Joan Thirkettle (14 September 1947 – 11 May 1996) was a British

television journalist 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, ...

, radio personality and writer. She was one of the first female reporters to work for

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

, and was part of a team which won the broadcaster 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 ...

Award in 1994 for their coverage of the death of Labour Party leader John Smith.

Early life

She was born in Kent and attended school at Bexleyheath Academy in Bexleyheath, Kent. She took an external degree in English at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Career

Thirkettle began her career in journalism as a trainee researcher with

Associated Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

in 1965 and as a researcher for

Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Allan Crawford, initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopol ...

, before moving into print journalism, first joining the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' and later working for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' as property correspondent and a business writer in 1969. She moved to radio in 1970, reporting for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and the

British Forces Broadcasting Service The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themsel ...

, and in 1973 was one of the founding members of London's news station London Broadcasting Company (LBC). She joined ITN the following year and quickly became a familiar presence on television screens. Along with Carol Barnes, Sarah Cullen and

Sue Lloyd-Roberts Susan Ann Lloyd-Roberts CBE (27 October 1950 – 13 October 2015) was a British television journalist who contributed reports to BBC programmes and, earlier in her career, worked for ITN. Early life Born in London in 1950, she was the daughter ...

, Thirkettle was one of the first female reporters to be seen on the broadcaster. Both Barnes and Thirkettle were recruited by editor Nigel Ryan, and the two were later known as "Ryan's Daughters". During her career with the broadcaster, Thirkettle reported on more than 1,500 stories, including the famine in Ethiopia,

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

's trans-oceanic ballooning and the artistic talent of autistic boy

Stephen Wiltshire Stephen Wiltshire (born 24 April 1974) is a British architectural artist and autistic savant. He is known for his ability to draw a landscape from memory after seeing it just once. His work has gained worldwide fame. In 2006, Wiltshire wa ...

. She was a member of the ITN team which covered the 1994 death of Labour Party leader John Smith, which coverage won ITN a

Award. At the time of her death in 1996 she was considered to be one of the broadcaster's most experienced journalists. Away from television Thirkettle wrote short stories and studied natural history, politics and foreign affairs. She was also an occasional presenter on Classic FM. She died in hospital aged 48 on 11 May 1996 after suffering from cancer.

Personal life

Thirkettle was divorced from the publisher Jonathan Wallace (grandson of thriller writer

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was ...

) and lived in London with her two children Daisy Wallace and Michael Wallace.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thirkettle, Joan 1947 births 1996 deaths British radio personalities British women television journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists 20th-century British journalists Deaths from cancer in England Alumni of the University of London People from Kent (before 1965)