David Chater (born 1953) is a British broadcast journalist. Chater has more than 35 years' experience in international television news, having worked for

Independent Television News Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...

, Sky News and Al Jazeera English. He joined ITN in 1976, Sky News in 1993 and Al Jazeera English in 2006. In 2008 he also took time out to serve as Head of News at

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

television channel Kanal Pik, run under licence by ''K1''.

Early life and education

Chater was born on 5 March 1953 in the large village of Meopham in Kent in

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...

. He was educated at

Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) is a grammar school in Maidstone, England. The school was founded in 1549 after Protector Somerset sold Corpus Christi Hall on behalf of King Edward VI to the people of Maidstone for £200. The Royal Charter fo ...

in the county town of

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

in Kent, from November 1965 to February 1972, and in later life, he became President of the ''Old Maidstonian Society''. Immediately after leaving school, he took a ''Short-Service Limited Commission SLC' in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and served briefly as an officer, attached to a regiment of Gurkha Rifles in Hong Kong,

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

and

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

. He read Experimental Psychology at St John's College from 1972 to 1975, graduating with a BA from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Career

;Print-journalism Chater began his career working for the local newspaper, the '' Kent Messenger'' newspaper, but he stayed with the paper for only a very short time, before joining the broadcaster ITN. ;ITN Chater joined ITN in 1976, as a graduate trainee. Later, he became a scriptwriter and then a Chief Sub-Editor. As a reporter, he worked around the world, covering stories such as the

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

bombing, Lockerbie, the

Piper Alpha Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea approximately north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited (OPCAL) and began production in 1976, initially as an oil-only platform but la ...

disaster, the Falklands crisis and Falklands War in 1982 and the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

in 1991. In 1991, Chater was seriously injured whilst reporting on the front-line in

Vukovar Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...

during the

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

n conflict, when he was shot in the back by a sniper's bullet. Surgeons saved his life but had to remove one of his kidneys. After making a full recovery he returned to report on the

Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then be ...

and the continuing conflict in Bosnia. During his time with ITN, Chater filed stories from

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

, which was under Scud attack from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

during the first

, and went undercover to report on the opening of the civil war in Sri Lanka. ;Sky News Chater joined Sky News in 1993, and opened its Moscow bureau, becoming its first Moscow Correspondent. He moved to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1996, becoming Sky News' Middle East correspondent. He was nominated for a Royal Television Society award for his coverage of the continuing conflict in that region. He reported from the conflict in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

and the 1999 war against

Slobodan Milosevic Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović ...

. In 2001, Chater covered the war in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

after the 9/11 attacks, receiving a Gold Medal from the

New York Television Festival The New York Television Festival (NYTVF) is a yearly festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often mark ...

for his reports on the siege of

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

, jointly with his Sky News colleague Colin Brazier. In April 2003, during the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, Chater reported from the streets of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

before and during the arrival of US forces to the city, stayed throughout ''Operation Shock and Awe'' and also covered the Battle for Faluja. Chater was awarded the Gold Medal for International Reporter of the Year at the New York Television Festival for his coverage of the

Second Chechen War The Second Chechen War (russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́, ) took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 ...

during the Siege of Grozny, in which he was caught in the middle of a Grad rocket attack while reporting to camera. The coverage was also nominated for an Emmy Award. He returned to the UK and was assigned to Sky News' Investigative Journalism Unit, and later became Sky News' Africa Correspondent. In 2006, Chater resigned from Sky News to join Al Jazeera English. The then Head of Sky News,

Nick Pollard George Nicholas Pollard (born 15 November 1950) is a British journalist and the former head of Sky News. Early life and education Pollard was born in Birkenhead and educated at Birkenhead School, an independent school in the town. Career in jo ...

, said Chater was leaving to pursue "other interests" and praised his "outstanding career" with the channel. ;Al Jazeera English Starting in 2006, Chater has been Al Jazeera English's correspondent in

and later

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

. In Kabul, he documented the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Taking a break - in 2008 - to work in Georgia, Chater returned to concentrate on stories around Europe, frequently reporting from Paris. ;Kanal Pik In 2008, Chater left Al Jazeera to become Head of News at the Kanal Pik television channel in the former Soviet republic of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Kanal Pik is run under licence by a new production company, K1, co-owned by British broadcasting journalist Robert Parsons. Chater helped the new company bed-in before returning to Al Jazeera English.Georgia: Russian-Language News Satellite Station Reborn
Eurasianet.org, 25 January 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2013.

References

External links

David Chater's Blog on Al Jazeera English

"Live Chat with David Chater"
Sky News, 22 April 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chater, David Al Jazeera people Alumni of St John's College, Oxford English television journalists English television presenters ITN newsreaders and journalists ITV people Living people People educated at Maidstone Grammar School Sky News newsreaders and journalists 1953 births