Donal MacIntyre: Difference between revisions
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'''Donal MacIntyre''' (born 1966 in Dublin) is an [[Irish people|Irish]] investigative [[journalist]], specialising in hard hitting investigations, undercover operations and television exposes. He has won praise for his courage, and campaigning zeal particularly his consistent work in the area of care homes for the elderly and the learning disabled. He has won awards in the UK, France, Spain and Ireland for his work, but the machismo of his style has also brought some detractors, from traditional journalists and among some people whose activities he had revealed. |
'''Donal MacIntyre''' (born 1966 in Dublin) is an [[Irish people|Irish]] investigative [[journalist]], specialising in hard hitting investigations, undercover operations and television exposes. He has won praise for his courage, and campaigning zeal particularly his consistent work in the area of care homes for the elderly and the learning disabled. He has won awards in the UK, France, Spain and Ireland for his work, but the machismo of his style has also brought some detractors, from traditional journalists and among some people whose activities he had revealed. |
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The risks of repeatedly going undercover have meant that MacIntyre has increasingly turned to presenting on films where his colleagues have undertaken the undercover work. He has also branched out into more traditional presenting roles, on weather phenomena and wildlife documentaries on [[BBC TV]] and [[Five_%28channel%29|Five]]. In 2007 he directed the [[Sundance Film Festival]] premiered ''[[A Very British Gangster]].'' |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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After graduation he worked as a [[newspaper]] reporter for [[The Sunday Tribune]] and later with [[The Irish Press]] in Dublin, covering finance, sports and news. He undertook his first [[investigative reporting]] into the [[Law Society]] investigating allegations of restrictive practises. He then wrote similar investigative articles for [[The Guardian]], [[The Daily Mail]] and the [[New Statesman]].<ref name="CitySpkr"/> |
After graduation he worked as a [[newspaper]] reporter for [[The Sunday Tribune]] and later with [[The Irish Press]] in Dublin, covering finance, sports and news. He undertook his first [[investigative reporting]] into the [[Law Society]] investigating allegations of restrictive practises. He then wrote similar investigative articles for [[The Guardian]], [[The Daily Mail]] and the [[New Statesman]].<ref name="CitySpkr"/> |
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===1993=== |
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Areas of Expertise |
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macIntyre started his [[television]] at the BBC, on the investigative sports strand ''[[On-The-Line]]'' in [[1993]]. In the wake of the [[Lyme Regis]] canoeing disaster in which four school children people drowned, his canoeing experience got him his first work undercover. He went under cover as an Adventure Sports Instructor to expose the lack of employment standards in the industry. |
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His first work in television was for the award winning BBC investigative sports strand On-The-Line in 1993. At one stage, for this programme he went undercover as an Adventure Sports Instructor to expose the lack of employment standards in the industry. This was in the wake of the Lyme Regis canoeing disaster in which four people drowned. His canoeing experience got him his first work undercover. |
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This work started MacIntyre's developed investigative reporting style, which he defines his criticised and machismo reporting as such: |
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{{blockquote|I think print can be very reactive. It just means getting on the end of a phone and getting a quote. For TV it doesn't happen unless it's filmed and that means you have to be there. Our particular brand is called Show Me television - we don't tell you, we show you. So we don't tell you what it's like to be mugged - we go out and get mugged and show you what it's like to be mugged. These emotions can resonate much better than an ordinary newspaper report.}}<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/communicate/archive/donal_mc/page3.shtml|title=Interview and Q&A with |
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Donal MacIntyre|publisher=BBC|date=2002-05-02|accessdate=2008-07-15}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 18:21, 15 July 2008
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Donal MacIntyre | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Dónal MacIntyre 1966 (age 57–58) |
| Status | Married |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Notable credit(s) | World In Action MacIntyre Undercover Street Crime Live |
| Spouse | Ameera De La Rosa |
| Children | Tiger Willow McIntyre (18 April 2007) |
| Website | http://macintyre.com |
Donal MacIntyre (born 1966 in Dublin) is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in hard hitting investigations, undercover operations and television exposes. He has won praise for his courage, and campaigning zeal particularly his consistent work in the area of care homes for the elderly and the learning disabled. He has won awards in the UK, France, Spain and Ireland for his work, but the machismo of his style has also brought some detractors, from traditional journalists and among some people whose activities he had revealed.
The risks of repeatedly going undercover have meant that MacIntyre has increasingly turned to presenting on films where his colleagues have undertaken the undercover work. He has also branched out into more traditional presenting roles, on weather phenomena and wildlife documentaries on BBC TV and Five. In 2007 he directed the Sundance Film Festival premiered A Very British Gangster.
Biography
Born in 1966 in Dublin, Ireland as one of a pair of twin brothers, his father Tom is an Irish writer and his American mother is on the Irish film board. One of five children, the family were brought up by their mother in Kildare, the United States and England after his father left in 1970. His elder brother Darragh is a reporter for BBC's Panorama, while his brother Tadhg and sister Deirdre are both psychologists.
MacIntyre was an active sportsman, playing rugby union and representing Ireland in canoeing at the World Championships, where his highest world ranking was 11th. He raced around the globe from Australia to Portugal, and won many Irish and British titles at various levels. He was also a member of two Irish Olympic training squads but failed to make the games because, in his own words he "wasn't good enough."
MacIntyre was educated in Dublin and London, and completed a Masters degree in Communication Policy at City University.[1]
Career
After graduation he worked as a newspaper reporter for The Sunday Tribune and later with The Irish Press in Dublin, covering finance, sports and news. He undertook his first investigative reporting into the Law Society investigating allegations of restrictive practises. He then wrote similar investigative articles for The Guardian, The Daily Mail and the New Statesman.[1]
1993
macIntyre started his television at the BBC, on the investigative sports strand On-The-Line in 1993. In the wake of the Lyme Regis canoeing disaster in which four school children people drowned, his canoeing experience got him his first work undercover. He went under cover as an Adventure Sports Instructor to expose the lack of employment standards in the industry.
This work started MacIntyre's developed investigative reporting style, which he defines his criticised and machismo reporting as such:
I think print can be very reactive. It just means getting on the end of a phone and getting a quote. For TV it doesn't happen unless it's filmed and that means you have to be there. Our particular brand is called Show Me television - we don't tell you, we show you. So we don't tell you what it's like to be mugged - we go out and get mugged and show you what it's like to be mugged. These emotions can resonate much better than an ordinary newspaper report.
The risks of repeatedly going undercover have meant that MacIntyre has increasingly turned to presenting on films where his colleagues have undertaken the undercover work. He has also branched out into more traditional presenting roles, on weather phenomena and wildlife documentaries on BBC TV and Five. He has also made a series of documentaries about leading figures in the British crime scene, MacIntyre's Underworld for Five. His broad range of activities have extended recently into directing where he has made an immediate impact with a cinema release of his Sundance Selected ` A Very British Gangster` and his award winning anti-smoking commercials for the SMOKE IS POISON campaign. This series included the banned `Polonium` commercial that the British Government banned out of sensitivity to the family of the murdered Russian dissident who was killed using the substance.
MacIntyre rose to prominence with his bravura performances as an undercover journalist with ITV and the acclaimed World In Action Strand and the BBC for the documentary strands, On The Line, and Taking Liberties. He received two RTS journalism awards for his 1996 investigations for ITV's World In Action into the links between drug dealers and the private security firms who control night-club doors. MacIntyre lived for 11 months in character, adopting a new name and identity to win the confidence of the criminals he wanted to film.
He was given his own series, MacIntyre Undercover on BBC One, where his exploits among a gang of football hooligans, the Chelsea Headhunters; in care homes for vulnerable people; and in the world of model agencies received widespread publicity. It proved to a major hit and was to transform investigative journalism on television subsequently, by forcing more traditional programmes to improve production values to attract a younger audience.
In 2000, Jason Marriner, a member of the Chelsea Headhunters was sentenced to six years in prison for his part in organizing a fight with supporters of a rival team, based on evidence captured by Donal MacIntyre and his team. MacIntyre was placed under Police protection during the trial. It was the first significant victory against the hooligan fraternity since the flawed attempts at undercover by the Police ten years previously, in the ill-fated own goal trials.
MacIntyre also secured convictions against members of Combat 18 who were later to daub his car with their insignia and force the reporter to move home.
MacIntyre's expose of conditions inside a Kent care home resulted in the closure of one institution and the cautioning of two people for five offences of assault. The Sunday Telegraph subsequently claimed that the programme had been unfairly edited, quoting members of the Kent Police who had investigated the home in the aftermath of MacIntyre's programme. The Kent force subsequently admitted they had libeled the reporter, withdrawing their criticism and paying him costs and damages. MacIntyre has used this case to campaign for MENCAP and Action Against Elder Abuse. He has made three more programmes on this issue since his controversial hit show on BBC1.
Towards the end of his second series of MacIntyre Investigates for the BBC, he came under more open criticism from internal sources. The three programs were suggested to have costed as much as £2million, while an episode of Panorama by contrast typically costed £100, 000-£150,000. In return, Lorraine Heggessey, BBC1's then controller Lorraine Heggessey expected MacIntyre Investigates to deliver the ratings - a pressure that other investigative journalists believed undermined its editorial integrity.[3]
2003 onwards
MacIntyre joined Five at the start of 2003, where his work has won further praise and awards, particularly for his Underworld Strand which has put some of the UK's most feared criminals under the spotlight. Unable due to his fame to go undercover, MacIntyre decided to get close to the very criminals he once exposed covertly, resulting in 13 programmes. MacIntyre later presented Street Crime Live.
In 2007, MacIntyre set out to create a documentary because he wanted to "do a Michael Moore for gangsters," in penetrating a world of super-rich villains who enjoy a life of luxury with no legitimate means of support: "It was interesting to make a 180-degree turn from my covert-reporting heritage and have full access. I wanted to build a bond."[4] The resulting production became a film with the title A Very British Gangster which centred around the life of Manchester based gangster and hit man Dominic Noonan, who's brother Desmond Noonan was stabbed to death during filming. MacIntyre intends to make more such films, focusing on other high-net-worth criminals.
From April 6, 2008[5] MacIntyre has presents a weekly radio show on BBC Radio Five.[6]
MacIntyre is a keen sportsman and has represented Ireland at World Championship level in canoeing with a top world ranking of 11. He has used this background to branch out into adventure and travel presenting. His Wild Weather series for the BBC has been broadcast around the world and his recent series Edge of Existence for Five saw him live with tribes around the world from the Sea Gypsies of Borneo to the Insect Tribe of Papua New Guinea. He brought the Insect Tribe back to live with his family in London for 'Return of the Tribe' for Five which was regarded as a sensitive and charming experiment in reverse anthropology.[citation needed]
Personal Life
In July 2006 Donal married Ameera De La Rosa at Slane Castle in Ireland. They have two children, Allegra (5)(from Ameera's previous relationship) and Tiger Willow McIntyre who was born in 18 April 2007.
MacIntyre is an avid mountain climber and an occasional boxer.
References
- ^ a b "Donal MacIntyre". City Speakers International. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
- ^ "Interview and Q&A with Donal MacIntyre". BBC. 2002-05-02. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 24 (help) - ^ Rowan, David (2002-05-08). "Evening Standard: Donal MacIntyre profile". Retrieved 2008-07-15.
- ^ "Donal MacIntyre: 'The difficult thing is to leave with clean hands'". The Telegraph. 2007-12-08. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
- ^ "Donal MacIntyre joins 5 Live". BBC Press Office. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
- ^ "Donal Macintyre". BBC Radio Five Live. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
External links
- Macintyre.com Donal MacIntyre's website
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Donal Macintyre at BBC Radio Five Live
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