Jackie Bird

Jacqueline Bird (née Macpherson, born 31 July 1962)[1] is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster, best known as a former anchor of the BBC Scotland's national news programme Reporting Scotland until April 2019. Since 2022, she has been serving as the president of the National Trust for Scotland.[2]

Jackie Bird
Born
Jacqueline Macpherson

(1962-07-31) 31 July 1962
Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Occupation(s)Journalist and broadcaster
Years active1980 - present
Spouses
​
(div. 2006)​
    Robin Weir
    ​
    (m. 2007)​
    Children
    • Claudia
    • Jacob

    Early life

    Jacqueline Macpherson was born on 31 July 1962 in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, the daughter of Linda and Ronnie Macpherson.[3] Bird attended Earnock High School in Hamilton.[4]

    Career

    Bird was 17 when she started work for DC Thomson in Dundee working on teenage magazines and eventually became the pop editor at Jackie magazine.[5][6][7] Subsequently, she worked as a broadcast journalist on Radio Clyde's news team and then as a food critic for the Glasgow Evening Times.[8] After working as a reporter for The Sun newspaper, Bird joined Television South in Maidstone as a reporter and presenter for the South East edition of regional news programme Coast to Coast.[9]

    Bird left TVS to join BBC Scotland, making her debut as a main presenter of Reporting Scotland on Monday 16 October 1989. She has also been a main presenter of key event programming for BBC Scotland, including Hogmanay Live and the Scottish Children in Need opt-outs.

    Bird is also a newspaper columnist and has written and produced comedy series The Lewis Lectures and Having it All for BBC Radio Scotland.

    On 13 June 2012, she was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D Litt) in a graduation ceremony at the University of Glasgow.[10]

    In October 2014, Bird celebrated 25 years of working on Reporting Scotland, as the programme's longest serving presenter.[11]

    On 11 April 2019, BBC Scotland announced Bird had left Reporting Scotland after nearly 30 years as a main presenter to concentrate on other projects. Bird presented her final programme the previous evening, without announcing her departure.[12]

    Other work

    Bird has also toured with Echo & the Bunnymen and worked with Paul Weller.[13]

    In November 2016, she appeared as herself in the episode, "Down and Out" in series 7 of Scottish sitcom Still Game.[14] In 2018, Bird made a brief cameo appearance in the zombie Christmas musical film Anna and the Apocalypse.

    Personal life

    Bird met Bob Bird, a newspaper editor, at The Sun in Glasgow. They married and moved to London, where they had their two children. In 2006, the couple divorced and the following year she remarried.[15][16][17] She lives in the conservation village of Carmunnock.[18]

    In 2012 Bird had sections of her small and large intestine removed after suffering a rare bowel condition.[19]

    References
    1. Cox, Brian (2006). Fizzers: Famous Scottish Faces Caricatured. Scottish Cartoon Art Studio. p. 88. ISBN 1841830941.
    2. "Our new President: Jackie Bird". National Trust for Scotland. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
    3. McDonald, Sally. "INTERVIEW: Jackie Bird on celebrating the courage and kindness of Scotland's lockdown heroes". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
    4. "The best days of your life? Jackie Bird, TV presenter". Herald Scotland. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
    5. Young, Andrew (11 October 1989). "BBC claims victory over Scottish TV". The Glasgow Herald. p. 2. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
    6. "Jackie magazine - How a 'teenage bible' defined the 1970s". BBC News. 19 September 2013.
    7. "Jackie Bird interview". The Herald. 17 November 2012.
    8. "Jackie Bird profile". BBC Reporting Scotland. 6 January 2014.
    9. Coast to Coast: 1982 - 1992, Froglets Publications, 1992
    10. "Outstanding leaders in their field to receive honorary degrees" (Press release). University of Glasgow. 12 June 2012.
    11. Sayers, Louise (12 October 2014). "Jackie Bird: Celebrating 25 Years at Reporting Scotland". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
    12. Jackie Bird departs Reporting Scotland after 30 years at the helm, bbc.co.uk, 11 April 2019
    13. "After 25 years, the question is..." 15 October 2014 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
    14. "Series 7, Episode 6 - Down And Out". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
    15. "BBC TV presenter Jackie ties knot". 23 November 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
    16. Dailyrecord.co.uk (24 November 2007). "Bride Jackie Bird's Big Day". Daily Record. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
    17. "Bird delighted to be making the headlines". The Herald. 24 November 2007.
    18. "TV Jackie leads homes fight. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
    19. Whitaker, Andrew (12 November 2012). "BBC Scotland presenter Jackie Bird on mend after life-saving surgery". The Scotsman.


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