Laurie Mayer (news presenter)

{{short description|British journalist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Laurie Mayer is a British journalist who had a 22-year career with the BBC on radio and across most television news programmes. His last main presenting role was of South East Today for BBC News, until he resigned in 2002, citing a culture of bullying at the BBC in the South East News department.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/oct/16/bbc.tvnews1|title=BBC censured over Mayer case|first=Claire|last=Cozens|work=The Guardian |date=October 16, 2003|via=www.theguardian.com}} The BBC won an ensuing employment tribunal. Mayer appealed and lost.

Mayer's radio career started on BBC Radio London in 1971, mainly presenting the station's breakfast show "Rush Hour". Between 1973 and 1979, he was one of the presenters on the BBC Radio 1 news programme Newsbeat.{{cite web|url = http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/|title = BBC Genome Project|accessdate = 24 June 2017|work = Laurie Mayer}}

Mayer was a presenter of the BBC's News After Noon, Six O'Clock News and Breakfast News programme (now known as Breakfast), before leaving for Sky News in the early 1990s. He went on to become the press spokesman for the owner of Harrods, Mohammed Al Fayed,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/844621.stm|title=Al-Fayed recruits Clifford|date=21 July 2010|work=BBC News|accessdate=26 April 2010}} before returning to the BBC as the main presenter of South East Today, walking out abruptly when his one year contract was not renewed.

Mayer also narrated every episode of the ITV emergency services documentary Blues and Twos from 1993-1998.{{cite web|title=Blues and Twos (TV Series 1993–1998) - IMDb| website=IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5643468/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_cdt_c_3|accessdate=14 February 2025}}