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Line 1: {{Short description\|British journalist and television presenter}} {{EngvarB\|date=April 2015}} {{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2021}} Line 12 ⟶ 13: \| children = 2 }} '''Anna Ford''' (born 2 October 1943) is an English ~~former~~retired journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for [[ITV Granada\|Granada Television]], [[ITN]], and the [[BBC]]. Ford helped launch the British breakfast television broadcaster [[TV-am]]. She retired from broadcast news presenting in April 2006 and was a non-executive director of [[~~J Sainsbury\|~~Sainsbury's]] until the end of 2012. Ford now lives in her home town of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.<ref>{{cite news\|author=James Thompson \|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/anna-ford-signs-off-from-sainsburys-7936490.html \|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/anna-ford-signs-off-from-sainsburys-7936490.html \|archive-date=7 May 2022 \|url-access=subscription \|url-status=live \|title=Anna Ford signs off from Sainsbury's – Business News – Business \|~~publisher~~work=The Independent \|date=12 July 2012 \|access-date=28 September 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> ==Early life== Ford was born in [[Tewkesbury]], [[Gloucestershire]], to parents who were both [[West End theatre\|West End]] actors. Her father, John, had declined an offer from [[Samuel Goldwyn]] to work in Hollywood, and her mother, Jean (née Winstanley; sister of MP and broadcaster [[Michael Winstanley, Baron Winstanley]])<ref>{{Cite ~~web~~news\|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/13/newsid_4151000/4151459.stm\|title=1978: Ford makes her ITN debut\|date=13 February 1978\|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite ~~web~~news\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/07/women-equality-anna-ford-feminism\|title=Women's special: Tim Adams interviews Anna Ford\|first=Tim\|last=Adams\|newspaper=The Observer \|date=7 December 2008\|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> had worked with [[Alec Guinness]].<ref name="Hagerty">Bill Hagerty [https://archive.today/20121224025838/http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2007/no3_hagerty "Anna Ford: Try a little tenderness"], ''British Journalism Review'', 18:3, 2007, ppp. 9–16</ref> Her father later became ordained as an [[Anglican]] priest and took Ford and her four brothers to live at [[Eskdale, Cumbria\|Eskdale]] in the [[Lake District]]. She went to primary school at St Ursula's School, [[Wigton]], then to [[The Nelson Thomlinson School\|Wigton Grammar School]], where she was a contemporary of [[Melvyn Bragg]]. After her father became the parish priest at [[St Martin's Church, Brampton\|St Martin's Church]] in [[Brampton, Carlisle~~, Cumbria~~\|Brampton]] she moved to the [[William Howard School\|White House Grammar School]]. She also attended Minehead Grammar School in Somerset and lived in nearby Wootton Courtenay. Ford received a BA degree in economics from the [[Victoria University of Manchester]] and was president of the [[University of Manchester Students' Union\|university's students' union]] from 1966 to 1967.<ref>{{cite news\|newspaper=Press Gazette \|first=Caitlin \|last=Pike \|author2=Ritchie, Eleanor \|date=4 November 2005 \|title=Women presenters pay tribute to trailblazer Ford \|url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=32435&sectioncode=1 \|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907072306/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=32435&sectioncode=1 \|url-status=dead \|archive-date=7 September 2012 }}</ref> ==Career== Ford worked as a teacher for four years, including teaching [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] prisoners at ~~the~~ [[HM Prison Maze\|Her Majesty's Prison Maze]] in [[Northern Ireland]] for two years.<ref name="Hagerty"/> She was later an [[Open University]] social studies tutor in Belfast for two years. Ford was thirty by the time that she joined [[ITV Granada\|Granada Television]] as a researcher in 1974. Initially, she was told she was too old to be a newsreader, but became a reporter and newsreader on ''[[Granada Reports]]''.<ref name="AFHP">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/1471987.stm Anna Ford: Hardy perennial] BBC News – 3 August 2001</ref> She joined the BBC in January 1977, but only after several months as security clearance from [[MI5]] was required because she was then living with a former communist. This led to her BBC personnel file being [["Christmas tree" files\|marked with a "Christmas tree" symbol]].<ref>Mark Hollingshurst and Richard Norton Taylor ''Blacklist: The Inside Story of Political Vetting'', London: Hogarth Press, 1988, p. 106; David Leigh and Paul Lashmar [http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.page9_obs_18aug1985.html "The Blacklist in Room 105"], ''The Observer'', 18 August 1985, p. 9</ref> Ford subsequently worked on ''[[Man Alive (British TV series)\|Man Alive]]'' and ''[[Tomorrow's World]]''. In February 1978, Ford moved to [[ITN]], and ~~was~~briefly faced ~~with quickly abandoned~~ legal threats from the BBC for breaking her contract.<ref name="BBCOTD">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/13/newsid_4151000/4151459.stm "1978: Ford makes her ITN debut"], BBC On This Day, 13 February</ref> Future colleague [[Reginald Bosanquet]] said at the time: "I have never been averse to working with ladies ... I do not know Anna but I have heard that she is a very competent and professional lady.",<ref name="BBCOTD"/> Ford ~~remains fond of his memory,~~ and ~~they~~he formed a good professional relationship.<ref name="Hagerty"/> Ford began presenting ITV's ''[[ITV Lunchtime News\|News at One]]'' in March and later the 5:~~45PM~~45 pm bulletin, but within two months had become the first female newscaster on ''[[ITV News at Ten\|News at Ten]]''.<ref name="BBCOTD"/> In 1979, Ford appeared in a skit along with [[John Cleese]] and [[Terry Jones]] of the [[Monty Python]] troupe as part of "The Amnesty International Comedy Gala", a comedy ~~program~~programme performed at Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, London. The film version is called "The Secret Policeman's Ball". In 1981, she left ITN to join the presenting team of the soon-to-launch [[TV-am]]. ITN were bidding for the breakfast franchise themselves and had positioned Ford as the lead anchor in their bid, unaware that she was involved with another bidder. When her subterfuge was exposed, ITN immediately terminated her contract and publicly criticized her dishonesty and disloyalty.<ref name="Leapman, Michael 1984">Leapman, Michael. ''Treachery: The Power Struggle at TV-am''. Unwin Hyman 1984. {{ISBN\|978-0-04-791041-8}}</ref> Her tenure at TV-am was short lived in part due to fierce competition from the BBC's casually styled ''Breakfast Time''. The loss of viewers resulted in a relaunch which was perceived as "dumbing-down" of the station, and only three months after the station's launch, Ford was dismissed from TV-am partly due to her on-air support for chairman [[Peter Jay (diplomat)\|Peter Jay]] (who had already resigned) and partly because she refused to stand down from ''[[Good Morning Britain (1983 TV programme)\|Good Morning Britain]]'' when the ratings slumped.<ref name="Leapman, Michael 1984"/> Ford was involved in an incident at a party in which she threw her wine over [[Jonathan Aitken]] to express her outrage over his involvement in her sacking from the channel.<ref>{{cite news\| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/6b9f6a72 \| work=BBC \| first=Kirsty \| last=Young \| title=Desert Island Discs: Anna Ford \| date=18 March 2012}}</ref> Ford ~~rejoined~~re-joined the BBC in ~~1988~~summer 1986, Firstly to cover for Wogan in June, and other minor roles. From January 1987 was given her own programme "Network" in which member of the public were able discusses issues with BBC management.<ref>{{cite web \| url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/2de95fc811084e0d9e9961994dae01a3 \| title=BBC Programme Index \| date=20 January 1987 }}</ref> Anna, ~~becoming~~become part of the presentation team for both [[BBC One]]'s ''[[BBC News at Six\|Six O'Clock News]]'' from February 1989 '' and the [[BBC Radio 4]] ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)\|Today]]'' ~~programme~~ in 1993. From 1999, she fronted the relaunched ''[[BBC ~~One~~News ~~O'Clock~~at ~~News~~One\|One O'Clock News]]''. In 1996, Ford was accused of bias when hosting a discussion on treatment of men during divorce cases on the ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)\|Today]]'' programme. The three-minute discussion featured feminist barrister Elizabeth Woodcraft and [[Neil Lyndon]], a critic of feminism, with Ford allowing Woodcraft to speak for more than two minutes of the three-minute feature. Lyndon received an apology for his treatment on the programme and Ford, herself a feminist,<ref name="amis responds">{{cite news\| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/22/martin-amis-anna-ford-letter \| work=The Guardian \| first=Charlotte \| last=Higgins \| title=Martin Amis responds: A poor godparent, yes, but I did not 'fill in time' at friend's deathbed \| date=22 February 2010}}</ref> was reprimanded by [[Rod Liddle]], then the programme's editor.<ref>{{cite news\|last= McKie\|first= Andrew \|title= Bias reprimand for Anna Ford \|work= The Sunday Telegraph \|url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19144200.html \|date= 31 August 1997}}{{dead link\|date=February 2019\|bot=medic}}{{cbignore\|bot=medic}}</ref> On 30 October 2005, Ford announced she would retire from broadcasting in April 2006 to pursue other interests while she "still has the interest and energy".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4390160.stm Newsreader Ford retiring from BBC] BBC News – 30 October 2005</ref> She also talked about [[ageism]], stating:<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/4892178.stm Anna Ford talks tough on ageism] BBC News – 9 April 2006</ref> {{quote\|I might have been shovelled off into [[BBC News 24\|News 24]] to the sort of graveyard shift, and I wouldn't have wanted to do that because it wouldn't have interested me. I think when you reflect on the people who they're (the BBC) bringing in and they're all much younger. I think they are being brought in because they are younger. I think that's specifically one of the reasons why they're being employed."}} Ford presented her last ''One O'Clock News'' on 27 April 2006, signing off by introducing a compilation of clips of her career. On 2 May 2006, [[J Sainsbury's\|J Sainsbury plc]], the UK supermarket group, announced Ford was joining the company as a non-executive director.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/2006/05/02/sainsbury-ford-retail-cx_cn_0502autofacescan08.html "J. Sainsbury Appoints Famous U.K. Newsreader To Board"] Forbes.com – 2 May 2006</ref> She is the Chair of Sainsbury's board's Corporate Responsibility Committee.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/cr/files/pdf/cr2008_report.pdf \|title=Sainsbury's Corporate Responsibility Report 2008, with Ford's article on page 6. (pdf file) \|publisher=J-sainsbury.co.uk \|access-date=28 September 2013 \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930141456/http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/cr/files/pdf/cr2008_report.pdf \|archive-date=30 September 2011 }}</ref> ===Academia=== On 17 December 2001, Ford was installed as [[Chancellor (education)\|Chancellor]] of the Victoria University of Manchester. When the Victoria University of Manchester merged with the [[~~UMIST\|~~University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology]] (UMIST) on 1 October 2004 to create the new [[University of Manchester]], she became its Co-Chancellor along with Sir [[Terry Leahy]] (the former Chancellor of UMIST)~~. On 22 April 2006, Ford received an honorary doctorate from the [[University of St Andrews]], nominated by Sir [[Menzies Campbell]]~~. She completed her term and [[Tom Bloxham (property developer)\|Tom Bloxham]] succeeded her as sole Chancellor on 1 August 2008. On 22 April 2006, Ford received an honorary doctorate from the [[University of St Andrews]], nominated by Sir [[Menzies Campbell]]. ===Other work=== Line 44 ⟶ 45: ==Personal life== Ford had an early marriage to Alan Bittles (1970–div), although this was dissolved before her television career ~~and,~~began. inIn the late 1970s, she was briefly engaged to [[Jon Snow (journalist)\|Jon Snow]], a colleague at ITN.<ref name="indep">{{cite news\| url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/feisty-anna-ford-leaps-to-the-defence-of-her-moon-walker-boyfriend-514383.html \| work=Irish Independent \| first=Bairbre \| last=Power \| title=Feisty Anna Ford leaps to the defence of her moon walker boyfriend \| date=21 May 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/012705/r012705_01.htm \|title=Camden New Journal \|publisher=Camden New Journal \|date=28 January 2005 \|access-date=28 September 2013 \|archive-date=4 February 2012 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204063829/http://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/012705/r012705_01.htm \|url-status=dead }}</ref> She married the magazine editor and cartoonist [[Mark Boxer]] in 1981;<ref name="indep"/> with ~~him~~whom she had two daughters~~, Claire (b. 1982) and Kate (b. 1985)~~, before he died of a brain tumour in 1988 at their home in [[Brentford]], Greater London.<ref>{{cite news\|title=Mark Boxer, Editor, Cartoonist And Social Satirist, Is Dead at 57\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/23/obituaries/mark-boxer-editor-cartoonist-and-social-satirist-is-dead-at-57.html\|newspaper=The New York Times\|date=23 July 1988}}</ref> She was briefly engaged in 2000, to former astronaut [[David Scott]], the seventh man to walk on the moon.<ref>{{cite book \|last=Smith \|first=Andrew \|author-link=Andrew Smith (author) \|title =Moondust: in search of the men who fell to Earth \|publisher=Fourth Estate \|year=2005 \|location=New York \|pages=324–325 \| oclc=58720734 \|isbn=978-0-00-715541-5}}</ref> Ford became the subject of news stories in August 2001, when she lost a high-profile court case. She claimed unsuccessfully that photographs of her in a bikini with Scott, by a press photographer in [[Majorca]], with a powerful zoom lens and published in the [[List of newspapers in the United Kingdom\|British media]], constituted an invasion of her privacy.<ref name="AFHP"/>▼ ▲She was briefly engaged in 2000, to former astronaut [[David Scott]], the seventh man to walk on the ~~moon~~Moon.<ref>{{cite book \|last=Smith \|first=Andrew \|author-link=Andrew Smith (author) \|title =Moondust: in search of the men who fell to Earth \|publisher=Fourth Estate \|year=2005 \|location=New York \|pages=324–325 \| oclc=58720734 \|isbn=978-0-00-715541-5}}</ref> Ford became the subject of news stories in August 2001, when she lost a high-profile court case. She claimed unsuccessfully that photographs of her in a bikini with Scott, taken by a press photographer in [[Mallorca\|Majorca]], with a powerful zoom lens and published in the [[List of newspapers in the United Kingdom\|British media]], constituted an invasion of her privacy.<ref name="AFHP"/> In a letter to ''[[The Guardian]]'' in February 2010, Ford accused [[Martin Amis]] (a friend of her late husband Mark Boxer) of having neglected his duties as godfather to her daughter Claire and also having been disrespectful to Boxer at the time of his death.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/20/martin-amis-anna-ford-media The root of Martin Amis's anger] ''The Guardian'' – 20 February 2010</ref> Amis rejected her allegations in a reply, but accepted that he had been remiss in his duties as godfather.<ref name="amis responds"/>▼ ▲In a letter to ''[[The Guardian]]'' in February 2010, Ford accused [[Martin Amis]] (a friend of her late husband Mark Boxer) of having neglected his duties as godfather to ~~her~~one ~~daughter~~of her ~~Claire~~daughters and also having been disrespectful to Boxer at the time of his death.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/20/martin-amis-anna-ford-media The root of Martin Amis's anger] ''The Guardian'' – 20 February 2010</ref> Amis rejected her allegations in a reply, but accepted that he had been remiss in his duties as godfather.<ref name="amis responds">{{cite news\| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/22/martin-amis-anna-ford-letter \| work=The Guardian \| first=Charlotte \| last=Higgins \| title=Martin Amis responds: A poor godparent, yes, but I did not 'fill in time' at friend's deathbed \| date=22 February 2010}}</ref> She self-describes as a [[birdwatcher]].<ref>{{cite news \|last1=Kellaway \|first1=Kate \|title='To a birdwatcher, one glimpse, one moment is happiness enough' \|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/nov/22/birdwatching-popularity-kate-kellaway \|access-date=27 May 2020 \|work=The Observer \|date=22 November 2009}}</ref> ==Filmography== Line 71 ⟶ 70: * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2006_17_wed.shtml Audio interview on ''Woman's Hour'' re her retirement] * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/privatepassions/pip/nyhdz/ BBC Radio 3's "Private Passions" – musical play list] * [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/28/nford28.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/28/ixnewstop.html Daily Telegraph article, 28 April 2006 – "Anna Ford says goodbye Britain as she signs off after 27 years"]{{dead link\|date=~~August~~January ~~2021~~2022\|bot=medic}}{{cbignore\|bot=medic}} * [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fordanna/fordanna.htm Biography at the Museum of Broadcast Communications] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418025542/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fordanna/fordanna.htm \|date=18 April 2007 }} * [http://www.open2.net/othermedicine/annaford.html Open University profile]