Vatican City with coverage presented by journalist Reeta Chakrabarti. The Funeral of Pope Francis will be shown on BBC One Wales from 8.30am, immediately following the Breakfast show, and is expected to last three hours and 59 minutes. As a result, the usual Saturday morning line-up on the channel will be altered, including everyone's favourite day time cooking shows. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter Article continues below The reshuffle means that Saturday Kitchen, typically starting at 10am, Mary Berry - Love to Cook, usually airing at 11.30am, and Football Focus, normally broadcast at 12pm, will be moved from their regular slots on BBC One. However, fans of the shows can still catch these programmes at their usual times on BBC Two. After the coverage of The Funeral of Pope Francis, the BBC Weekend News will be aired slightly earlier than usual at 12.30pm, followed by BBC Weather at 12.40pm, London Marathon 2025: My Reason to Run at 12.45pm and then the Snooker World Championship at 1.15pm. The schedules for ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C will remain unchanged for the day. These announcement comes after the sad news of Pope Francis' death on Easter Monday, April 21. Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced his passing in a statement released by the Vatican. The Pope, who was 88, had been suffering from declining health, including complications from pneumonia, a lung infection, and early signs of kidney failure. Despite his health issues, he remained committed to his pastoral duties, even attending Mass from his hospital bed in recent weeks. Pope Francis requested that he be buried at St Mary Major rather than in the crypt of St Peter's Basilica, thus making him the first pope not to be buried in St Peter's for more than a century. Pope Francis has died at 88 with his funeral taking place on Saturday, April 26 (Image: AP ) Thousands have journeyed to Vatican City to pay their respects to Pope Francis, with notable figures such as Prince William, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia attending the funeral. According to Kensington Palace, the Prince of Wales will represent King Charles at the Vatican service this weekend on behalf of his father, King Charles III. BBC One Wales will broadcast The Funeral of Pope Francis at 8.30am on the morning of Saturday, April 26. Article continues below
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Changes to BBC One schedule for funeral of Pope Francis
A BBC News Special for the funeral of Pope Francis has been added to the BBC One schedule for Saturday 26 April. Coverage of The Funeral of Pope Francis, from St Peter's Square in Vatican City, will begin at 8.30am on BBC One, BBC News and BBC iPlayer. It will be presented by Reeta Chakrabarti. Programmes including Saturday Kitchen Live (10am), Mary Berry: Love to Cook (11.30am), and Football Focus (12pm), will be shown on BBC Two. The BBC News and Weather, London Marathon: My Reason to Run and Snooker World Championship will all air slightly earlier than originally billed on BBC One after coverage of the funeral. BBC One schedule on Saturday 26 April 6am - Breakfast 8.30am - The Funeral of Pope Francis 12.30pm - BBC News and Weather 12.45pm - London Marathon: My Reason to Run 1.15pm - Snooker World Championship 4.25pm - BBC News View the BBC One schedule in full
Wales Online
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Weekend TV schedule shake-up as shows pulled for huge event
Weekend TV schedule shake-up as shows pulled for huge event BBC has confirmed they will be covering the funeral of Pope Francis, from St Peter's Square in Vatican City, with journalist and broadcaster Reeta Chakrabarti presenting Saturday Kitchen, presented by Matt Tebbutt, will be pulled from its usual schedule on BBC One Wales Saturday, April 26, but it will return to its usual time slot on the channel on Saturday, May 3 (Image: BBC ) This weekend TV schedule will be changed and shows pulled for a major event. The BBC has confirmed they will be covering the funeral of Pope Francis, from St Peter's Square in Vatican City, with journalist and broadcaster Reeta Chakrabarti presenting. The funeral and its airing will take place on Saturday morning, April 26. The Funeral of Pope Francis will be aired on BBC One Wales from 8.30am, straight after Breakfast show and is expected to be three hours and 59 minutes long. This means that the channel's usual schedule for Saturday mornings will be changed. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter . Article continues below The shake-up will see Saturday Kitchen, which usually starts at 10am, Mary Berry - Love to Cook, which usually comes straight after at 11.30am, and Football Focus, which usually airs at 12pm, pulled from their usual slot on BBC One. But, viewers will still be able to watch these programmes in their usual time slots on BBC Two. Following the coverage of The Funeral of Pope Francis, BBC will be showing BBC Weekend News a little earlier than usual at 12.30pm, followed by BBC Weather at 12.40pm, London Marathon 2025: My Reason to Run at 12.45pm and then Snooker World Championship at 1.15pm. Pope Francis has died at 88 with his funeral taking place on Saturday, April 26 (Image: AP ) ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C's schedule will remain the same for this day. For the following Saturday, May 3, BBC One's schedule will be showing its usual time slot for the Breakfast show, starting at 6am, Saturday Kitchen at 10am, Mary Berry - Love to Cook at 11.30am, Football Focus at midday, BBC Weekend News at 1pm, BBC Weather at 1.10pm, Bargain Hunt at 1.15pm and Snooker: World Championship at 2pm. The change in schedule comes after it was confirmed that Pope Francis had died on Easter Monday, April 21. He passed away at the age of 88 following a period of declining health, including complications from pneumonia, a lung infection, and early signs of kidney failure. Despite his health struggles, he remained dedicated to his pastoral duties, even attending Mass from his hospital bed in recent weeks. His death was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell in a statement released by the Vatican. Thousands have travelled to Vatican City to pay their respect to Pope Francis, with Prince William, French President Emmanuel Macron and Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia attending the funeral. The Funeral of Pope Francis will be shown on BBC One Wales at 8.30am on Saturday morning, April 26. Article continues below
