Katty Kay

Katherine "Katty" B. Kay[1] (born 14 November 1964) is a British journalist, author and broadcaster. She presents BBC World News America and, with Christian Fraser, hosts Beyond 100 Days on BBC Four, BBC News and BBC World News. She also appears weekly on NBC News in Morning Joe.

Katty Kay
Born	Katherine B. Kay (1964-11-14) 14 November 1964 Wallingford, Berkshire, England
Alma mater	St Hilda's College, Oxford
Occupation	Journalist Anchor
Employer	BBC NBC
Home town	Blewbury, Berkshire, England
Board member of	International Women's Media Foundation
Spouse(s)	Tom Carver
Children	4

Kay has written two books. On 2 June 2009, Harper Collins published Womenomics, a book written by Kay and ABC News' Good Morning America senior national correspondent Claire Shipman exploring the redefinition of success for working women based on recent trends of the value of women to the business world. On 15 April 2014, The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know was published, written by Kay and Shipman.

Kay is a board member at the International Women's Media Foundation.[2]

Early life and education

Kay was born in Wallingford and grew up in Blewbury (then in Berkshire, now in Oxfordshire). She spent time in various Middle Eastern countries where her father was posted as a British diplomat. She studied modern languages at St Hilda's College, Oxford and speaks fluent French and Italian.[3][4] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1988.

Career

After graduation, she briefly worked for the Bank of England.[5] Deciding a career in economics was not for her, she left to work for an aid agency in Zimbabwe.

A short time later, a friend, Matt Frei, came out with a tape recorder and persuaded her to become a journalist.[6] Kay joined the BBC in 1990 as Zimbabwe correspondent for the African section of the BBC World Service. She then returned to London to work for BBC World Service radio, before being posted to Tokyo for BBC News television in 1992 and then Washington, D.C., in 1996. Soon afterwards, she joined The Times news bureau, but returned to the BBC as a freelance journalist in 2002, based in the United States.

From June 2004, Kay co-presented the BBC World news bulletins with Mike Embley in London, shown on 230 public broadcast-television stations throughout the US and on BBC America.[7] In October 2007, she became correspondent to presenter Matt Frei of BBC World's one-hour Washington-based news broadcast, BBC World News America. It airs on BBC News, BBC America, and BBC World News. She currently anchors the show. Kay also makes frequent appearances as a guest panelist on The Chris Matthews Show, Morning Joe and Meet the Press on NBC, Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, and in the past also appeared on Larry King Live on CNN. She occasionally substituted for Diane Rehm on The Diane Rehm Show on NPR.

Until 2009, Kay blogged at the website, True/Slant.

In 2018, Kay made a brief appearance in the National Geographic documentary science-fiction series Mars.

Controversies

In 2017 Kay attracted criticism for her comments on MSNBC stating that Europeans should "get used to" Islamic terror attacks. Speaking on May 24 after the Ariana Grande Concert Attack in Manchester, Kay also argued that "we are never going to be able to totally wipe this out."[8] UKIP leader Nigel Farage strongly condemned Kay's comments, stating "Never. If we accept this as a way of life that is giving in, it is appeasement, it is surrendering."[9][10]

Personal life

Kay has been married since 1989 to ex-BBC reporter and current Head of Global Communications, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Tom Carver.[11] They have four children.

Works

• Claire Shipman and Katty Kay, Womenomics, (HarperBusiness, 2 June 2009) ISBN 978-0-06-169718-0
• Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know, ISBN 006223062X ASIN: B00DB368AY

References

1. "FreeBMD Entry Info". www.freebmd.org.uk.
2. "Board of Directors". International Women's Media Foundation. 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
3. Kurtz, Howard (26 February 2007). "Katty Kay, Calibrating Britney for the Beeb". Washington Post. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
4. "Results for England & Wales Births 1837-2006: Katherine; Kay; 1964". Findmypast. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
5. "BBC News - World News America - Katty Kay". BBC News. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
6. "She said... Katty Kay". BBC World Service. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
7. "Katty Kay". BBC World. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
8. Kelly, Helen (25 May 2017). "BBC News presenter sparks backlash as she warns viewers to 'get used to' terror attacks". Express.co.uk.
9. Nigel Farage on Twitter: "The BBC says Europe must get used to terrorist attacks. Never!… "
10. "Nigel Farage: Accepting terrorism as a way of life is 'appeasement'". Washington Examiner. 24 May 2017.
11. "Tom Carver to head global communications for Carnegie Endowment". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.

External links

• BBC Press Office bio
• Katty Kay on IMDb
• Katty Kay on Twitter
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Katty Kay on Charlie Rose
• Works by or about Katty Kay in libraries (WorldCat catalog)