James Mates

James Mates is a British newsreader and journalist. Currently employed by ITN, as senior correspondent for ITV News and main presenter of "The Late News".

Personal life

He is the son of Conservative party politician Michael Mates.

James Mates currently lives in London with his wife Fiona and three children. They married in May 1991.

Education and early career

Mates boarded at Marlborough College in Wiltshire, leaving at the age of 16 to take A levels at Farnham College. He graduated from Leeds University in 1983, with an Honours degree in International History and Politics. During that time he had spent his 1981 summer vacation working as a researcher for John Tower on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

TV career

Mates joined ITN in 1983 as an editorial trainee and was appointed scriptwriter in the ITV newsroom two years later.

Mates was made a general reporter at ITN in 1986.

Amongst his first assignments on becoming a reporter was to cover the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. He spent five weeks in Zeebrugge in 1987 during the operation to raise the capsized ferry 'Herald of Free Enterprise'.

Another major assignment was to cover the UK's failed extradition attempt from Ireland of Father Patrick Ryan in 1989. The failure was attributed to prejudicial comments made in parliament by his father, Michael Mates, which implied that Ryan was a terrorist. Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, compounded the damage done by Mates' comments at PMQs on 29 November 1988. [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1988-11-30/Debate-2.html PM "abused Question Time" to make a statement on the extradition of Father Patrick Ryan] ] . In October 1989, the Irish government refused the extradition request on the grounds that Ryan would not get a fair trial in Britain. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/northern_ireland/history/68885.stm Irish Republic refuses Patrick Ryan's extradition] ] In 1989, he was made Tokyo correspondent of the World News on Channel 4's first early morning service, "Channel Four Daily".

In 1991, Mates was North of England correspondent for ITV, and later that year became Moscow Correspondent until 1993.

During his time as Moscow correspondent one of James Mates' reports, on the use of ice as an anaesthetic in a Russian hospital, was awarded the Prix du Press Club de France at the 7th International Scoop & News Festival of Angers, France. The same story, together with a report on the Russian economy, won Mates a silver medal at the 35th Annual Film & Television Festival of New York.

From 1993 until 1996, Mates was ITN's Diplomatic Editor.

His many assignments have numbered Kosovo, where he was during the NATO invasion of the country; former Yugoslavia where he covered the 1996 refugee crisis; Moscow during President Yeltsin's attempt to put down the uprising in Chechnya; and Rwanda where he reported on the central African republic 's genocidal civil war. As the only television journalist left in the capital Kigali in 1994, Mates watched the city fall to the rebel army of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. He also reported on the slaughter of countless soldiers and civilians and the plight of the 700,000 refugees who fled the carnage. ITV News won a BAFTA for its coverage of the genocide.

He also won a joint Silver Medal from New York for his 1996 coverage of the refugee crisis in former Yugoslavia.

Just before covering the war in Rwanda, Mates had been in South Africa reporting on the first-ever democratic elections in the country, which culminated in Nelson Mandela's inauguration as President.

Mates was Washington correspondent between 1997 and 2001.

In 2001, Mates was awarded the title of Senior Correspondent for ITV News.

In September 2001 Mates played a key role in ITV News coverage of the events of September 11th, reporting from New York.

During his time at ITN James Mates has also been involved in Budget and election programmes. He wrote ITN's Election Factbook for the 1984 US Presidential Election and was reporter at the count for Norman Tebbit's Chingford constituency at the General Election of 1987.

Since January 2008, Mates can also be seen presenting "The Late News" each Friday.

References