ITN’s Nina Hossain receives honorary award in hometown
Wed, 15 Jul 2015 06:00:00 BST
Top journalist receives an Honorary Doctorate of the University for services to the world of media and broadcast journalism
ONE of the UK’s top TV journalists told University of Huddersfield students planning on entering her profession: “Go for it! You won’t regret it”.
Nina Hossain – born and educated in Huddersfield – has been presented with an Honorary Doctorate of her hometown university. She received the award at a special ceremony at St Paul’s Hall. It recognised the achievements of her 20-year journalistic career, culminating in 10 years with ITN, for which she has reported live on some of the biggest events of the past decade, including the July 7th London bombings, the 2012 Olympics and the Royal Wedding.
She presents the flagship News at Ten news programme, and for fifteen years has been the face of the evening news in the capital, first with BBC London and now with ITV News London.
Ms Hossain’s honorary doctorate was conferred at a ceremony that also saw dozens of journalism and broadcasting students receive their degrees. She told them that journalism was a “brilliant career” with never a dull day.
“If you have just a percentage of the luck that I have had, then you will have a brilliant time,” she added. “Journalists interview ordinary people, film stars and prime ministers at the worst times and the best times of their lives. It is a privileged position to be on the front seat of history,” said Ms Hossain.
She also urged new University of Huddersfield graduates never to forget the time they had spent in “this great town and this great university”.
Ms Hossain received her doctorate from the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Bob Cryan, and she was introduced in an oration delivered by journalism lecturer Deirdre O’Neill. She outlined what she described as the “forgotten history” of women in journalism. More women than men graduated in the subject, but only a small percentage of senior jobs in journalism were occupied by women.
Therefore, it was vital that the University of Huddersfield recognised the achievements and the professionalism of women such as Nina Hossain, said Ms O’Neill.
“It is wonderful for Huddersfield students to see a local woman achieve such a high national profile.”
- Nina Hossain attended Newsome High School and Greenhead College in Huddersfield, where close members of her family still live. She did her degree at Durham University and a postgraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism in Preston. Spells at ITV regional news in Carlisle and the BBC in London followed, before Ms Hossain joined ITN in 2004.
