George Norman Ffitch (23 January 1929 – 5 July 2001) was an English newsreader, television presenter, radio personality and journalist. He began working for ITN as an industrial and political correspondent and later a programme editor when it was founded in 1955, covering elections and results broadcasts, political conventions in the United States and party conferences in the United Kingdom Ffitch presented television programs such as ''
This Week'' and ''
News at Ten''. He also worked as the political and assistant editor at ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' and also at the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
''. He was managing director of LBC and
Independent Radio News
Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom and beyond. The managing director, Tim Molloy, succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009. Perkins had been ...
from 1979 to his retirement in 1985.
Biography
Early life
Ffitch was born at 29 Charlotte Street in
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
on 23 January 1929.
He was the son of the railway porter Robert George Ffitch and his wife Margaret Matilda ( Norman).
Ffitch and was educated in state schools such as
Barking Abbey School
Barking Abbey School is a secondary school and specialist sports and humanities college located in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It serves students from the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge, and Newham. Years 7 ...
.
He was a graduate of the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
.
Ffitch was selected to take part in an academic diploma in Slavonic and east European studies as an internal student at the
UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies
The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES ) is a school of University College London (UCL) specializing in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia. It teaches a range of subjects, including the history, ...
and graduated in 1952 while serving in the
Royal Army Service Corps
The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...
as part of his
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The l ...
in Finland.
He was chosen to do the Army's Russian course at
Bodmin
Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.
The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...
during the early 1950s;
Ffitch retained his knowledge of Russian.
Career
He wrote for the ''Tokio Evening News'' newspaper,
helped the political scientist
Robert McKenzie to prepare the 1955 work ''British Political Parties'' and worked for the local ''Dagenham Times'' newspaper.
Ffitch began working for
ITN
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 ...
as an industrial and political correspondent and later a programme editor following the launch of the commercial television network
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
in 1955.
He covered the South Lewisham and
Carmarthen
Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...
by-elections in 1957, the
1958 Rochdale by-election
The Rochdale by-election of 13 February 1958 was a by-election for the constituency of Rochdale, in Lancashire, England, in the House of Commons. It was called following the death on 16 December 1957 of the sitting Conservative Member of Parliame ...
, and the weekly feature programme ''Roving Report'' in 1959 on ITV.
In 1962, Ffitch became a freelancer, and worked for ITV on a permanent basis on the broadcaster's current affairs programme, ''
This Week,'' and the BBC on the show ''Gallery''.
He also covered elections and results broadcasts, political conventions in the United States, party conferences in the United Kingdom and
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre
A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...
debates live for ITN.
From July 1967,
Fiftch was one of four newscasters for the daily half-hour ''
News at Ten'' bulletin alongside
Alastair Burnet
Sir James William Alexander Burnet (12 July 192820 July 2012), known as Alastair Burnet, was a British journalist and broadcaster, best known for his work in news and current affairs programmes, including a long career with ITN as chief presente ...
,
Andrew Gardner and
Reginald Bosanquet
Reginald Tindal Kennedy Bosanquet (9 August 1932 – 27 May 1984) was a British journalist and broadcaster who was an anchor of '' News at Ten'' for ITN from 1967 to 1979.Eddie Dyj"Bosanquet, Reginald (1932–1984)" BFI screenonline
Early ...
.
He supported the newscast from its start having noticed the success it had in the United States.
In the same year, Ffitch left ITN to work in print journalism.
He worked at ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' as their political editor and assistant editor with articles published on a weekly basis, replacing
Ian Trethowan
Sir James Ian Raley Trethowan (20 October 1922 – 12 December 1990) was a British journalist, radio and television broadcaster and administrator who eventually became Director-General of the BBC from 1 October 1977 to 31 July 1982, having prev ...
who later became the
BBC's Director-General.
Ffitch joined the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'' as an associate editor in 1974 and remained there until 1976.
He was chair of the panel of the ITV programme ''Face the Press'' that was broadcast from 1976 to 1978. Ffitch was later employed by
Geoffrey Cox to be the managing director of
LBC
LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...
and
Independent Radio News
Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom and beyond. The managing director, Tim Molloy, succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009. Perkins had been ...
.
He held the position from January 1979 until he left in March 1985 due to ill health and was temporarily replaced by LBC's general manager Bill Coppen-Gardner. Ffitch retired that same year;
David Nicolas wrote in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' that Ffitch was known as an effective leader who was devoted to his colleagues.
Personal life
He married Pamela Lyle on 6 February 1958,
after the two met at ITN and they had two children; a daughter and a son.
Lyle predeceased him in 1990.
Ffitch's home was burgled while he was away in August 1967.
He died at the
Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust
The Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust was an NHS foundation trust which ran the Royal Brompton Hospital in Kensington and Harefield Hospital in Hillingdon, London, England.
The Trust has been centrally involved in a long run ...
in
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area.
Chelsea histori ...
on 5 July 2001.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ffitch, George
1929 births
2001 deaths
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Daily Express people
ITN newsreaders and journalists
People from West Ham
The Economist people
Alumni of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies
20th-century English male writers
English male journalists
English television journalists
Journalists from London