Northumberland man wins Emmy award following 'outstanding' news coverage of the Ukrainian war

James Frater, originally from Boulmer and a former pupil of the Duchess’s Community High School in Alnwick, won an Emmy award for Outstanding Live Breaking News Coverage at the 44th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards.

As a producer for CNN London Events Productions, James and his broadcasting team were based in Kyiv and Lviv, Ukraine, covering the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.

The team were present for the build up of the invasion and stayed for weeks after to broadcast crucial news footage. This effort won each individual from CNN Worldwide the Emmy award for their exceptional live breaking news coverage, which was awarded on September 27, 2023, at Palladium Times Square in New York City.

Speaking on his experience in Ukraine, James said: “It was one of the strangest experiences I guess of my life. It was just an extraordinary period of time to suddenly realise that it was actually happening.

"It was just so uncertain because you just had absolutely no idea what was going to happen.”

James’ roll involved handling the 24-hour rolling news for the US network CNN and looking after the broadcasters.

“It was a constant sort of conveyor belt of news,” James added “and looking after and making sure that we were still transmitting.

“Professionally, it's an amazing thing to achieve an Emmy. But, then there was that weird moment where you look at what it was for and realising that this conflict is still ongoing. People genuinely have died in this story, and there is a bittersweet element to it that you can’t eliminate."

James also worked on other major projects including coverage of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, the coronation of King Charles III, William and Kate’s royal wedding, and Harry and Meghan's wedding.

Yet, despite having covered some of the biggest stories in the country and living the hustle and bustle life in a broadcasting studio, James finds he often misses the pleasantry and calm of the Northumberland countryside and the quiet life.

He reminisced: “The first thing I do when I get off the train at Alnmouth is I am straight along for a walk to Howick Burn.”