Rory Cellan-Jones
Cellan-Jones in 2006
Born
Nicholas Rory Cellan-Jones

(1958-01-17) 17 January 1958
NationalityBritish
EducationDulwich College
Alma materJesus College, Cambridge
OccupationJournalist
TitleTechnology correspondent of BBC News (2007–2021)
SpouseDiane Coyle
Children2
RelativesJames Cellan Jones (father)
Simon Cellan Jones
(half-brother)

Nicholas Rory Cellan-Jones[1] (born 17 January 1958; "Cellan" pronounced [ˈkɛɬən]) is a British journalist and a former BBC News technology correspondent. After working for the BBC for 40 years, he announced in August 2021 he would leave the corporation in late October.[2][3]

Early life and education

Rory Cellan-Jones was born in London in 1958. His father James Cellan Jones was a BBC TV director and film director,[4] and his mother was Sylvia Rich, a BBC secretary.[5] His half-brother Simon Cellan Jones is a film director.[4] Rory was born out of wedlock[4][6] and was unacquainted with his father and half-siblings until adulthood.[6] Rory uses a hyphen in his surname as his paternal grandparents did; his father had dropped the hyphen.[4]

Cellan-Jones was educated at Dulwich College, an independent school for boys in Dulwich in south London, from 1967–76.[7] He attended Jesus College, Cambridge, obtaining a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages in 1981, and automatic MA three years later.[8][9]

Career

After beginning his BBC career as a researcher on the Leeds edition of Look North, he worked in the corporation's London television newsroom for three years before gaining his first on-screen role at BBC Wales. He later returned to London and became the business and economics correspondent, appearing on The Money Programme between 1990 and 1992.[10]

After the dot com crash of 2000, he wrote the book Dot.bomb. He has covered issues such as Black Wednesday, the BCCI scandal and Marks and Spencer's competition troubles.[11]

He has evaluated the growth of websites and internet companies including the rise of Google and Wikipedia and online retailing. From January 2007 until leaving the BBC in 2021, he was the BBC's technology correspondent, with the job of expanding the BBC's coverage of new media and telecoms and the cultural impact of the Internet.[11]

On 30 May 2019, following his presentation of the first BBC broadcast over a 5G network, Cellan-Jones announced via Twitter that he had been diagnosed with early Parkinson's disease, but that he intended to carry on as normal.[12][13]

He announced on Twitter in August 2021 his intention to leave the BBC in October after 40 years.[3] Along with other well-wishers from the BBC, BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty replied to him on Twitter, calling him an "utterly brilliant man".[14][3]

Personal life

Cellan-Jones is married to economist and author Diane Coyle.[15] The couple have two sons and live in West Ealing, London.[16][17]

He and Coyle adopted Sophie, a nervous rescue dog from Romania, in December 2022. They have reported on social media about Sophie's slow progress in settling in via the hashtag #sophiefromromania.[18]

Publications

  • Dot.Bomb: The Rise and Fall of Dot.com Britain (London: Autumn, 2001)
  • The Secret History of Social Networking (BBC, 2012)
  • With Mike Hally, Patently Absurd (Audio, 2013)
  • Always On: Hope and Fear in the Social Smartphone Era (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2021)
  • Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC (September Publishing, 2023)

References

  1. ↑ Rory Cellan-Jones, Esq at Debrett's.
  2. ↑ "Rory Cellan-Jones profile". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Pearce, Tilly (4 August 2021). "BBC News reporter Rory Cellan-Jones leaves broadcaster after 40 years". Yahoo!. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Obituaries, Telegraph (13 September 2019). "James Cellan Jones, television director best known for 'The Forsyte Saga' and 'Fortunes of War' – obituary". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "James Cellan Jones obituary". The Times. 10 September 2019.
  6. 1 2 Cellan Jones, James. Forsyte and Hindsight: Screen Directing for Pleasure and Profit. Kaleidoscope Publishing, 2006. pp. 14–15.
  7. ↑ Dulwich College website
  8. ↑ Cambridge University. The Cambridge University List of Members for the Year 1991. Cambridge University Press, 1991. p. 228.
  9. ↑ "Payments Innovation speakers list". TechUK. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  10. ↑ Rory Cellan-Jones [@ruskin147] (4 September 2015). "@stuartmiles you are right and the rest of it is also somewhat bizarre. I was on the Money Programme 1990 to 1992, not 2004" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. 1 2 "Rory Cellan-Jones". The Guardian. London. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  12. ↑ Cellan-Jones, Rory [@ruskin147] (30 May 2019). "A couple of people have noticed my hand shaking in my live 5G broadcast today. So seems a good time to reveal that I've recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's. I'm getting good treatment and the symptoms are mild right now – so I'm carrying on as normal. Onwards and upwards!" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 May 2019 – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ "5G: EE launches UK's next-generation mobile network". BBC. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  14. ↑ Ingate, Kathryn (6 August 2021). "'Will be sorely missed' Naga Munchetty bids farewell to BBC co-star after 'personal news'". Daily Express. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  15. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (13 October 2006). "Out with the governors and in with the trustees". The Times. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  16. ↑ Coyle, Diane (19 February 1996). "Netsurfing is child's play". The Independent. London.
  17. ↑ "Ealing residents scoop New Year's Honours". Ealing Gazette. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  18. ↑ Smart, Andrew (15 January 2023). "BBC Rory Cellan-Jones shares progress with Sophie from Romania". The Herald. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
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