Martin Geissler (born 1971) is a Scottish news reader, broadcast journalist and correspondent for BBC Scotland News.
Career
Geissler joined the Scottish bureau of the then-recently launched Sky News in 1991. Later he joined
Grampian Television
Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...
(now ''STV North'') working on the nightly regional news programme ''
North Tonight
''North Tonight'' is a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television).
History
During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily 10 ...
'' before moving to
Tyne Tees Television
ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire.
Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converted ...
as a reporter on ''Tyne Tees Today''.
Geissler joined
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation ...
(now ''STV Central'') in February 1994 as a reporter, sports presenter and newsreader 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 ...
''. In 1998, he moved to
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It h ...
as Scotland Correspondent, then rejoined ''Scotland Today'' eighteen months later.
He joined ITN in April 2002 as
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 ...
' Scotland Correspondent but was also involved with coverage of major international stories including the Second Gulf War, the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
were nominated for Emmy, BAFTA and Royal Television Society awards. In August 2010 he became Europe Correspondent and in 2012 he became a UK-based correspondent.
As of February 2019, Martin had joined BBC Scotland as co-anchor of the new BBC Scotland channel's News service.
Personal life
Geissler has won various awards for his work around the world, most recently for his coverage of the
opioid epidemic
The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the sign ...
in the USA.
He lives in Muckhart, a village in Clackmannanshire. Married with two children, Geissler is a keen supporter of
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the Sc ...