Newsround

Newsround (stylised as newsround, and originally called John Craven's Newsround before his departure in 1989) is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972. It was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children. Initially commissioned as a short series by BBC Children's Department, who held editorial control, its facilities were provided by BBC News. The programme is aimed at 5 to 17-year-olds.

Newsround
2019–2023 logo
Created by
Presented by
  • Nina Blissett
  • Ricky Boleto
  • Jenny Lawrence
  • De'Graft Mensah
  • Shanequa Paris
  • Hayley Hassall
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production locations
EditorLewis James
Running time5–15 minutes
Release
Original network
Original release4 April 1972 (1972-04-04) –
present
Related

History

Originally known as John Craven's Newsround,[1] it was first presented by John Craven between 4 April 1972 and 22 June 1989. Originally, stand-in presenters, such as Richard Whitmore, came from the main BBC News bulletins.

In 1987, the show was renamed Newsround, and was presented by a rotating team including Craven in the dual role of chief presenter and programme editor. The programme gradually developed its own small reporting team, including Helen Rollason, Lucy Mathen, and long-serving space editor Reg Turnill. Other presenters included Juliet Morris, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Julie Etchingham, Chris Rogers, Kate Gerbeau, Matthew Price and Becky Jago. Regular reporters on the programme, who have also presented it, included Paul Welsh, Lizo Mzimba and Terry Baddoo. Also, for most of its first two decades, Newsround drew upon the BBC's network of national and international correspondents such as John Humphrys, Michael Buerk and Martin Bell.

Newsround was the first British television programme to break the news of the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger on 28 January 1986. This edition was presented by Roger Finn, who had only recently joined the programme. The programme was also first in Britain to report an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in Vatican City in 1981 and provided the first reports from the Windsor Castle fire of November 1992.

In February 2002, Newsround expanded from a sole ten-minute programme on weeknights to through-the-day bulletins seven days a week to tie-in with the launch of the CBBC Channel, and was broadcast across BBC1, BBC2 and the CBBC Channel. With this included a new theme, titles and expanded presenting team. The online and schools' offering were also expanded. In the early 00s Newsround was the most watched programme for children in the UK, and also had the highest AI score (a measure of programme engagement and appreciation) of all CBBC programmes. Following the 9/11 attacks, Newsround launched a guide to help children who were worried by news events. As part of the relocation of the BBC Children's Department, Newsround began broadcasting from new studios at Dock10, MediaCityUK in Salford Quays on Monday 21 November 2011

In July 2020, the 16:00 programme was axed after being on air since 1972. BBC executives concluded that children no longer turn on traditional television channels when they return home from school, and that the focus would shift to Newsround's morning edition often used by teachers in school classrooms, and to more investment in the programme's website.[2] The 7:40am bulletin was moved to 7:45am.

Broadcast times

Every day, Newsround is broadcast on CBBC once a day, with an eight-minute bulletin at around 7:45am. On Saturday morning, it is also broadcast on BBC Two. Like many BBC News TV bulletins, it is available for 24 hours on BBC iPlayer and the Newsround section of the CBBC website.

Presenters and reporters
  • De'Graft Mensah (2019–present)[3]
  • Shanequa Paris (2020–present)[4]
  • Ricky Boleto (2008–present)[5]
  • Hayley Hassall (2009–present)
  • Jenny Lawrence (2013–present)
  • Nina Blissett (2021–present)

Occasional stand-in presenters:

  • Nazia Mogra (2015–2020)
  • Alex Humphreys (2018–present)[6]
  • Otis Holmes (2023–Present)

Former presenters
Year Presenter Tenure
1972–1989John Craven (and Editor)17 years
1976–1980Lucy Mathen (and Reporter)4 years
1979–1985Paul McDowell (and Reporter)6 years
1984Howard Stableford1 year
1985–1991Roger Finn6 years
1987–1990Helen Rollason3 years
1988Terry Baddoo (and Reporter)1 year
1990–1994Juliet Morris4 years
1991–1994Krishnan Guru-Murthy3 years
1991–1992Paul Welsh (and Reporter)1 year
1994–1998Julie Etchingham4 years
1994–1999Chris Rogers5 years
1997–2001Kate Gerbeau4 years
1998–2008Lizo Mzimba10 years
1999–2002Matthew Price (and Reporter)3 years
2001–2003Becky Jago2 years
2001–2008Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes7 years
May 2002 – October 2002 Adam Smyth (and Reporter)[7][8] 6 months
2002–2006Rachel Horne4 years
2002–2008Laura Jones6 years
2002–2009Adam Fleming7 years
2003–2007Thalia Pellegrini4 years
2003–2008Ellie Crisell5 years
2005–2008Jake Humphrey3 years
2006–2011Sonali Shah5 years
2007–2008Helen Skelton1 year
2007–2009Gavin Ramjaun2 years
2008–2009Maddy Savage (journalist)1 year
2009Barney Harwood (Newsround Specials only)1 year
2008–2013Ore Oduba5 years
2009–2013Joe Tidy4 years
2009–2021Leah Boleto12 years
2010–2014Nel Hedayat4 years
2013–2022Martin Dougan8 years
2013–2018Ayshah Tull5 years
2013-2019Gemma Hunt6 years

Editors
  • Edward Barnes (1972)
  • Jill Roach (1976)[9]
  • John Craven (1986–1989)
  • Eric Rowan[10]
  • Nick Heathcote (1990–1996)[11]
  • Susie Staples (1996–1998)[12]
  • Ian Prince (editor twice).
  • Roy Milani[13]
  • Sinead Rocks[14]
  • Owenna Griffiths (2009–)[15]
  • Daniel Clark (−2013)[16]
  • Lewis James (2013–present)[17]
  • Paul Plunkett (2019; parental leave cover for Lewis James)[18]

Spin-offs

Newsround Specials

A variation on the regular format of Newsround is a series of short (typically 15-minute) documentary films, previously broadcast under the title Newsround Extra but now called "specials",[19] which have been a regular feature since the late 1970s. Two or three series of these documentaries air during the year, which replace the regular bulletins on one day of the week (for Extras it was usually Monday, although sometimes on Fridays, particularly during the 1980s).

Newsround Specials in recent years have included:

  • The Wrong Trainers: a series of six animated films dealing with child poverty. The programme won the 2006 Royal award for best children's programme and the 2007 BAFTA children's award for best factual programme.
  • The Worst Thing Ever: a dramatised documentary revolving around a child's experience of their parents' divorce.
  • Newsround on Knives: an animated look at knife crime from a child's point of view. (Bafta nominated)
  • Gone: interviews with four bereaved children. (Bafta nominated)
  • Whose Side Are You On?: a drama on the role of bystanders in tackling bullying, featuring Joe Calzaghe, Aston Merrygold, Patsy Palmer, George Sampson and Gemma Hunt (first shown 16 November 2009)
  • Living with Alcohol: a special about children's experiences with alcohol, presented by Barney Harwood.
  • "Ricky Investigates": a six-part investigative series which began on 28 September 2010
  • A one-off Newsround Investigates documentary on arson in schools was broadcast in May 2006.

The most recent Newsround Specials:

Title About Presenter Date
Caught in the Web A modern-day fairytale exploring the dangers of the internet, combining drama with cautionary real-life tales (BAFTA nominated). Narrated by David Tennant 9 February 2010
Growing Up in a War Zone A special about how the lives of children in Afghanistan are affected by the war, presented by Sonali Shah. Sonali Shah 22 November 2010
Life on the Front Line A special about why British troops are in Afghanistan and what we are doing, presented by Ore Oduba. Ore Oduba 28 February 2011
The Real Tracy Beaker Dani Harmer, who plays Tracy Beaker in the hit CBBC series, presents a Newsround special where she finds out what it's really like to grow up in care. Dani Harmer March 2011
Living with Cancer CBBC actress Dominique Moore takes a personal look at how cancer affects the lives of children and young people. Dominique Moore June 2011
Children of the Drought A special about the impact of the drought to Kenyan children, presented by Ricky Boleto Ricky Boleto 28 July 2011
Behind the Riots A special about the riots, what's been going on and why, presented by Sonali Shah Sonali Shah 12 August 2011
My Autism and Me A special about what it is like to have autism with 13-year-old Rosie King. Rosie King 11 November 2011
Welcome to My World Children from different cultures spend a week in each other's lives, narrated by Leah Boleto Narrated by Leah Boleto 11 November 2011
Behind Closed Doors A special about children's experience with domestic violence, presented by Barney Harwood featuring Alesha Dixon Barney Harwood 19 March 2012
Football and Race A special about if racism still exists in football, presented by Ore Oduba Ore Oduba 17 August 2012
Up And Away 14-year-old Rosie King, who has autism, hears the moving, often inspirational stories of kids who, like her, have made the great leap to big school. Rosie King 7 September 2012
Decision Time USA Ricky travels to the States to meet people from all walks of life to talk about the election, what they think about the candidates, and how they will vote... Ricky Boleto 6 November 2012
My Dyslexic Mind A special about dyslexia, explaining it and what it's like to be a child with it, presented by 12-year-old Ben Ben Hunter 7 January 2013
Hard Times A special about children who are finding it tough in the current economic crisis, presented by Ricky Boleto. Ricky Boleto March 2013
Generation Inspiration? A year on from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, this film explores how far they've got in terms of inspiring a generation of kids to get involved in sport. Barney Harwood/Martin Dougan 25 July 2013
Surviving The Typhoon A special about how children coped after one of the most powerful storms ever hit the Philippines, Typhoon Haiyan, presented by Leah Boleto. Leah Boleto 23 December 2013
Cyberbullying Reporter Ricky Boleto investigates the world of cyberbullying, speaking to young victims and finding out about their experiences. Ricky Boleto 11 February 2014
Children of Kabul – An Uncertain Future Nel Hedayat goes to Afghanistan, the country of her birth, where she meets the child casualties of the war and sees the influence of Western culture. Nel Hedayat 25 March 2014
Frontline Families Newsround meets British families who have been changed by war and hears from children who have dealt with years of separation, disabilities and bereavement. Martin Dougan 26 March 2014
How To Make Friends on Planet Earth Looking at how children make friends, through the story of a lonely alien who disguises herself as a regular schoolgirl and visits Earth 20 November 2014
America vs Food A documentary on the issue of obesity and overeating in America, presented by Ricky Boleto Ricky Boleto 34 March 2015
Being Me A special that explores what UK children think of their body image, featuring popstar Meghan Trainor Milly Innes 31 March 2015
Growing Up Black in America A special on life for black people in America after the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the events surrounding it. Ricky Boleto 2 June 2015
Hiroshima: A Newsround Special A documentary commemorating the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, talking to a survivor and the youth of Japan about what it means to them. Leah Boleto 6 August 2015
Bullying – The Newsround Debate Ricky and Leah talk to children about their experiences of bullying in front of an audience of 100 children. They ask questions about how the problem should be tackled. Ricky and Leah Boleto 19 November 2015
Brothers and Sisters Newsround looks at what it takes to be a brother or sister, by meeting children from all over the world and hearing some incredible stories. 17 February 2016
Is Tech Taking Over? Ricky investigates how important technology is to children, taking some away from a group and then giving another group as much as they want. Ricky Boleto 22 March 2016
Defending the Rhino Ayshah looks at the fight that rhino are facing in South Africa. Ayshah Tull 11 May 2016
Inside My Head: Taking Control of My Anxiety A boy called Josh has a mental health problem, and originally didn't speak to anyone which made life difficult for him. 27 March 2017
Finding My Family – Partition Ricky follows the adventure of three girls to India to find out what happened to their families during Indian Partition 70 years ago. Ricky Boleto 8 August 2017
Finding My Family – Windrush Maya and Levi head back to the Caribbean islands that their granddads left to see where they grew up and why they decided to start new lives in the UK. Narrated by Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE 18 June 2018
Finding My Family – Holocaust Holocaust survivor Steven Frank takes his teenage granddaughter Maggie on a journey to learn about his experiences during the Holocaust. (BAFTA winner) Narrated by Anthony Horowitz 27 January 2019
Anne Frank: A Life in Hiding Nazia explores the story of Anne Frank – a young, Jewish teenager forced to go into hiding with her family during the Holocaust. Nazia Morga 27 January 2019
"Living with the Wall" Hayley finds out what life is like living by the US-Mexico border wall. Hayley Hassall 23 May 2019
"Inside My Head: Taking Control of My Anxiety" 16-year-old Molly sets out on a mission to learn about what she can do to keep her anxiety in check. 6 February 2020
"Thirteen" Newsround special spending a day in the life of six teenagers who each lead very different lives, to try and find out what life is really like at 13. Narrated by Karim Zeroual 17 March 2020
"Australia – Life after the fires" Australia experienced the worst bushfire season ever in 2019–2020 with fires blazing for months in large parts of the country Maeve O'Sullivan 27 April 2020
"Summer Term in Lockdown" After months in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, NR speaks to children about the past term at home 13 July 2020
"Fiji – On The Climate Change Front Line" Martin travels to Fiji to witness first-hand the rising sea levels caused by global warming, and talks with the people living there about how climate change is impacting their lives. Martin Dougan 14 September 2020
"Young, Black and British – Hear Us" A two-part special; three young black teenagers speak out about what life is really like growing up black in the UK. Narrated by Tashaneish Kacheri Robinson 22-23 October 2020
"Let's Talk About Periods" Lauren meets experts, celebrities and children to find out what periods are, people's attitudes towards them and why it's important to open up the conversation. Lauren Layfield 8 March 2021
"Coronavirus and UK Children" One year since the UK first went into lockdown because of coronavirus, a Newsround survey finds out how children across the UK are feeling about life in 2021. Narrated by Shanequa Paris 22 March 2021
"Let's Talk About Sexism" Lauren meets experts, celebrities and children to find out what people think about sexism. Lauren Layfield 4 April 2022

Newsround Showbiz

A light-hearted entertainment news round-up, originally known as Newsround Lite and introduced as part of the CBBC Channel's launch in February 2002. The latter version of the show was hosted by regular Newsround presenters/reporters Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes, Adam Fleming, Rachel Horne and Thalia Pellegrini, and produced by Sinéad Rocks. The programme was axed in 2005.

Sportsround
Main article: Sportsround

A Saturday morning sports magazine show introduced in September 2005 and produced by Sinead Rocks. It was cancelled in December 2010 and replaced by Match of the Day Kickabout, which was cancelled in 2021. In 2010 it was presented by Ore Oduba with reporters Des Clarke and Jon Franks.

Newsround Review of the Year

Until 2006, a half-hour review of the year special was produced for broadcast during the Christmas/New Year period. The last review aired in 2009, and from 2010 – 2019 and 2021–present, the final bulletin of the year was hosted by all presenters who discuss their most memorable news stories.

References
  1. "BBC Two – The John Craven Years – John Craven". BBC. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  2. "BBC axes evening edition of Newsround after 48 years". The Guardian. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  3. "De'Graft Mensah: How my Ghanaian heritage shaped me". BBC Bitesize.
  4. "Newsround: Meet our new presenter Shanequa – CBBC Newsround". Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. "All about Ricky". BBC Newsround. 20 June 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  6. "Alex Humphreys (@allyhumphreys) | Twitter" – via Twitter.
  7. Smyth, Adam. "Adam Smyth – Editor Digital News/Radio Current Affairs – BBC Northern Ireland|LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  8. "CBBC Newsround | PRESENTERS | All about Adam S". BBC. 11 June 2002. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  9. "Newsround Extra (1983)". BFI. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019.
  10. "Newsround Extra". 6 February 1987. p. 69 – via BBC Genome.
  11. Gazette, Press (22 June 2005). "Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Nick Heathcote". Press Gazette. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  12. "Children's BBC". 17 April 1989. p. 57 – via BBC Genome.
  13. "What Do Children Want from the BBC?" (PDF). The Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  14. "BBC Blogs – About the BBC – Sinead Rocks". BBC. 4 September 2018.
  15. "BBC – Press Office – Owenna Griffiths appointed Editor of CBBC's Newsround". BBC.
  16. "BBC – Up And Away: A Newsround Special – Media Centre". BBC.
  17. "BBC Blogs – About the BBC – Lewis James". BBC. 5 August 2015.
  18. "Paul Plunkett". LinkedIn.
  19. "Newsround Special Films". BBC. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
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