ITN journalist Sir Alastair Burnet, known to many for his years fronting News At Ten, has died following a series of strokes. He was 84.
“ITN stands on the shoulders of giants, none greater than Sir Alastair Burnet,” said John Hardie, CEO of ITN. “He defined newscasting for a generation and his influence is still clearly evident today.
“He set the bar to a standard that has never been surpassed and perhaps not even equalled. Sir Alastair will be sorely missed by many here at ITN, but his legacy lives on.”
The presenter, who last hosted the nightly ITV bulletin almost 21 years ago, anchored several general elections, the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales and led ITV’s coverage of the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969. He also had a distinguished career as a print journalist, editing publications such as the Economist and the Daily Express.
Mr Burnet’s family said he passed away peacefully during the night at a nursing home in Kensington, London. He spent a short period at the BBC working on Panorama and fronted the two general election programmes.
BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil called him “one of the greatest journalists of his generation”.
“He played a pivotal role in the rise of ITN as political editor, interviewer and newscaster,” Mr Neil said.” He will always be remembered for presenting historic live events.”
“He will also always be recalled by family, friends and colleagues for his unparalleled professionalism, humour and gentlemanly kindness, especially to journalists starting out on their careers.”
Sir Alastair was knighted for his services to journalism and broadcasting.
Born in Edinburgh in 1928, Alastair went to school in Cambridge and then to Oxford University. During his distinguished career, he has also been presented with the Richard Dimbleby Award on four occasions and was nominated political broadcaster of the year in 1979. He has written four books on the Royal Family.
ITN also makes Channel 4 News and 5 News.