Laurie Mayer (news presenter)

Laurie Mayer is a British journalist who had a 22-year career with the BBC on radio and across most television news programmes. His last main presenting role was of South East Today for BBC News, until he resigned in 2002, citing a culture of bullying at the BBC in the South East News department.^[1] The BBC won an ensuing employment tribunal. Mayer appealed and lost.

Mayer's radio career started on BBC Radio London in 1971, mainly presenting the station's breakfast show "Rush Hour". Between 1973 and 1979, he was one of the presenters on the BBC Radio 1 news programme Newsbeat.^[2]

Mayer was a presenter of the BBC's News After Noon, Six O'Clock News and Breakfast News programme (now known as Breakfast), before leaving for Sky News in the early 1990s. He went on to become the press spokesman for the owner of Harrods, Mohammed Al Fayed,^[3] before returning to the BBC as the main presenter of South East Today, walking out abruptly when his one year contract was not renewed.

Mayer also narrated every episode of the ITV emergency services documentary Blues and Twos from 1993-1998.^[4]

Personal life

Mayer got engaged to his wife Jill Hanson in 1971.^[5]

References

1. Cozens, Claire (16 October 2003). "BBC censured over Mayer case". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
2. "BBC Genome Project". Laurie Mayer. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
3. "Al-Fayed recruits Clifford". BBC News. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
4. "Blues and Twos (TV Series 1993–1998) - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
5. "BBC broadcasters Jill Hanson and Laurie Mayer, who are engaged, UK,..." Getty Images. 14 February 2017.