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Mike Graham (journalist)

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For the American radio host, see Michael Graham (radio personality).

Mike Graham
Born
Archibald Michael Graham

(1960-08-09) 9 August 1960 (age 63)
Hampstead, London, England
Occupation(s)Journalist, radio presenter
Known forThe Two Mikes, talkSPORT, Talkradio, Editor Scottish Daily Mirror
WebsitetalkSPORT

Archibald Michael Graham (born 9 August 1960) is a British journalist and broadcast commentator who specialises in being a shock jock, and presents The Independent Republic of Mike Graham on TalkTV. He was formerly the editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Graham was born in Hampstead, London to Scottish couple Archibald Graham (1923–2008), a newspaper graphic artist, and his wife Mairi McAleavey (born 1924).[3][4]

Graham and his elder sister attended local schools in the London Borough of Camden.[citation needed] Graham attended the University of Bath but dropped out.

Career

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Before his radio career, Graham was a Fleet Street journalist for the best part of 25 years.[5] He was editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror and assistant editor of the Daily Express.[2] He covered the Bosnian War in 1992 as a reporter for the Daily Express.[6] He was based in New York City from 1984 to 1992.[7]

Graham joined UTV's former Scottish radio station Talk 107 in February 2006, anchoring the mid-morning slot 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with "The Independent Republic of Mike Graham".[2][8] In November 2006, he was also appointed the station's programme director.[9][10] In 2008, his contract was not renewed at Talk 107 and he started broadcasting on UTV's national Talksport radio station[11] in the 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. slot on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In April 2010, he presented the 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. slot every Friday and Saturday night, replacing George Galloway, as well as continuing to present the Monday 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. slot. In July 2010, he moved from weekends to weekdays, presenting alongside Mike Parry as "Parry and Graham" from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.[12]

Graham's future with Talksport seemed uncertain after co-host Mike Parry resigned from Talksport as a result of a contractual dispute,[13] in March 2011 he took over Talksport's midweek 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., "Extra Time". In October 2013 Parry returned to broadcast alongside Graham, debating "a host of issues"[14] as a segment of "Extra Time" known as "The Two Mikes", which evolved into a regular three-hour slot headlined as "The Two Mikes" from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.[15] In 2015, Graham and Parry launched their Two Mikes 'World Tour' at venues throughout Britain.[16][17][18][19] In 2015, "The Two Mikes" were named as "Alternative Men of the Year" by The Daily Telegraph.[20] Their most recent slot was on Friday nights at 10 p.m. on Talksport. Their last radio show on Talksport was 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. 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 split. He was a regular solo presenter for his weekday slot on talkRADIO between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. a format mixture of booked guests and public phone-in callers. From 26 April 2022, his three hour show also appeared on TalkTV, simulcasting with Talkradio.[21]

Since November 2023, Julia Hartley-Brewer has taken over the morning slot, with Graham's show moving to the evening schedule, currently aired between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. The shows' format shares the newspaper headlines, where the top stories are discussed and debated in detail. He also occasionally guests on the The Talk, with fellow journalists to discuss politics and news from around the world.[22]

Criticism

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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.[23] He was also criticised in 2020 for referring to Celtic F.C as "the paedo's football club" on Twitter, while engaging in a spat with a user of the social networking platform.[24]

In 2021, Graham was accused of disparaging a guest on his show, Cameron Ford,[25][26] a climate change activist and carpenter by trade, for his use of timber as a building material. Graham suggested it was hypocritical for an environmentalist to work with timber since it requires the felling of trees. When the guest responded that timber is a sustainable building material because, unlike the concrete alternative, trees can be regrown, Graham said it was equally possible to "grow concrete". Graham then abruptly terminated the interview less than a minute after it began. The blunder was ridiculed online following the interview.[27][28] Later, on Jeremy Kyle's TalkRadio show, Graham doubled down on the claim, saying concrete expands as it sets. On Twitter, the radio station shared an article about self-replicating concrete.[29][30]

He received further criticism later in 2022 after making a false claim that Mind, a UK mental health charity, had been funding the legal fees of individuals seeking asylum in the UK; TalkTV later issued a public apology.[31] In 2023, TalkTV issued an apology and paid "substantial damages" to the charity Migrants Organise following defamatory claims made on Mike Graham's show that the organisation were "human traffickers".[32]

In March 2024, TalkTV announced they are to cease linear broadcasts from summer 2024, and move to an uncensored online platform format. This follows the Piers Morgan Uncensored show leaving linear in February. Scott Taunton, TalkTV's broadcasting president reassured employees like Graham, that it was "business as usual" adding that there would be opportunities for "restructure".[33]

References

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  1. ^ "Mike Graham". Media UK. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Day, Julia (17 January 2006). "Former Mirror man joins Edinburgh radio launch". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Archibald Graham Obituary | Legacy.com". www.legacy.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  5. ^ "The Two Mikes bring banter to Camden ahead of Edinburgh Festival show". Evening Standard. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 25 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  6. ^ iTunes (27 May 2016). "The Two Mikes" (Podcast). iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Mike Graham - Common Sense Needs To Prevail: How Our Leaders & Media Have Misled The Population". Digital Freedom Platform. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Time for Talk in Edinburgh". RadioToday. 14 February 2006. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Paterson resigns from talk107". RadioToday. 9 November 2006. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  10. ^ Tryhorn, Chris (17 March 2008). "Third DJ leaves Talk 107". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Talk 107 casualty Mike Graham warns station's future is uncertain". The Scotsman. 30 October 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  12. ^ "Parry and Graham". talkSPORT. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Mike Parry quits TalkSport as Keys and Gray get his morning slot". portsmouth.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  14. ^ "The Two Mikes 2013". talkSPORT. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  15. ^ "The Two Mikes". talkSPORT. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  16. ^ Evans, Denise (31 March 2016). "Talksport stars The Two Mikes coming to Manchester on tour". men. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  17. ^ Keenan, Amanda (27 November 2015). "Mike Graham and Mike Parry head to Scotland as part of their "World Tour"". dailyrecord. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  18. ^ "talkSPORT's Two Mikes to bring night of 'verbal jousting' to St". Evening Standard. 21 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  19. ^ "'The Two Mikes' (Mike Parry & Mike Graham)". playhousewhitleybay.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  20. ^ "The Alternative Men of the Year 2015". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  21. ^ "Mike Graham". talkradio.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  22. ^ Atkinson, Cameron (2 November 2023). "TalkTV announces schedule updates". News UK. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  23. ^ Kirkham, Jenny (29 May 2017). "Talksport presenter Mike Graham responds to vile Heysel tweet". Liverpool Echo. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  24. ^ Aitchison, Jack (27 April 2020). "Celtic takes legal advice as Talk Radio host Mike Graham calls Hoops 'the paedo's club'". Evening Times. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  25. ^ Ford, Cameron (27 October 2021). "Insulate Britain won't be stopped by people who think you can grow concrete". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  26. ^ Is This The Dumbest EVER Clip In British Media History?, archived from the original on 12 November 2022, retrieved 12 November 2022
  27. ^ Roberts, Joe (26 October 2021). "Presenter stops Insulate Britain interview after claiming you can grow concrete". Metro. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  28. ^ Gayle, Damien (26 October 2021). "Insulate Britain declares M25 'site of non-violent civil resistance'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  29. ^ "Update: Mike Graham actually misunderstood genius". road.cc. 27 October 2021. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  30. ^ Johnson, Sabrina (27 October 2021). "Presenter doubles down on baffling 'concrete grows' claim". Metro. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  31. ^ Bryant, Miranda (2 July 2022). "TalkTV apologises to mental health charity over 'plain wrong' claims". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  32. ^ Maher, Bron (14 June 2023). "TalkTV pays damages to migrants charity over 'human traffickers' claim". Press Gazette. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  33. ^ "Talk TV: Rupert Murdoch network to be taken off air and moved online". BBC News. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
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