Sheena Elizabeth McDonald (born 25 July 1954,

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland) is a Scottish

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and broadcaster.

Early life

She was the daughter of Very Rev William J. G. McDonald, minister of Mayfield church in Edinburgh, and

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1989. He himself was a broadcaster, contributing to ''

Thought for the Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Nowadays lastin ...

'' for many years. She was a pupil at

George Watson's Ladies College George Watson's College is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was merge ...

, and then read English at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

from where she graduated in 1976 before gaining a postgraduate certificate in radio, film and television studies from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. Whilst at university in Edinburgh, she had a relationship with then-Rector

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

.Brian Wheele
The Gordon Brown story
''BBC News'', 27 June 2007 She also co-founded the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

newspaper ''Festival Times'' with

Garfield Kennedy Garfield Kennedy is a documentary and fiction film-maker and producer based in Somerset, England. He was elected as a Liberal Democrat District Councillor for the Shepton West Ward of Mendip District Council in a by-election in July 2010. Kenn ...

Broadcasting

In 1978 she began her professional broadcasting career as a producer and presenter at

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 ...

. She switched to television in 1981 as a presenter and newsreader at STV, then went freelance in 1986, moving on to

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

such national radio and television news programmes as ''

The World at One ''The World at One'', or ''WATO'' ("what-oh") for short, is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, produced by BBC News, which is currently broadcast from 13:00 to 13:45 from Monday to Friday. The programme de ...

'', ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'', 'The World This Week', '' After Dark'' and ''International Question Time'' and, in 1995, she received the first-ever 'Woman in Film and Television' Award.CastleFM application for the Edinburgh Radio Licence
, 2004; page 7

Accident

In February 1999 she was struck by a police van on its way to a

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: T ...

call in

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.Sheena McDonald
Am I still me?
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

'', 16 January 2004 She sustained head injuries, and it was almost five years before she returned to television, in a biographical documentary in which she spoke of her recuperation process and coming to terms with the psychological effects of her injury. In 2019 she wrote a book ''Rebuilding Life after Brain Injury: Dreamtalk'' for a series presenting brain injury survivor stories, describing in detail her injury and the progression of her recovery, with contributions and commentary from her husband

Allan Little James Allan Stuart Little (born 11 October 1959) is a former BBC researcher, reporter and, latterly, special correspondent. He left the BBC at the end of 2014, "to pursue other projects". Early life Little was born on 11 October 1959 in Dunragit, ...

and her rehabilitation specialist Gail Robinson.

Personal life

She married BBC reporter

in 2006. The two have been together since 1993.

Presenting roles

McDonald's presenting roles have included:

Television

* ''The Afternoon Show'', BBC Scotland (1981) * ''

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 Ce ...

'', STV (1984–1987) * ''Votes for Woman'' (1988) 14 episodes * ''The World This Week'' (1989–93) * ''Scottish Women'' (1989–1992) * '' After Dark'' (1989-2003) 3 episodes * ''Fighting Talk'', (1991) * ''

Right to Reply ''Right to Reply'' (sometimes called ''R2R'') is a British television series shown on Channel 4 from 1982 until 2001, which allowed viewers to voice their complaints or concerns about TV programmes. It featured reports, usually presented by a v ...

'' (1982-2001), 1991-93 * '' On the Record'', BBC, circa 1993 * ''

'' * ''Gimme Health'', (1994) * ''House to House'' (1995–98) * ''Powerhouse'' (1998) * ''Brain Injury - The Road to Rehabilitation'', Disabilities Trust (2002) * ''Who Am I Now?'', '' Storyville'',

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

(2004) * ''Talking Point'', Teachers' TV. (2005-6) * ''Need to Know'', Teachers' TV. (2007-8) *

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray ...

(highlights), BBC Scotland (2007-2022)

Radio

* Mayfield community hospital radio (1970s, as a teenager) Boyd McAdam
Mayfield Radio's half century
''Grapevine'', Mayfield Salisbury Parish, July/August 2021, pp 8-11 * ''Joy to the World'', Radio 4, (with Allan Little; Christmas morning broadcast, 1999) * ''

Something Understood ''Something Understood'' is a weekly radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 since 1995 which deals with topics of religion, spirituality, and the larger questions of human life, and took a particular spiritual theme, exploring it through speech, ...

'', Radio 4, (2001-2) * ''Talking Politics'', Radio 4, (2000-08) * '' The World Today'', BBC World Service * also isolated editions of ''

The Week in Westminster ''The Week in Westminster'' is a weekly political radio programme, which is broadcast on Saturdays on BBC Radio 4. It is the fifth longest-running radio broadcast on British radio, between ''The Daily Service, Daily Service'' (2 January 1928) a ...

'', ''

The World At One ''The World at One'', or ''WATO'' ("what-oh") for short, is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, produced by BBC News, which is currently broadcast from 13:00 to 13:45 from Monday to Friday. The programme de ...

'', ''

The World This Weekend ''The World at One'', or ''WATO'' ("what-oh") for short, is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, produced by BBC News, which is currently broadcast from 13:00 to 13:45 from Monday to Friday. The programme de ...

'', ''

The World Tonight ''The World Tonight'' is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10 pm news. It is produced by BBC News and features news, analysis and comment on dome ...

'' (1994, 1996, 2000-03) and '' Pick of the Week'' (2002-07) * ''Child of the Manse'', Radio Scotland (2008) (subject)

References

External links

Sheena McDonald
in the

BFI 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 (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

database
Sheena McDonald
in the BBC programme index
Allan Little, Sheena McDonald & Gail Robinson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

Edinburgh Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as ''The largest festival of its k ...

via youtube, August 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Sheena 1954 births Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at George Watson's College Living people People from Dunfermline Scottish journalists Scottish women journalists Scottish television presenters British women television presenters STV News newsreaders and journalists