Who's Who

Julie Knox

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JULIE'S PROFILE

A local paper once described Julie Knox as "the University of York's answer to Kirsty Young" - probably because she spent her student days perching on a desk reading the TV news, instead of sitting at one studying.

After a spell in radio in her native Northern Ireland, Julie landed a job commentating on the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. She had to project her voice, to pretend she was right at the action 'down under', even though her commentary box was in Paris. Viewers were none the wiser and Julie's had no need of a microphone since.

A roving brief as the BBC's West Sussex reporter kept Julie occupied for the next five years. There were frequent appearances in court (for work!), and she raced to the scene of fires, floods, and wild wallaby sightings. Her specialist subject became the Birdman of Bognor competition, so when a similar event was staged Stateside, Julie was invited to be the guest judge. (She made the journey by conventional aircraft, not a home-made flying machine.)

Since joining BFBS in 2006, Julie's lived in Cyprus and Germany, and is now part of the UK-based reporting team. Memorable moments from her two years in the Med include scrambling to Beirut in a Chinook during Op Highbrow, then sailing home in a warship with evacuees. In Germany, she tried her hand at snow-holing and values the perspective garrison life has given her:

The ride's also taken Julie to the Falklands, Uganda, Iraq, and Bangladesh. She's parachuted, water-skied, abseiled and quad-biked on-air, and is always on the look-out for the next madcap mode of military transport to try out - as well as any excuse to work some Country music into her reports!

Julie Writes:

"I've loved my stints being based amongst the audience overseas - it's the best way to understand the world we report on and to experience first-hand what's affecting service personnel and their families. Meeting people in everyday situations like in the Naafi queue, you make contacts and unearth gems of stories you wouldn't otherwise hear about. And when you're thrown together in a foreign community, you soon realise what a supportive bunch military people are, and the lengths they go to for each other."

You can email Julie: forcesnews@bfbs.com

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