Channel 4 News is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982.
A replacement for the Channel 4 News at Noon in the 12.00 pm slot, it first aired on 21 December 2009, giving a five-minute summary of the news.
Former productions
''Channel Four News at Noon''
Channel Four News at Noon was first introduced in 2003 for the duration of the Iraq War, and due to its instant success, it was kept on in Channel 4's daytime schedule. It was presented by Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Prior to this bulletin, the programme in the slot was Powerhouse, a political news programme, also produced for Channel 4 by ITN. As a consequence of the advertising slowdown during the 2009 recession, the programme was cancelled, along with More4 News and replaced with the five minute Channel 4 News Summary, the last broadcast airing on 18 December 2009.
''More4 News''
Aired Monday to Friday on sister channel More4, More4 News was anchored by Sarah Smith then later Kylie Morris, it ran for 30 minutes, aiming to go in-depth into a certain issue. As a consequence of the advertising slowdown during the 2009 recession, the programme was cancelled, along with the Channel Four News at Noon, the last broadcast airing on 18 December 2009.
On-air team
Current newscasters
Jon Snow
Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Matt Frei
Cathy Newman
Jackie Long
Fatima Manji
Former newscasters
Samira Ahmed
Fiona Armstrong
Zeinab Badawi
Carol Barnes
Sandy Gall
Sue Carpenter
Godfrey Hodgson
Sarah Hogg
Trevor McDonald
Tristana Moore
Fiona Murch
Dermot Murnaghan
Nicholas Owen
Shahnaz Pakravan
Katie Razzall
Norman Rees
Brenda Rowe
Sonia Ruseler
Gavin Scott
Peter Sissons
Sarah Spiller
Alastair Stewart
John Suchet
Alex Thomson
Sue Turton
Kirsty Young
Correspondents/editors
Weather forecaster
Design team
Non-broadcast media
Channel 4 News also produces a variety of non-broadcast media, including a range of journalist authored blogs to deliver insight and analysis of the news from the news team. Channel 4 News also produces Snowmail, a free daily email from the news reporter team, giving their personal take on the day's news agenda and behind-the-scenes newsroom goings-on.
Historical roles
In 2003, Channel 4 News broke the story of the Dodgy Dossier which led to a political crisis in Britain. The story of the Conservative Party's election expenses scandal was first broken, and then pursued for over a year, by Michael Crick. In March 2018, an undercover investigation by Channel 4 News explored the campaign activities of Cambridge Analytica.
On the evening of the Westminster attack of 22 March 2017, Channel 4 News claimed they were able to name the dead attacker as Abu Izzadeen, also known as Trevor Brooks. The claim was repeated by The Independent and the Daily Mirror. However, Channel 4 News was forced to issue an on-air retraction during the same bulletin after Izzadeen's solicitor stated that he was alive and serving time in prison.
Theme music
The music in the Channel 4 News titles is an orchestration of "Best Endeavours" by Alan Hawkshaw. It was introduced a few months after the channel's launch, and has remained in use since its inception. Between June and October 2000, the theme was used by an Israeli news program, broadcast on channel 2, and produced by the Israel television news company called Friday's studio without the channel's approval. As a result, in October , the theme was changed to an original piece of music.