Ken Rees

Kenvyn Morgan Rees (26 January 1944 – 14 May 2020) was a Welsh television journalist. He worked for Harlech Television (HTV), the Wales and West of England ITV franchise holder, from 1967 to 1978 as a reporter, voiceover artist and continuity announcer. Rees was appointed Independent Television News (ITN)'s Northern correspondent in 1978 and became ITN's Washington correspondent in 1985. He returned to HTV as its Head of News and Current Affairs in 1991 and led the company's successful effort to become the world's first television station to launch a fully computerised news operation.

Biography Rees was born on 26 January 1944 in Cardiff, Wales. He was the son of the school teacher Morgan Rees and Vera Rees. He went to grammar school in the city called the Howardian High School. Rees joined Harlech Television (HTV), the Wales and West of England ITV franchise holder, in 1967. He did voiceovers, continuity announcing until he was hired to work with the HTV news team by its head of news, Ron Evans in 1968, working in Cardiff at first before moving to Bristol. Rees convinced Evans to hand him an on-the-road job, Rees, having worked freelance for ITN on weekends for three years, was appointed to fill the role for the News at Ten bulletin on 16 June, covering Northern England and Scotland. working alongside the reporter Jon Snow. The following year, he was awarded the Television Journalist of the Year by the Royal Television Society. Rees also covered the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to the United States in 1985, Operation Breakthrough in Alaska in 1988, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989. the Lebanese Civil War and the Gulf War in 1991. Rees managed the news room and also presented and conducted interviews on the regional current affairs programme The West This Week from January 1993 as well as presenting a late night phone-in programme. As Head of News and Current Affairs, he led HTV's effort to become the world's first television station to launch a fully computerised news operation that came to fruition in 1997. After leaving HTV, he joined Winningtons, a local public relations company, and ran media training courses for business executives and young journalists.

Personal life Rees married Lynne Jones in 1972. There were two children of the marriage. He died from cancer at his home in Monmouthshire on 14 May 2020. His funeral took place at the Glyntaff Crematorium, Pontypridd on the afternoon of 9 June 2020.