John MacKay (born 13 September 1966) is a Scottish broadcast journalist, television presenter, producer and writer. He currently is a co-anchor for the STV News at Six, alongside

Kelly Ann Woodland Kelly-Ann Woodland (née Bishop, 5 November 1981) is a Scottish newsreader and journalist, who co-presents STV's central flag-ship ''STV News at Six,'' alongside John MacKay. Woodland presented STV's breakfast bulletin on Daybreak, and lat ...

, having previously served as the chief anchor for the

West Central Scotland Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

edition of '' STV News at Six.'' MacKay is a presnter for current affairs programme ''

Scotland Tonight ''Scotland Tonight'' is a Scottish news and current affairs programme, covering the two STV franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland, produced by STV News. The programme is presented by ''STV News at Six'' Central anchor John MacKay on ...

''. Born and raised in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, MacKay attended the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, where he was an editor for the

Glasgow University Guardian ''The Glasgow Guardian'' is the student newspaper of the University of Glasgow. Founded in 1932 as ''The Gilmorehill Globe'', the newspaper has undergone four name changes in its existence. First changed to ''The Gilmorehill Guardian'', then t ...

. He began his career at

The Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, N ...

newspaper, before trialling for

Radio Clyde Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...

and later joining

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

. MacKay joined STV in 1994 as a presenter and reporter for ''

Scotland Today ''Scotland Today'' is a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central (formerly Scottish Television). Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's C ...

''.

Early life

John MacKay was born on 13 September 1966 in

, the son of an aero engineer. His family are from the

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

in the

western isles The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...

of Scotland. MacKay grew up in the outskirts of

in Hillington and attended Penilee Secondary School. He studied

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, where MacKay was an editor of the

Career

Early career

MacKay began his journalism career with

in 1986. He trialled as a radio presenter for Radio Clyde, however, he was later told he “didn't have a voice for broadcast”. After a year at the Post, MacKay left to be a print reporter.

BBC Scotland; 1987 to 1994

In 1987, MacKay joined

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

, initially as a news trainee for

Radio Scotland Radio Scotland was an offshore pirate radio station broadcasting on 1241 kHz mediumwave (242 metres), created by Tommy Shields in 1965. The station was on the former lightship L.V. ''Comet'', which had been fitted out as a radio station in ...

and later as a reporter, presenter and producer for radio and television services, including the national news programme ''

Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. History Although BBC Television was established in Scotl ...

''. He also worked as a sports correspondent. sub-editor and duty editor.

STV; 1994 to present

Scotland Today news programme virtual set

He joined

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

(now ''STV Central'') in September 1994 as a reporter and presenter for the regional news programme ''

'' and became a main anchor four years later, alongside

Shereen Nanjiani Shereen Nanjiani (born 4 October 1961) is a Scottish radio presenter with BBC Radio Scotland. Before launching her radio career in 2006, Nanjiani was the chief news anchor at STV Central, having presented the news programme, ''Scotland Today' ...

. In 2006, ''Scotland Today'' was rebranded as the STV News at Six. MacKay served as the sole chief anchor and presented the main 6pm programme for Glasgow and the West and the lunchtime bulletin for the Central Scotland region. In October 2011, he became a presenter of STV's current affairs programme, ''

'', with MacKay presenting on alternate nights with

Rona Dougall Rona, RONA or Róna may refer to: Places *Rona (Kristiansand), a neighbourhood in Kristiansand, Norway *Rona (river), a river in Maramureș County, Romania * Rona, Bellevue Hill, a historic house in the Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill *Rona, Switz ...

. MacKay has also presented and produced non-news programming for STV including the one-off documentary ''

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...

: How to Win Games and Influence People'' and online content including the popular video blog ''The Real MacKay'' and the feature series ''Diary of a Pipe Band''. In September 2018, STV announced STV Glasgow News and

STV Edinburgh News ''STV News'' is a Scottish news service produced by STV. The news department produces two regional services covering STV's Channel 3 franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland. STV's news programmes are produced from studios in Glasgow, ...

would merge to create a central version of the STV News at Six by

. The programme is co-anchored by MacKay in

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In April 2020, amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, MacKay was

furlough A furlough (; from nl, verlof, "leave of absence") is a temporary leave of employees due to special needs of a company or employer, which may be due to economic conditions of a specific employer or in society as a whole. These furloughs may be s ...

ed by STV and as result halted presenting both the STV News at Six and Scotland Tonight. The North and Central editions of the STV News were merged to create one nightly news programme. MacKay and

returned to co-presenting the six o'clock news in September 2020 STV puts Pledge in the spotlight

Books

Of Hebridean descent, from the district of

Carloway Carloway ( gd, Càrlabhagh, IPA: �kʰaːɾɫ̪ə.ɤː is a crofting township and a district on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The district has a population of around 500. Carloway township is within the pari ...

, MacKay has written three books all based in the

. They are "The Road Dance", "Heartland" and "The Last of the Line" (all Luath Press, 2002, 2004 and 2006 respectively). Sorbier Productions, a Glasgow-based production company, is seeking funding to produce a film adaptation of ''The Road Dance''. In May 2022, MacKay's best selling book, ''The Road Dance'', was released as a film, starring

Hermione Corfield Hermione Isla Conyngham Corfield (born 19 December 1993) is an English actress. She has appeared in films, including '' Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation'' (2015), ''Mr. Holmes'' (2015), ''Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'' (2016), '' XXX: Ret ...

as Kirsty Macleod. In 2015, he published "Notes of a Newsman", written about MacKay's journey as a news journalist and his news coverage of the

Lockerbie bombing Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...

, the opening of the Scottish Parliament and the

2014 Scottish Independence Referendum A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side w ...

. He published his fifth book, "Home", in 2021.

Popular culture

MacKay is a well-known figure in Scotland, particularly in the central belt through his long association with STV. He was portrayed by comedian

Jonathan Watson Jonathan Watson is a Scottish actor best known for his comedy sketch show ''Only an Excuse?'', which parodied people and events from the world of Scottish football, as well as the BBC comedy ''Bob Servant Independent'' in which he appears with ...

on his sketch show Only an Excuse with the use of his popular opening catchphrase "I'm John MacKay". The

-based comedian

Kevin Bridges Kevin Andrew Bridges (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series '' Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' was based on his stand-up routines. He has appeared on many television panel shows including '' Would ...

has also stated his admiration for MacKay, saying the highlight of his career was saying "Back to John in the studio." MacKay has also interviewed fictional anchorman Ron Burgundy (played by

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...

) from the 2004 comedy film ''

Anchorman A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

''.

Personal life

MacKay lives in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

with his wife Jo. They have two sons.

Publications

* * * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:MacKay, John 1967 births British male journalists Living people Journalists from Glasgow People from Renfrew Scottish newspaper editors Scottish television presenters Scottish television producers STV News newsreaders and journalists