Clive Myrie: From having a paper round in Bolton to becoming a leading BBC presenter

“The bottom line is, I’m just a reporter who happens to be black. I’m not a black reporter,” Clive Myrie, one of the UK’s most successful journalists, tells me as he reminisces about his earliest days in journalism as a young paperboy from Bolton. Throughout his career, which spans over three decades at the BBC, Clive has done it all: reported from conflict zones, hosted the iconic quiz show Mastermind, and navigated the complex landscape of news in an incredibly uncertain world. The pinnacle highlight of his career, however, as I’m sure he would attest to, is this very interview with The Boar: Warwick’s award-winning student newspaper!

Putting the jokes to one side, as uplifting, humble, and grounded as Clive came across, this isn’t a story about me, or The Boar. Instead, here lies the story of how a paper boy from Bolton became one of the BBC’s greatest presenters.

Before he became the news anchor that we all know and love, Clive’s career began simply by distributing newspapers in his hometown*. He recalls: “I had a paper round when I was a kid, like lots of kids.” Through these humble beginnings, Clive became drawn to the stories that connect distant lands to his local street corner. “Reading those newspapers at the end of the day gave me a window onto the world,” he says, reflecting on how his early experiences sparked his dream of reporting from far-flung places.

* If this isn’t motivation for all my Boar editors to actually sign up and distribute the paper this year, then I’m not sure what is!

However, it was through seeing Trevor McDonald on television that Clive’s ambitions truly began to come to fruition. Watching McDonald, the UK’s first Black newscaster, appear on TV in the early 80s is ultimately what made a young Clive Myrie realise that a career in journalism really was attainable. “To see someone who looked like me on TV, doing something that I wanted to do made me feel it was possible. You can’t be what you can’t see,” a now much wiser Clive says, underscoring the profound impact of seeing a Black news anchor during his former years. But, as Clive hastened to add, it was not just McDonald’s colour that inspired him, but rather his ability to lead by example. “He wasn’t out on the streets marching or demanding people of colour get jobs and diversity,” he says, looking back roughly 40 years into the past. “He wasn’t, he was simply doing his job. And in doing his job, he made me realise that it was all possible.”

Certainly, at the beginning of my career, I didn’t want to be defined by my colour

Clive Myrie

Studying at the University of Sussex was more than just a geographical move for Clive; it was a cultural leap. “University is where you find yourself,” he asserts, reflecting on how his eyes were opened considerably during his three years at Brighton. Known for its inclusive and vibrant LGBTQ+ community, Brighton played a crucial role in shaping Clive’s early adult life. “Brighton as a town being open and accessible was welcoming to me as a northerner and a black guy to boot,” he notes, underlining how his university experience began to influence his approach to storytelling. “It’s made me who I am now,” Clive confidently asserts.

Fast forward to 1987, and after taking a year off after graduating, Clive found himself starting out as a trainee local reporter on the BBC’s graduate journalism programme. After working with the University of Sussex’s campus radio station for three years and writing articles for free sheets during his year off, Clive began to appear on a show called Turn It Up, alongside the likes of Jo Whiley and Mark Coles. It was having these experiences that allowed Clive to make the jump to the BBC, but with that came considerable challenges. “Certainly, at the beginning of my career, I didn’t want to be defined by my colour,” he says, “I didn’t want employers or news editors to think, ‘Black guy, let’s have him do a black story.’” Overcoming these challenges, he explains, was about demonstrating his capabilities and insisting on being defined by his professional skills rather than his ethnicity.

I chose to stay and to continue telling the truth of the story, because there’s so much propaganda and rubbish out there

Clive Myrie

Having throughout his career covered the likes of the murder of George Floyd, the presidency of Barack Obama, and the Covid-19 outbreak, Clive insists there is an emotional side of reporting that mustn’t be overlooked. “You’re trying to find a connection with the viewer… to perhaps have an emotional connection,” he says, explaining how this approach has helped him make stories resonate more profoundly with views across the world. “Having that emotional connection can have spin-off effects that are advantageous for everybody,” he explains, highlighting the delicate balance of maintaining professional detachment while acknowledging the human element of stories.

Now, it is a truth universally acknowledged that many a journalist must cover many a challenging story. On 8 September 2022, Clive, as with many other journalists across the country, was tasked with covering one of the toughest national news stories in recent years: the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Behind the scenes, Clive says the BBC “knew what was coming”, after tracking a plane containing several members of the Royal Family to Balmoral Castle. However, it wasn’t until around 10 minutes before the announcement was aired live on BBC One that Buckingham Palace had officially given them the green light. He went on to say that in the event of the Queen’s passing, “everything was prepared,” before conceding that oftentimes, life as a newsreader isn’t so straightforward.

Just over six months prior, in February 2022, Clive famously boarded a Ryanair flight for £29.99 to Kyiv — “A cheap flight because licence fee payer’s money is important!”, he jokes in retrospect. Convinced that Vladimir Putin had no real intention to invade Ukraine, he hadn’t envisaged that a mere 15 hours later, he would be in the thick of all the action. “Some people left. Some people were unhappy,” he says, “But I chose to stay and to continue telling the truth of the story because there’s so much propaganda and rubbish out there.” Clive has reported in Kyiv several times since. “I’ve made documentaries there, and made good friends there,” he says, “And, you know, it was an unprovoked war launched by an aggressive neighbour. And that’s the truth of it.” And there lies the story of how one of Bolton’s many paperboys went on to become one of the world’s leading presenters. Clive concludes this interview by encouraging all aspiring journalists to “keep pushing at it,” and to have “a certain level of confidence in yourself to know that you are worthy and that you can do this!”

This interview followed the release of Clive’s latest memoir titled Everything is Everything: A Memoir of Love, Hate & Hope.

The full interview is available to watch on The Boar’s newly relaunched YouTube channel