Mike Graham (journalist)


Archibald Michael Graham is a British journalist who was editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror and Programme Director and mid-morning presenter of the Independent Republic of Mike Graham on Talk 107, the Edinburgh sister station of Talksport.

Early life

Graham was born in Hampstead, London, to Scottish parents: Archibald Graham, a newspaper graphic artist, and his wife Mairi. Both the young Graham and his older sister attended local schools in the London Borough of Camden.

Career

Before his radio career, Graham was a Fleet Street journalist for the best part of twenty-five years. He was editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror and assistant editor of the Daily Express. He covered the Bosnian War in 1992 as a reporter for the Daily Express. Graham was based in New York City from 1984 to 1992. While in New York, he ran his own news agency supplying news, features and pictures to international media.
Graham joined UTV's former Scottish radio station Talk 107 in February 2006, anchoring the mid-morning slot 10 am to 1 pm with 'The Independent Republic of Mike Graham'. In November 2006, he was also appointed the station's programme director. In 2008, his contract was not renewed at Talk 107 and he started broadcasting on UTV's national talkSPORT radio station in the 1.00 am to 6.00am slot on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In April 2010 he presented the 10pm-1am slot every Friday and Saturday night, replacing George Galloway as well as continuing to present the Monday 1-6am slot. In July 2010 he moved from weekends to weekdays presenting alongside Mike Parry as 'Parry and Graham' between 10am-1pm.
Graham's future with Talksport seemed uncertain after his co-host Mike Parry resigned from talkSPORT as a result of a contractual dispute, in March 2011 he took over talkSPORT's midweek 1.00 am to 6.00 am, 'Extra Time'. In October 2013 Mike Parry returned to broadcast alongside Mike Graham debating "a host of issues" as a segment of 'Extra Time' known as 'The Two Mikes' which evolved into a regular three-hour slot headlined as 'The Two Mikes' between 1.00 am and 4.00 am. In 2015 Graham and Parry launched their Two Mikes 'World Tour' at venues throughout Britain. In 2015 'The Two Mikes' were named as "Alternative Men of the Year" by the Daily Telegraph. Their most recent slot was on Friday nights at 10pm on talkSPORT. Their last Radio show on Talksport was 22.00 - 01.00 on 29 March 2019. In April 2019, The Two Mikes disbanded; the first sign of the pair breaking up was the ending of their TMTV online shows. Mike Graham announced on Twitter "he was done" and therefore the team have split. Since then he has presented a solo show daily on talkRADIO between 10am and 1pm.
In 2017, Graham was the subject of controversy after making a post on Twitter in which he called Liverpool F.C. fans 'murderers', in the context of the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster.

Personal life

In New York, Graham married and divorced and had two children. His daughter, Emma Graham, is a journalist based in UAE working as a News and Programming Producer for cnbc.com. Graham's mother Mairi emigrated to Connecticut USA to be with her daughter.