Dorothy Byrne is Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4 Television. She was born in Paisley

Paisley

Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...

, the daughter of Charles and Agnes Byrne. She was educated at Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool, Manchester University (BA Hons in Philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

) and Sheffield University (Diploma in Business Studies

Business studies

Business studies is an academic subject taught at higher level in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, as well as at university level in many countries...

).

She was producer for World in Action

World in Action

World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...

, 1987–94, and Editor of The Big Story, 1996–98. In 1998 she was appointed editor of Current Affairs for Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

.

In 2005, she was appointed Visiting Professor of the School of Journalism

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

 at Lincoln University

University of Lincoln

The University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....

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In December 2008 she defended Channel 4's invitation to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, to deliver the channel's 'Alternative Christmas Message', saying "as the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad's views are enormously influential... we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view". This controversy saw Byrne's name appearing in various British newspapers, including The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

.