TELEPRINTER:It's been 10 years since RTÉ Two began showing News2day, its first news service for children, and the broadcaster is marking the decade tomorrow by gathering its presenting alumni back on screen for a special anniversary edition.
All 13 presenters of the show over the past 10 years, including the current team of Carla O’Brien and Conor McNally, will celebrate the programme’s birthday.
The lively 10-minute bulletin, broadcast weekdays at 4.25pm, aims to present Irish and international news to children between the ages of seven and 12 in an accessible and sensitive manner without talking down its audience.
On its launch in 2003, then managing director of news Ed Mulhall described the show as “something the news division has wanted to do for a long time”.
Training ground
Indeed, the show was Ireland’s answer to BBC One’s long-running Newsround, which began life as John Craven’s Newsround in 1972 and, as of 2013, airs solely on CBBC.
Among the former presenters joining in the on-air reunion will be News2day’s first hosts Ailbhe Conneely, who is now a journalist in the RTÉ Newsroom, and Cathal Murray, who presents Weekend on One on RTÉ Radio 1.
Indeed, News2day has consistently served as a training ground for young broadcast journalists, with former presenters going on to work for the BBC, Al Jazeera, Sky News and France 24 as well as other RTÉ programmes.
Other former presenters include Paddy McKenna, who co-hosts Weekenders on RTÉ 2fm with Ruth Scott, and Aisling Riordan, who has joined RTÉ’s new television news programme Morning Edition as a reporter.
