Ben McGrail (born 4 November) is a British broadcast journalist, best known for his work at

ITV News West Country ''ITV News West Country'' is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV West Country. Overview ''ITV News West Country'' is broadcast from studios in Brislington, Bristol, with district reporters and camera crews based i ...

as their

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Correspondent.

Career

McGrail studied

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

from 2004 to 2007 where he started in radio at the

student radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

station LSR. After graduating, McGrail worked as a freelance journalist before joining

Andover Sound The Breeze (formerly ''Andover Sound'') was an independent local radio station in England, serving Andover and northwest Hampshire, and parts of east Wiltshire from studios at Eastgate House in Andover. Beginning as Andover Sound in 2008, from 2 ...

in September 2008 as news editor and drivetime presenter. In 2011 McGrail was appointed as the drivetime presenter on

BBC Somerset BBC Radio Somerset is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the county of Somerset. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, AM broadcasting, AM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in ...

and in 2013 he took over the 9am mid-morning

phone-in In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...

programme. In 2017 McGrail was announced as the new Somerset Correspondent for

Awards

In 2010 McGrail and the Andover Sound news team won a silver at the

Sony Radio Academy Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

in the Journalist of the Year category. In 2014 McGrail 's radio show won the South West Media Award for Radio News/Current Affairs Programme of the Year. Meanwhile in 2015 McGrail won a national Mind Media Award for his coverage of mental health in Somerset.

References

External links

Ben McGrail official website

Ben McGrail on Twitter

Ben McGrail on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrail, Ben Year of birth missing (living people) Living people