Alastair Burnet

Sir Alastair Burnet
Alastair Burnet photo from 1960s
Born	James William Alexander Burnet (1928-07-12)12 July 1928 Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	20 July 2012(2012-07-20) (aged 84) Kensington, London, England
Other names	Sir Alastair Burnet
Occupation	TV presenter, newscaster and journalist
Years active	1963–1991 (retired)
Notable credit(s)	ITN, News at Ten
Spouse(s)	Maureen Sinclair (1958-2012; his death)

Sir James William Alexander Burnet (12 July 1928 – 20 July 2012), known as Sir Alastair Burnet, was a British journalist and broadcaster, best known for his work in news and current affairs programmes, including a long career with ITN as chief presenter of the flagship News at Ten for eighteen years; Sir Robin Day described Burnet as "the booster rocket that put ITN into orbit".

Burnet was also a prominent print journalist who edited The Economist and Daily Express.

Burnet was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire to Scottish parents on 12 July 1928. He was educated at the Leys School, a boys' independent school in Cambridge, before reading history at Worcester College, Oxford.

Upon graduating, Burnet began work as a reporter for The Glasgow Herald, before joining The Economist in 1958 as a sub-editor, leader writer, and subsequently, associate editor. He switched to television in 1963, becoming political editor for ITN. While reporting, Burnet became a relief newscaster and worked on ITN's current affairs programmes including Roving Report, Dateline and Dateline Westminster. He was also the main anchor for the ITV network's coverage of the 1964, 1966 and 1970 General Elections and the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969.

Burnet left ITN in 1965 to rejoin The Economist as editor, but continued broadcasting as a reporter and interviewer for Associated-Rediffusion's weekly current affairs programme This Week. He returned part-time to ITN in 1967 to launch News at Ten (initially as thirteen week pilot), presenting the first programme on 3 July alongside Andrew Gardner, and also presented the short lived topical interview series Man in the News in 1970. He switched to the BBC in 1972 to report and present for Panorama and Midweek and to anchor coverage of the February and October 1974 General Election programmes, also covering the wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips. He continued to edit The Economist until 1974, where he raised the circulation by 60%. He then joined the Daily Express as editor, but resigned 18 months later.