Mark Austin

Mark presents the ITV Evening News with Mary Nightingale. The duo can also be seen on the ITV News Channel weekdays from 3pm

Since joining ITV News in 1986 Mark has specialised in covering foreign events, travelling all round the globe.

In September 2001 he covered the terrorist attacks in New York and afterwards reported on the war in Afghanistan.

His reporting of the devastating floods in Mozambique in the early part of 2000 received an International Emmy award in the US - American television's equivalent of an Oscar - as well as a Gold Nymph at the 2000 Television Festival of Monte Carlo and Gold and Silver Medals at the New York Television Programming Awards.

He has covered wars in several countries and in mid-1999 he played a key role in the coverage of the war in Kosovo. Based on the Albanian border for much of the conflict, Mark reported on the refugee crisis caused by the war. On the day in June Nato troops finally entered Kosovo he was airlifted in with the Gurkhas, the first troops to enter the country, reporting on their vital role as mine clearers and witnessing an early confrontation with Serb police. Mark's reporting of the war was part of ITV News' coverage which received a Gold Nymph at the 1999 Television Festival of Monte Carlo.

Mark Austin was based in Hong Kong in 1993 as Asia Correspondent for ITV News. He returned there for his second tour as Asia Correspondent in 1996, spending over two years reporting on all the major events in the region including the handover of the island to the Chinese in July 1997. He returned to London headquarters in mid-1998.

1994-1995 saw him in Johannesburg as Africa Correspondent for ITV News. In that role he reported on the historic transition to democracy in South Africa, Mandela's victory in the elections and on the bloody civil war in Rwanda as well as other major events throughout the continent. During 1995 he also covered the Bosnian crisis following the fall of Srebrenica. His reporting won him a joint Gold Medal, with fellow-correspondent Paul Davies, at the 1996 Film & Television Festival of New York.

Mark was one of the first British journalists to report from the Gulf during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. From the start of the war early in 1991 he was in Bahrain, the base for many of the Tornado squadrons, sending back regular reports including those on the recapture from the Iraqis of the islands of Qaruh and Um-al-Maradin.

Mark joined ITN from the BBC in October 1986 in the role of Sports Correspondent. He was given his first assignment on day one - to cover England's successful Ashes tour of Australia as well as the America's Cup. He stayed in Australia for four months and during this time unexpectedly found himself reporting on the extraordinary "Spycatcher" trial.

Mark has also covered all the major sporting events for ITV News, including the Olympics, Wimbledon, the British Open, Rugby internationals, football news and cricket. In 1993 he won top prize in the Sports News category at the Royal Television Society Sports Awards for his coverage of the drug scandal affecting three British sportsmen at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1995 he was seconded to ITV to report from South Africa on the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

In May 2001 Mark appeared on ITV as the presenter of the reality gameshow series, 'Survivor', in which 16 contestants left on a desert island had to take part in a variety of challenges to try and secure a prize of £1 million.

Mark Austin started his career in the media as a general reporter on the Bournemouth Evening Echo (1976-1980). He then joined the BBC as a newsroom writer, becoming a general news reporter in 1982. He was made a sports reporter in 1985.

Mark is married with three children and lives in London. When not reporting from around the world, he names reading ,walking on the Cornish cliffs and playing cricket and golf as his favourite pastimes.