Mike Higgins - Biography

Mike Higgins’s career in journalism spans more than three decades. He is a television and radio producer currently working for BBC news and current affairs.  He is a documentary director and producer, worked for ITV on national and international stories and has worked for Independent Radio News. He is a publisher and author.

Mike lectures up and coming media practitioners at post graduate, under graduate and Higher National Diploma levels and is a National Union of Journalists’ accredited trainer.  He is currently developing and delivering courses to retrain digital stills photographers to meet the challenges of digital convergence.

He is the author of  Sudan: The Eternal Apocalypse (Jamieson and Munro) and project co-ordinator and joint originator of the book Glasgow: 24 Hours in the Life of a City (Chapman).

In business matters Mike is in charge of Alba Productions, involved in Media Training for industry. He was producer of the STV and Grampian Television programme, The Business Game - a competition which preceded The Lions’ Den - involving many of the country's small up and coming businesses including: DX-Communications; R Frasier; Arran Distillers; Bullet Express and Scotair Balloons.

 He also produces videos and films for business development, product awareness and staff training. Clients include Finesco Financial services, SSL, North Ayrshire Council, Unison, Scottish Womens’ Conference, YMCA National Council, the Scottish Tourist Board, Belhaven Day Care, the Scout movement.

Mike led the media training sessions for the main negotiators of the successful Glasgow Commonwealth Games bid team and Glasgow City Council,  and was involved as media advisor for the Glasgow – Edinburgh Collaboration director selection process.

One of Mike’s main interests is with international development.  He holds a Diploma in Environment and Development, embarked upon largely due to the number of stories he has been involved in over the years including The Boat People of Cambodia to items on Ethiopia, Sudan and Brazil.

Overseas assignments include work in Libya, Cyprus, Sudan, the United States and Germany and behind the former "iron curtain".

Mike began his journalism career at the Ossett Observer in Yorkshire, before moving to the Irvine Herald (S&UN) and the Paisley Daily Express.  He worked for PS (public sector magazine) and Switch (a short-lived listings magazine) and has also worked on a freelance basis for North Sound Radio and BBC Cumbria.  He was a producer and reporter at West Sound Radio and Radio Clyde before moving to STV as a senior production journalist and single camera documentary director/producer.

During the 1991Gulf war Mike was attached to ITN headquarters in London acting as the main exchange conduit for items from the front line to the regions and from the regions to ITN’s main news.

He left STV nine years ago freelancing for the BBC and lecturing as well as running a business magazine and being involved in other publishing ventures. He works at the new BBC Pacific Quay Headquarters in radio and television.  He is married and lives in Kilmarnock.