From Headlines to Hard Times
Award Winning VIDEO
Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel
Ed Mitchell is a former Reuters, BBC and ITN-TV journalist who lost it all.
Educated at England’s prestigious Durham University, Mitchell had stints at Channel Four, the European Business Channel, Asia Business News, European Business News and CNBC Europe in the 1990s until he was let go by CNBC in 2000.
From there it was a downward spiral for Mitchell. He struggled to find work without success. Once earning a salary of $200,000 per year, he fell into a vicious cycle of alcoholism, divorce, credit card debt and bankruptcy, and then ultimately, homelessness.
In 2007, the media revealed that the once famous newscaster had become homeless, sleeping on the park benches of Brighton’s Hove seafront.
In January 2008, the documentary Saving Ed Mitchell was shown about his struggle. The end of the bleak documentary, presented by his former ITN colleague Carol Barnes, showed him being given an opportunity to return to news casting if he attended the Priory Clinic for his alcohol abuse treatment. He made the choice to do it.
Successfully abstaining from drinking after his treatment, Mitchell got back onto his feet and returned to broadcasting. He is the author of the best-selling book, From Headlines to Hard Times.
He now helps with the recovery of others and considers himself fortunate for being given a second chance turning his life around. He emphasizes that a life of regrets lead to resentments, alcoholism to homelessness, and that it can happen to anyone.
Making the News, an award-winning video, reflects on the period of life when Ed was homeless, living on Brighton’s seafront.
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