Anna Botting
Encyclopedia
Anna Elizabeth Botting is a British news anchor with Sky News
, a broadcasting network based in the United Kingdom
. She currently presents Sky News at Ten
, Sky News at Eleven
and Sky Midnight News
from Monday to Thursday. Prior to the channel's rescheduling in July 2006, Botting presented The Sky Report
, and from this time, until February 2007, presented Sky News from 6pm until 8pm alongside Jeremy Thompson
.
, explorer and author, and Louise Botting
CBE, broadcaster and company director. She studied Geography at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, before deciding to pursue a career in journalism
. She took a post-graduate journalism course at Cardiff University
, before starting work in Manchester
as a researcher for a social action show for Granada Television
. In 1991, Botting took up a job with BBC North
as a reporter for Radio and TV. From here she became presenter for the flagship news programme, Look North.
Botting joined Sky News in 1995, meaning that she is now one of the network's longest serving presenters. She has presented a wide range of programmes on Sky, including: Sky News Today
, Sky News at Ten
, Live at Five
, Sky News Tonight
and The Sky Report
.
leader Paddy Ashdown
, day-in day-out, for the whole six weeks of the campaign. Botting was also the first journalist to arrive at Kensington Palace
the day Princess Diana died.
Botting also covered the death of Pope John Paul II, and anchored coverage of the wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq
from the studio. She was presenting on air when Serbia
n leader Slobodan Milosevic
was ousted from office.
In Summer 2006, whilst anchoring from Israel
, Botting interviewed the anti-Israel British member of parliament, George Galloway
about the Israel-Lebanon war. Galloway criticised Sky News
, News Corporation
, and Botting in person for being biased towards Israel.
Botting had worked notably alongside the recently deceased Sky veteran Bob Friend
before her popular partnership with Jeremy Thompson on Live at Five took off.
’s The Other Boat Race. She was one of twelve celebrities and former Oxbridge
students trained and competed in their own version of the world’s most illustrious rowing event. Anna, captaining the Oxford crew, led her team to victory.
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
, a broadcasting network based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. She currently presents Sky News at Ten
Sky News at Ten
Sky News at Ten is a long-running daily news show on Sky News, airing between 10:00pm and 11:00pm . From Monday to Thursday, the show is presented by Anna Botting whilst Friday to Sunday Stephen Dixon fronts the programme.-History:The show was originally launched in 1999 following the move of ITV's...
, Sky News at Eleven
Sky News Tonight
Sky News At Nine and Sky News At Eleven are nightly news programmes broadcast on Sky News in the United Kingdom between 9pm and 10pm, and between 11pm and 12am...
and Sky Midnight News
Sky Midnight News
Sky Midnight News is a live news show that airs every day at 00:00am-00:30 on Sky News and on Sky News HD in the UK.It features a round-up of the news stories & a look ahead to the morning news. It is the only programme of its type in its time slot in the UK. It is regularly presented by Anna...
from Monday to Thursday. Prior to the channel's rescheduling in July 2006, Botting presented The Sky Report
The Sky Report
The Sky Report was a 60-minute newscast shown every weekday evening on Sky News at 7 pm . The programme was hosted by long-standing Sky News presenter Julie Etchingham, and showcased in-depth reports and analysis of the day's top news stories , often devoting significant time to reporting events...
, and from this time, until February 2007, presented Sky News from 6pm until 8pm alongside Jeremy Thompson
Jeremy Thompson
Jeremy Gordon Thompson is a presenter on Sky News, regularly presenting Live at Five weeknights at 5pm.-Broadcasting career:Thompson was educated at King's School Worcester and was a contemporary of Chris Tarrant. Thompson is frequently Sky News' leading anchor on major stories, often presenting...
.
Background
Botting, born in Surrey, is the daughter of Douglas BottingDouglas Botting
Douglas Botting is an English explorer, author, biographer and TV presenter and producer. He wrote biographies of naturalists Gavin Maxwell and Gerald Durrell . He was the inspiration behind and writer of the BBC comedy show The Black Safari, a role reversal comedy show with Africans touring England...
, explorer and author, and Louise Botting
Louise Botting
Elizabeth Louise Botting CBE was presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme between 1977 and 1992. After her broadcasting career, she became one of the first female directors of a FTSE-100 company, through her appointment to the board of CGNU...
CBE, broadcaster and company director. She studied Geography at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, before deciding to pursue a career in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
. She took a post-graduate journalism course at Cardiff University
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
, before starting work in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
as a researcher for a social action show for Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
. In 1991, Botting took up a job with BBC North
BBC North
BBC North is a brand used by the BBC to mean any of the following.*The large BBC North region, centred on Manchester, that was active from the late 1920s until 1968....
as a reporter for Radio and TV. From here she became presenter for the flagship news programme, Look North.
Botting joined Sky News in 1995, meaning that she is now one of the network's longest serving presenters. She has presented a wide range of programmes on Sky, including: Sky News Today
Sky News Today
Sky News Today is a programme on Sky News which currently runs between 10:00am and 1:00pm and is presented by Dermot Murnaghan and Colin Brazier -Overview:...
, Sky News at Ten
Sky News at Ten
Sky News at Ten is a long-running daily news show on Sky News, airing between 10:00pm and 11:00pm . From Monday to Thursday, the show is presented by Anna Botting whilst Friday to Sunday Stephen Dixon fronts the programme.-History:The show was originally launched in 1999 following the move of ITV's...
, Live at Five
Live at Five
Live at Five is a name used by several television stations in some countries to refer to their 5:00pm newscasts or talk shows.* The name was coined by WNBC-TV in New York City in 1980 for a lifestyle and celebrity news show...
, Sky News Tonight
Sky News Tonight
Sky News At Nine and Sky News At Eleven are nightly news programmes broadcast on Sky News in the United Kingdom between 9pm and 10pm, and between 11pm and 12am...
and The Sky Report
The Sky Report
The Sky Report was a 60-minute newscast shown every weekday evening on Sky News at 7 pm . The programme was hosted by long-standing Sky News presenter Julie Etchingham, and showcased in-depth reports and analysis of the day's top news stories , often devoting significant time to reporting events...
.
Career at Sky
Anna Botting joined Sky News in 1995 as a reporter, before moving into the studio to anchor the news. During the 1997 election Botting shadowed Liberal DemocratLiberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
leader Paddy Ashdown
Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC , usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat....
, day-in day-out, for the whole six weeks of the campaign. Botting was also the first journalist to arrive at Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century and is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and...
the day Princess Diana died.
Botting also covered the death of Pope John Paul II, and anchored coverage of the wars in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
from the studio. She was presenting on air when Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n leader Slobodan Milosevic
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
was ousted from office.
In Summer 2006, whilst anchoring from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Botting interviewed the anti-Israel British member of parliament, George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
about the Israel-Lebanon war. Galloway criticised Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
, and Botting in person for being biased towards Israel.
Botting had worked notably alongside the recently deceased Sky veteran Bob Friend
Bob Friend (newscaster)
Bob Friend, MBE was one of the original news anchors for the Sky News channel from its launch in 1989 until his retirement in late 2003....
before her popular partnership with Jeremy Thompson on Live at Five took off.
Personal life
A keen rower during her time at University, Botting took part in BBC ThreeBBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
’s The Other Boat Race. She was one of twelve celebrities and former Oxbridge
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
students trained and competed in their own version of the world’s most illustrious rowing event. Anna, captaining the Oxford crew, led her team to victory.