James Mates

James Mates joined ITN in 1983 as an editorial trainee, moving over to the ITN newsroom working on ITV's news, before becoming a correspondent in 1986. His first appointments becoming a globe trotting reporter, covering the Zeebrugge disaster of 1987, staying there around two months to oversee the capsized ferry being risen. Straight after that, Mates was sent back to London to report on the 1987 British General Election - the first of two election programs he was on [1987, 1997]. In 1989, ITN made their first regular breakfast television program - the ill fated Channel 4 Daily and the program became famous for presenting their programs individually from across the world - and James Mates became ITN Tokyo Correspondent. While reporting and reading the news for Channel 4 Daily, he also reported for ITV news bulletins. After that, he had a brief time as North of England Correspondent. Also in 1991, saw him leave Tokyo for the collapsing USSR, becoming Moscow Correspondent. During that ti