Jenni Murray



Dame Jennifer Susan "Jenni" Murray, DBE (née Bailey; born 12 May 1950, Barnsley, Yorkshire) is a British journalist and broadcaster. She attended Barnsley Girls High School and has a degree in French and Drama from Hull University. Early in her career she worked for BBC Radio Bristol and the local news programme South Today and was a newsreader and later one of the presenters of the BBC's Newsnight programme for two years from 1983.

Murray, a feminist, is best known as a presenter on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, which she joined in 1987. She also presents Radio 4's The Message, and was formerly a presenter on the Today programme. Murray is also a patron of the Family Planning Association and vice president of Parkinson's UK. ==Cancer[ edit| edit source] ==

On 21 December 2006, Murray announced at the end of Woman's Hour that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She informed her audience that her prognosis was good; she did indeed return early in 2007. She reported that the most emotionally upsetting moment was losing her hair, and used this as an item on the centrality of hair to definitions of femininity.

In November 2007 it was announced that Murray had been named Patron of British medical research charity, Breast Cancer Campaign. In 2008, she had a hip replacement following avascular necrosis (perhaps due to chemotherapy). Murray supports the British Humanist Association. ==Honours[ edit] ==

Murray was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting in 1999 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.

In March 2012 she was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Salford  to recognise her contributions to the media industry as well as the growing links between the University and its neighbours at Salford Quays.