Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Holding people to account

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Holding people to account

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Wednesday, 1st March 2017
Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Krishnan Guru-Murthy

After a childhood spent thinking he was going follow his father and grandfather into medicine, Krishnan Guru-Murthy came to the realisation that journalism was the path for him.

He’s had a colourful career in journalism; from various roles at the BBC to his current job anchoring Channel 4 News alongside Cathy Newman and Jon Snow.

Reporting on politics and current affairs around the world, Guru-Murthy has travelled to Venezuela, Yemen, Israel and Syria during the last 12 months to report on the very different crises taking place in the regions. From geopolitical stories, to economics and social development, the past year has been a challenge and a joy, in terms of international travel and going after the bigger stories.

“Our mission is to tell people things they don’t know, to shine a light on things that aren’t being brought to attention and to hold people to account. Revealing something about the way the world runs or how people are being treated, that’s what you get the biggest kick out of.”

Guru-Murthy’s interview style is one that often draws comment. Direct and proactive, he uses his uncompromising technique to get his interviewees talking. “The key to interviews is to not be predictable and try to reveal something about your interviewee. You’ve got to think about the hard questions for them to answer.”

Even though Guru-Murthy has interviewed the big stars such as Martin Scorsese, Pharrell Williams and Quentin Tarantino to name a few, he explains that the most striking interviews are the ones he does with ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. “It’s a very different technique to interview ordinary people and it’s really just about being a human being. It’s about trying to understand their situation and draw something bigger from their individual experience.”

 

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Guru-Murthy wasbeen nominated for the RTS Presenter of the Year award in the past, as well as Interview of the Year in 2015 for his interview with Jeremy Corbyn (in which the then-Labour leadership hopeful visably lost his temper, accusing Guru-Murthy of “tabloid journalism”). In 2017 he was nominated for the Television Journalist of the Year award at the RTS Television Journalism Awards, alongside Channel 4 News colleague Matt Frei and the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen.

Delighted as he is to be nominated, Guru-Murthy adds “It is awkward going to an awards' ceremony, dressing up, having a great time and patting each other on the back about the most dreadful things that we've all gone and seen.”

“It’s great to be nominated because it’s nice to be made a fuss off” he laughs. “Doing Unreported World, is a really big part of my life now. I spend quite a lot of time during the year travelling and making these short current affairs documentaries. I'm really pleased to have that recognised as having done some good work this year.”

Krishnan Guru-Murthy is nominated for the RTS Television Journalist of the Year award at the RTS Television Journalism Awards 2017.

Read interviews with category winner Matt Frei and nominee Jeremy Bowen. See the winners here.

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After a childhood spent thinking he was going follow his father and grandfather into medicine, Krishnan Guru-Murthy came to the realisation that journalism was the path for him.