TOP 10 - PRESENTERS, JOURNALISTS OR HOSTS 2022
ALISON HAMMOND
One of British TV’s most-loved stars, the Bafta-nominated Brummie has been bringing joy to our screens through Big Brother, Loose Women, This Morning and more shows. In the Big Issue’s anthology book Letter to My Younger Self, Hammond spoke about her journey and her new book on Black history, Black in Time: The Most Awesome Black Britons from Yesterday which looks into the history of Black scientists, activists, musicians and politicians in the UK.
AYSHAH TULL
A presenter and journalist for Channel 4 (and formerly the BBC), Tull uses her platform not only for work but also for her allyship of intersectional communities. She is a passionate activist for both LGBT+ and disability rights, advising mentoring schemes on how to promote ethnic diversity inclusion in the media industry and inspiring many to have the confidence to pursue a career in journalism. Tull was also shortlisted for a Diversity in Media Award in 2018.
CHARLENE WHITE
White became the first Black woman to present ITV’s News at Ten in 2014 and continues to act as a presenter on the lunchtime and evening news. Originally brought in as a guest presenter in 2020, White has become a regular on Loose and hosted the 2021 Ethnicity Awards. She has used her platform on Loose Women to be vocal on issues impacting the Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, such as a recent report highlighting the issues facing Black students fleeing the war in Ukraine.
CLIVE MYRIE
Manchester-born journalist and newsreader Clive Myrie has been reporting on radio and TV since 1987 with the BBC. Most notably, Myrie received great acclaim for his work on the Mozambique floods in 2000 and was awarded the Bayeux-Calvados Award for his reporting on ethnic violence in Borneo. In addition, he was named Television Journalist of the Year in 2021 at the RTS Television Journalism Awards for his ‘versatile, measured and compelling style’. He is now the presenter on the BBC’s flagship quiz show Mastermind.
DR RANJ SINGH
Having been raised in a Sikh household in Kent, Dr Singh has made a name for himself not only as TV’s favourite doctor, but also as an advocate for intersectional rights. He won an Attitude Award in 2019, a Bafta and has also become a Sunday Times best-selling author with his children’s educational cookbook. During the pandemic, he went back to the NHS as a paediatric emergency medicine specialist.
ELAINE CHONG
BBC Radio 4 presenter Elaine Chong has been working as a journalist since 2017, with her written pieces frequently focusing on issues of racial persecution, interviewing the likes of Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda on the history of Japanese-American internment camps and analysing the presentation of Asians in the media such as in Marvel’s Shang–Chi and more. Chong has an analytical and head-on approach to these topics and often focuses on intersectional experiences of race.
JERMAINE JENAS
The One Show presenter and former footballer is a familiar face to many. In 2021, he bravely spoke out against the racism he was subjected to online as a commentator during Euro 2020 and the impact this had on his mental health, calling for social media platforms to do more to prevent such abuse. Jenas has also set up the Aquinas Foundation, which offers football tickets to children from disadvantaged schools if they can achieve 100 per cent attendance.
KRISHNAN GURU-MURTHY
The presenter of Channel 4 News and Unreported World, Guru-Murthy has been a key figure on our screens since 1998. In a 2018 interview with former model Lily Cole, Guru-Murthy opened up about the racism he had faced as a child. In his podcast, Ways to Change the World, he speaks with a diverse range of individuals, often on their experiences of activism, racism, diversity and human rights. He was also one of many Black, Asian and minority ethnic prominent figures to sign an open letter demanding the BBC reconsider their complaint against breakfast show presenter Naga Munchetty breaching impartiality guidelines.
MO GILLIGAN
British stand-up comedian Mo Gilligan has truly found international success. As host of The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan and the Big Narstie Show, Gilligan is a familiar face on our TV. Alongside this, he produced the documentary Black, British and Funny for Black History Month, which was a celebratory but bittersweet take on the wilderness of Black British comedy in the 2000s.
RANVIR SINGH
Singh has been using her platform as a highly successful journalist and TV presenter to bring to light issues affecting refugees and domestic abuse survivors. Her journalistic career has seen her cover topics such as the refugee crisis in Macedonia and Serbia, live reporting from the ground at Grenfell and more human-interest stories like the experiences of Black male ballet dancers. She is the political editor of Good Morning Britain.