大象传媒

Born in Leeds in 1950 and brought up in Worcestershire, Jeremy Paxman is the eldest of four siblings. He began his education at Malvern College and then continued his academic life by reading English at St Catharine鈥檚 college in Cambridge.

During the trouble laden 1970s in Northern Ireland Jeremy arrived from Radio Brighton to learn the journalistic craft after originally entering the 大象传媒 as a graduate trainee. In the midst of the political turmoil he saw career possibilities, 鈥淚 just went there in the '70s because there seemed to be an awful lot going on and an opportunity to learn very quickly.鈥� He spent three years in Northern Ireland and became involved with Spotlight before moving to London to work as a reporter for programmes such as聽.

Jeremy also worked on regional news and even ended up presenting the 6 O鈥檆lock News for a number of months. It was in 1989 that he began working on聽, a role that many viewers will know him best for. It was here that he cemented his interviewing style by being direct, forceful and never content with anything other than a straight answer. This directness also appears in another of his famous roles, that of the headmaster-like presenter of聽, a role that he has had since 1994 when he replaced Bamber Gascoigne.

Glasgow born Gavin Esler was brought up in Edinburgh where he attended George Heriot's School before continuing his education at the University of Kent where he completed a BA in English and American literature. His academic career continued with his postgraduate studies where he achieved an MA in Anglo-Irish literature from the University of Leeds.

After completing his MA he was offered a position at The Scotsman in Edinburgh, however Gavin turned this down as he feared that this role would be 鈥渁 bit dull.鈥� Instead of this he decided to come to Northern Ireland to work for the Belfast Telegraph before joining the 大象传媒 in Belfast in 1977 as a reporter and eventually featured as a Spotlight reporter. It was here that he covered a wide range of issues at the time, from hunger strikes to bombings, and also collaborated with other Spotlight reporters such as Roisin McCauley.

Gavin later became the 大象传媒鈥檚 chief North American correspondent for close to a decade and he travelled the world acting as a correspondent on international affairs. In 2003 he became a Newsnight presenter, currently one of the three main presenters, and over the past two decades has interviewed a plethora of high profile figures such as Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.聽

Born in the 1950鈥檚 and raised in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Roisin McAuley聽was a member of a large family and the daughter of a chemist. She began her education at a convent school before attending Queen鈥檚 University in Belfast where she would study history.

After university Roisin went to work for the 大象传媒 in Belfast, she was hired by the then editor Bernard Wiggins who then went on to become a best-selling novelist. She attributes her time with Bernard in Spotlight as influential to her learning the art of story crafting, claiming, 鈥淪potlight is where I first learned how to tell a story鈥�. With the political situation ever volatile during her time in Belfast she still fondly remembers the team and the challenges that presented themselves in this political climate, 鈥淚t was a terrific team, too. Everyone contributed. Ideas whizzed around. Often we worked round the clock. Sometimes we did the impossible - a forty minute film on a snap election in the Republic, made in less than a week, comes to mind.鈥�

Roisin moved to Berkshire, England in 1984 and kept her love for documentary making alive as she both produced and directed documentaries for ITV and Channel 4 as well as writing and presenting on 大象传媒 Radio 3 and 4. In a similar vein to her earlier mentor Bernard Wiggins, Roisin is now a published author with her first novels Singing Bird and Meeting Point released in 2005.

Alex Thomson went to Cranbourne Secondary School, in聽Basingstoke, before studying at University College in Oxford. When he graduated, he then completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism at Cardiff University.

It was in Cardiff that Alex first became part of the 大象传媒 in 1984, working in television. He moved to London the following year where he embarked on a 大象传媒 traineeship. With a few years of experience under his belt, he then headed for Belfast in 1986, then becoming part of the Spotlight team. During his time in Belfast he produced one of the most provocative editions of Spotlight, examining the shooting of three IRA members by the SAS in Gibraltar. The Prime Minister of the time, Margaret Thatcher, wanted the programme banned.

Alex later moved to Channel 4, becoming a presenter and a chief correspondent for their news output.聽 The quality of his film making skills, honed during his time in the 大象传媒, have endured through his career and are evidenced through his BAFTA success.聽