Sally Magnusson to leave Reporting Scotland after 27 years

Her mother, Mamie Baird, was a newspaper journalist in Glasgow and her father, Magnus Magnusson, was a print journalist, historian and broadcaster best-known as the presenter of the BBC’s Mastermind.

She started in television on BBC Scotland’s Current Account programme and then on network news programmes including Sixty Minutes and Breakfast.

Magnusson returned to Scotland to present Reporting Scotland two days a week. Other television programmes included Newsnight Scotland, Panorama and Songs of Praise as well as Sunday Mornings on BBC Radio Scotland.

Her most recent television documentary for BBC Scotland was Alzheimer’s, a Cure and Me which aired last year.

Magnusson is also an acclaimed author. Among her books is a biography of the Scottish runner and missionary Eric Liddell, an account of her mother’s dementia, and three novels.

She is the founder of the charity Playlist for Life, which promotes the use of music to help people with dementia. She was awarded an MBE in 2023 in recognition of her charity work