Mike Debens

Mike Debens (born 1949) is a former British television newsreader based in the South East of England.

Debens worked for TVS and latterly Meridian TV fronting the daily award winning news programmes "Coast to Coast" and "Meridian Tonight" from the mid-1980s until his retirement from television in 1996. Prior to his long stint in independent television, Mike Debens worked as a reporter for BBC News.

Debens began his career in print journalism, submitting articles to 'The Birmingham Evening Post', becoming a reporter, and then becoming editor at the age of 20. He won BBC regional news reporting awards throughout the 1970s and ITN awards in the 1980s.

Mike Debens was well known for his strong left wing political views, frequently arguing with Conservative MPs. He once staged a one-man strike in protest over TVS's handling of a political news story.

Debens then moved into production for Meridian TV in 2003, before moving to France. He returned to the UK and is now based in Andalusia, Spain. He has been twice married, with two sons from his first marriage and two daughters from his second marriage, to Meridian reporter Samantha Williams. His eldest son James once worked as a staff reporter for The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Debens spent much of his childhood in care. He once got emotional on air during an interview with a care-worker.

See also

*Fred Dinenage