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Peter Woon

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223:, Germany, after suffering injuries from a fall, which led to his death at age eighty-two. He was cremated in Dresden with a funeral ceremony attended by his son, Peter and partner Frances. He left a significant bequest both to his former school, Christ's Hospital, and a dozen charities. He set up a fund for the further education and wellbeing of a former Christ's Hospital student. 187:. In an internal BBC meeting on 20 June 1984 he said there had been "a general feeling in the newsroom" the previous evening that coverage had "a marginal imbalance". Woon later said that the editing had been difficult due to the quantity of material, but the accusations of BBC bias were wrong. He also faced criticism over the BBC's coverage of the 206:
Woon was born in Bristol in 1931. He married Betty in 1956, but divorced in 1974. He was divorced by his second wife, Diana, a former colleague, in 1992. His interests included cricket, and travelling, including cruises. He served as a Governor for his former school, Christ's Hospital, and acted as a
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In 1969 he assumed control of the BBC's radio news service. He soon introduced the use of live "on the spot" reporting and interviews during radio news bulletins. These live inserts were called in by telephone, which led to some complaints about quality, but the practice caught on and became a key
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current affairs programme. This was a significant step forward, since only six years earlier Radio Four's presentation editor had said, "A news announcer needs to have authority, consistency and reliability. Women may have one or two of these qualities, but not all three".
110:, where is duties included reporting on defence and aviation. He was hired by the BBC in 1961 at a time when the corporation was seeking new talent from different backgrounds so that BBC News could better respond to the growing success of competitor 33: 198:
Woon moved from being television news editor to holding publicity and ambassadorial roles for the BBC; in 1985 he became the BBC's representative in the United States. He retired in 1988.
118:, working for Tom Maltby. Due to a lack of assignments as a reporter, he moved into a position as a news editor, and in 1966 ran the half-hour programme 431: 386: 86:. In roles managing radio and then television news over two decades, he made key changes in significant areas of how news was broadcast. 184: 160:
In 1980 Woon became editor of television news, where he began the use of journalists as BBC Television newsreaders, starting with
83: 79: 131: 329: 192: 165: 436: 426: 302: 421: 416: 100: 273: 152: 387:"Documents reveal BBC concern at 'imbalance' over coverage of miners' strike 'Battle of Orgreave'" 95: 170: 115: 174:; newsreading had previously been an entirely separate role. He also oversaw the launch of 176: 147: 139: 410: 188: 161: 143: 138:
aspect of the format of news reports. Woon also supported the introduction of female
106: 127: 360: 32: 337: 219:. In May 2014, whilst on an Elbe River cruise, he was taken to hospital in 247: 220: 123: 49: 216: 126:, hiring young reporting staff with newspaper experience, such as 111: 303:"Journalist who changed the way the BBC reported the news" 146:
took the decision to add a permanent female presenter to
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Woon received criticism over the BBC coverage of the
114:. His first job was as a television news reporter at 65: 57: 42: 23: 330:"The woman who cracked the BBC's glass ceiling" 134:, and making Ken Goudie an assistant editor. 8: 215:In his final years, Woon was diagnosed with 20: 207:pastoral mentor for one of its students. 297: 295: 241: 239: 237: 235: 231: 7: 14: 78:(1931 – May 2014) was a news and 272:Ashton, Alan (5 December 2013). 84:British Broadcasting Corporation 61:May 2014 (aged 82–83) 31: 432:Mass media people from Bristol 1: 385:Harcup, Tony (4 March 2014). 359:Serpell, Nick (3 June 2014). 246:Chaundy, Bob (17 June 2014). 309:. London. 22 September 2014 98:, including working at the 94:Woon began his career as a 453: 334:British Journalism Review 193:Northern Ireland conflict 30: 248:"Obituary: Peter Woon" 274:"Ken Goudie obituary" 177:The Six O'Clock News 142:. In 1979 Woon and 101:Bristol Evening Post 340:on 23 December 2012 104:, and later at the 96:newspaper reporter 16:British journalist 171:Nine O'Clock News 73: 72: 444: 402: 401: 399: 397: 382: 376: 375: 373: 371: 356: 350: 349: 347: 345: 336:. Archived from 328:Maddox, Brenda. 325: 319: 318: 316: 314: 299: 290: 289: 287: 285: 269: 263: 262: 260: 258: 243: 116:Alexandra Palace 35: 21: 452: 451: 447: 446: 445: 443: 442: 441: 437:BBC News people 407: 406: 405: 395: 393: 384: 383: 379: 369: 367: 361:"Been and gone" 358: 357: 353: 343: 341: 327: 326: 322: 312: 310: 301: 300: 293: 283: 281: 271: 270: 266: 256: 254: 245: 244: 233: 229: 213: 204: 150:'s influential 92: 80:current affairs 53: 47: 38: 26: 17: 12: 11: 5: 450: 448: 440: 439: 434: 429: 424: 419: 409: 408: 404: 403: 377: 351: 320: 291: 264: 230: 228: 225: 212: 209: 203: 200: 185:miners' strike 148:BBC Radio Four 91: 88: 82:editor at the 71: 70: 67: 63: 62: 59: 55: 54: 48: 44: 40: 39: 36: 28: 27: 24: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 449: 438: 435: 433: 430: 428: 425: 423: 420: 418: 415: 414: 412: 392: 391:Press Gazette 388: 381: 378: 366: 362: 355: 352: 339: 335: 331: 324: 321: 308: 304: 298: 296: 292: 279: 275: 268: 265: 253: 249: 242: 240: 238: 236: 232: 226: 224: 222: 218: 210: 208: 202:Personal life 201: 199: 196: 194: 190: 189:Falklands War 186: 181: 179: 178: 173: 172: 167: 163: 162:John Humphrys 158: 155: 154: 149: 145: 144:Aubrey Singer 141: 135: 133: 132:John Sergeant 129: 125: 121: 117: 113: 109: 108: 107:Daily Express 103: 102: 97: 89: 87: 85: 81: 77: 68: 64: 60: 56: 51: 45: 41: 34: 29: 22: 19: 427:News editors 394:. Retrieved 390: 380: 368:. Retrieved 364: 354: 342:. Retrieved 338:the original 333: 323: 311:. Retrieved 306: 282:. Retrieved 278:The Guardian 277: 267: 255:. Retrieved 251: 214: 205: 197: 182: 175: 169: 166:John Simpson 159: 151: 136: 119: 105: 99: 93: 75: 74: 37:Woon in 1970 18: 422:2014 deaths 417:1931 births 140:newsreaders 128:Tom Mangold 69:News editor 411:Categories 227:References 76:Peter Woon 66:Occupation 25:Peter Woon 307:The Times 52:, England 396:13 March 370:12 March 365:BBC News 344:13 March 313:13 March 284:13 March 280:. London 257:13 March 191:and the 120:Newsroom 221:Dresden 168:on the 124:BBC Two 50:Bristol 217:cancer 90:Career 211:Death 153:Today 398:2015 372:2015 346:2015 315:2015 286:2015 259:2015 164:and 130:and 58:Died 46:1931 43:Born 252:BBC 122:on 112:ITN 413:: 389:. 363:. 332:. 305:. 294:^ 276:. 250:. 234:^ 195:. 180:. 400:. 374:. 348:. 317:. 288:. 261:.

Index


Bristol
current affairs
British Broadcasting Corporation
newspaper reporter
Bristol Evening Post
Daily Express
ITN
Alexandra Palace
BBC Two
Tom Mangold
John Sergeant
newsreaders
Aubrey Singer
BBC Radio Four
Today
John Humphrys
John Simpson
Nine O'Clock News
The Six O'Clock News
miners' strike
Falklands War
Northern Ireland conflict
cancer
Dresden




"Obituary: Peter Woon"

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