Mike Graham (journalist)

For the American radio host, see Michael Graham (radio personality).

Archibald Michael Graham (born 9 August 1960) is a British journalist and broadcast commentator, who presents The Independent Republic of Mike Graham on TalkTV. He was formerly the editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror^[1][2] and Programme Director and mid-morning presenter of The Independent Republic of Mike Graham on Talk 107, the Edinburgh sister station of Talksport.^[3]

Mike Graham
Born	Archibald Michael Graham (1960-08-09) 9 August 1960 (age 62) Hampstead, London, England
Occupation(s)	Journalist, radio presenter
Known for	The Two Mikes, talkSPORT, Talkradio, Editor Scottish Daily Mirror
Website	talkSPORT

Early life and education

Graham was born in Hampstead, London to Scottish couple Archibald Graham (1923–2008), a newspaper graphic artist, and his wife Mairi McAleavey (born 1924).^[4][5]

Both Graham and his older sister attended local schools in the London Borough of Camden.^{[citation needed]} Graham attended the University of Bath but left before graduation.

Career

Before his radio career, Graham was a Fleet Street journalist for the best part of 25 years.^[6] He was editor of the Scottish Daily Mirror and assistant editor of the Daily Express.^[2] He covered the Bosnian War in 1992 as a reporter for the Daily Express.^[7] Graham was based in New York City from 1984 to 1992.

Graham joined UTV's former Scottish radio station Talk 107 in February 2006, anchoring the mid-morning slot 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with "The Independent Republic of Mike Graham".^[2][8] In November 2006, he was also appointed the station's programme director.^[9][10] In 2008, his contract was not renewed at Talk 107 and he started broadcasting on UTV's national talkSPORT radio station^[3] in the 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. slot on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In April 2010, he presented the 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. slot every Friday and Saturday night, replacing George Galloway, as well as continuing to present the Monday 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. slot. In July 2010, he moved from weekends to weekdays, presenting alongside Mike Parry as "Parry and Graham" from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.^[11]

Graham's future with Talksport seemed uncertain after co-host Mike Parry resigned from talkSPORT as a result of a contractual dispute,^[12] in March 2011 he took over talkSPORT's midweek 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., "Extra Time". In October 2013 Parry returned to broadcast alongside Graham, debating "a host of issues"^[13] as a segment of "Extra Time" known as "The Two Mikes", which evolved into a regular three-hour slot headlined as "The Two Mikes" from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.^[14] In 2015, Graham and Parry launched their Two Mikes 'World Tour' at venues throughout Britain.^{[15][16][17][18]} In 2015, "The Two Mikes" were named as "Alternative Men of the Year" by The Daily Telegraph.^[19] Their most recent slot was on Friday nights at 10 p.m. on talkSPORT. Their last Radio show on Talksport was 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on 29 March 2019. In April 2019, The Two Mikes disbanded; the first sign of the pair breaking up was the ending of their TMTV online shows. Mike Graham announced on Twitter "he was done" and therefore the team have split. Since then he has presented a solo show daily on talkRADIO between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., playing, in contrast to his previous work, the role of a pro-Brexit commentator. From 26 April 2022, his show also appears on TalkTV, simulcasting with Talkradio.^[20]

Criticism

In 2017, Graham was the subject of controversy after making a post on Twitter in which he called Liverpool F.C. fans "murderers", in the context of the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster.^[21] He was also criticised in 2020 for referring to Celtic F.C as "the paedo's football club" on Twitter, while engaging in a spat with a user of the social networking platform.^[22]

In 2021, Graham was accused of disparaging a guest on his show, Cameron Ford,^[23][24] a climate change activist and carpenter by trade, for his use of timber as a building material. Graham suggested it was hypocritical for an environmentalist to work with timber since it requires the felling of trees. When the guest responded that timber is a sustainable building material because, unlike the concrete alternative, trees can be regrown, Graham claimed that it is equally possible to "grow concrete". Graham then abruptly terminated the interview less than a minute after it began. The blunder was ridiculed online following the interview.^[25][26] Later, on Jeremy Kyle's TalkRadio show, Graham doubled down on the claim, saying concrete expands as it sets. On Twitter, the radio station shared an article about self-replicating concrete.^[27][28]

He received further criticism later in 2022 after making a false claim that Mind, a UK mental health charity, had been funding the legal fees of individuals seeking asylum in the UK; TalkTV later issued a public apology.^[29]

References

1. . Media UK. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
2. Day, Julia (17 January 2006). "Former Mirror man joins Edinburgh radio launch". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
3. "Talk 107 casualty Mike Graham warns station's future is uncertain". The Scotsman. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
4. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
5. "Archibald Graham Obituary | Legacy.com". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
6. "The Two Mikes bring banter to Camden ahead of Edinburgh Festival show". London Evening Standard. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
7. iTunes (27 May 2016). "The Two Mikes" (Podcast). iTunes Store. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
8. "Time for Talk in Edinburgh". RadioToday. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
9. "Paterson resigns from talk107". RadioToday. 9 November 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
10. Tryhorn, Chris (17 March 2008). "Third DJ leaves Talk 107". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
11. "Parry and Graham". talkSPORT. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
12. "Mike Parry quits TalkSport as Keys and Gray get his morning slot". portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
13. "The Two Mikes 2013". talkSPORT. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
14. "The Two Mikes". talkSPORT. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
15. Evans, Denise (31 March 2016). "Talksport stars The Two Mikes coming to Manchester on tour". men. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
16. Keenan, Amanda (27 November 2015). "Mike Graham and Mike Parry head to Scotland as part of their "World Tour"". dailyrecord. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
17. "talkSPORT's Two Mikes to bring night of 'verbal jousting' to St". London Evening Standard. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
18. "'The Two Mikes' (Mike Parry & Mike Graham)". playhousewhitleybay.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
19. "The Alternative Men of the Year 2015". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
20. "Mike Graham". talkradio.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
21. Kirkham, Jenny (29 May 2017). "Talksport presenter Mike Graham responds to vile Heysel tweet". Liverpool Echo.
22. Aitchison, Jack (27 April 2020). "Celtic takes legal advice as Talk Radio host Mike Graham calls Hoops 'the paedo's club'". Evening Times. Glasgow.
23. Ford, Cameron (27 October 2021). "Insulate Britain won't be stopped by people who think you can grow concrete". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
24. Is This The Dumbest EVER Clip In British Media History?, retrieved 12 November 2022
25. Roberts, Joe (26 October 2021). "Presenter stops Insulate Britain interview after claiming you can grow concrete". Metro.
26. Gayle, Damien (26 October 2021). "Insulate Britain declares M25 'site of non-violent civil resistance'". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
27. "Update: Mike Graham actually misunderstood genius". road.cc. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
28. Johnson, Sabrina (27 October 2021). "Presenter doubles down on baffling 'concrete grows' claim". Metro. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
29. Bryant, Miranda (2 July 2022). "TalkTV apologises to mental health charity over 'plain wrong' claims". The Guardian. London.