John Craven OBE (born in Leeds, 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC's Newsround (originally John Craven's Newsround) and Countryfile. Craven was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire and educated at Leeds Modern School. He started his professional life in print journalism as a junior reporter on a local newspaper, the Harrogate Advertiser, before working for the Yorkshire Post and as a freelance correspondent and writer for national newspapers. He joined the BBC staff in Newcastle upon Tyne, to work on local radio and television, before moving to the BBC in Bristol. From 1972 Craven was the eponymous host of a regular children's news programme, Newsround, originally called "John Craven's Newsround". The first such programme ever produced by British television, it drew on the full journalistic resources of the BBC, and featured a number of news scoops, it being the first news programme of the day on TV in its early years. Craven became associated with children's TV and presented news items on other children's programmes, such as Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and Saturday Superstore.