Keith Wilkinson is a former British television reporter and news correspondent for 35 years. In September 2019

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since con ...

announced he was leaving them to become a freelance writer and author. Born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England, he began his career in newspaper journalism as a trainee reporter at

The Westmorland Gazette ''The Westmorland Gazette'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kendal, England, covering "South Lakeland and surrounding areas", including Barrow and North Lancashire. Its name refers to the historic county of Westmorland. The paper is now owned b ...

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of t ...

, Cumbria, in 1974. He joined Central Television in the former

Associated TeleVision Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...

Broad Street studios in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

in 1984 as a production journalist, sub-editor, programme producer and bulletin newsreader. Keith Wilkinson became a senior correspondent, appearing on

ITV News Central ''ITV News Central'' is a British television news service for The Midlands, broadcast and produced by ITV Central. History Launched on Friday 1 January 1982, replacing ''ATV Today'', ''Central News'' was initially a pan-regional service based ...

, formerly Central News and Central Tonight.

Broadcasting Awards

Keith Wilkinson won numerous awards for broadcasting, including the national BT Television News Broadcaster of the Year, the ITV Piece to Camera Gold Award 2004, the

Birmingham Press Club Birmingham Press Club is a press club based in the English city of Birmingham. Established in 1865, just six years after Concordia Press Club in Vienna, became the second oldest organisation of its type in the world. The club hosts a number of p ...

's Scoop of the Year, and Television Journalist of the Year 2008 in the Midlands Media Awards. He received the ITV Judges' Award in 2008 for what was described as an outstanding contribution to ITV for his role as a mentor in the training of regional journalists. He was nominated for a

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

(Midlands) award in 2010 for a series about the Battle of Arnhem. In May 2014 at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, Wilkinson received the ITV News Gold Award for the best news feature of 2013 – for his reporting of the Stafford Hospital scandal. In recognition of his contribution to journalism, he was made an Honorary Life Member of

and was presented with the club's Bugle Award in 2019.

Career at ITV

In 1993 when he was Central's investigative Crime Reporter, he produced an ITV documentary called ''Stephanie's Story'' about the kidnapping of estate agent Stephanie Slater by the murderer

Michael Sams Michael Benneman Sams (born 11 August 1941) is an English kidnapper, extortionist and murderer. He kidnapped Julie Dart in July 1991 and later murdered her following her attempted escape. He subsequently kidnapped Stephanie Slater in January 19 ...

. Wilkinson was featured in the book, Beyond Fear, My Will To Survive, in which Stephanie describes being taken back to the workshop in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

where she was held hostage. Wilkinson was the first television reporter to interview members of the

Bridgewater Four The Bridgewater Four are four men who were tried and found guilty of killing 13-year-old paperboy Carl Bridgewater, who was shot in the head at close range near Stourbridge, England, in 1978. In February 1997, after almost two decades of impriso ...

on camera whilst they were still serving life sentences in prison. The campaigning

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its Masthead (British publishing), masthead was simpl ...

and

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent critici ...

journalist Paul Foot wrote in the book

Murder at the Farm Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially th ...

that Wilkinson's "persistence in this case contrasted sharply with the abject acceptance of the authorised view by almost all his journalist colleagues in the Midlands". In 2003 Wilkinson was calling for greater media access to the British judicial system. In an article 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 ...

he described the principle of open justice as a joke. Wilkinson also became known for more light-hearted items. In 2006 he was photographed in the Daily Star having a bucket of water poured over his head by Chris Tarrant, star of ITV's Who Wants to be a Millionaire? This was a tribute to Tarrant's days on the Tiswas programme when he frequently covered people in water. Keith Wilkinson was featured as The Human Guinea Pig in a six-month experiment starting in March 2008 on Central Tonight and itvlocal.com. It was launched in conjunction with researchers at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

in England as part of a project about

physical fitness Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical ...

in the over-50s. By July,

Ironman Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to: *Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer *Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter *Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician * Mick Murphy ...

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

Asker Jeukendrup, Professor of Exercise Metabolism and head of the university's Human Performance Laboratory, told ITV that Wilkinson's rate of progress had been "unusual and spectacular". At the end of the project in September, Jeukendrup gave Wilkinson a VO₂ max fitness assessment as a high 52.3. As part of an

special programme in April 2014, Wilkinson filmed Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six inside the former prison wing at Lancaster Castle where Hill had been held during his trial for the Birmingham pub bombings almost 40 years earlier. It was the first time Hill had returned to the prison and his old cell since his conviction for 21 murders was quashed at the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only t ...

in 1991, and in an exclusive interview Hill said his time at HMP Lancaster had been the start of a 16-year nightmare to clear his name. Wilkinson had first interviewed Paddy Hill for Central News inside Gartree Prison in Leicestershire in the 1980s before his appeal hearing at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

References

External links and Sources

TV Newsroom video of Keith Wilkinson final studio interview ITV.com/Central TV NewsroomKeith Wilkinson on Twitter

twitpic photos of Wilkinson at ITV and as Human Guinea PigKeith Wilkinson filming at ITV Royal Wedding studiosList and photos of ITV regional news reporters and correspondents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Keith English male journalists Living people British reporters and correspondents ITV regional newsreaders and journalists Year of birth missing (living people)