John MacKay (journalist)
John MacKay, born 13 September 1966 in Glasgow, is a Scottish broadcaster, journalist, producer and writer. He is the main anchor for STV News in Central Scotland and hosts the current affairs show Scotland Tonight.
Growing up in Glasgow, with family origins from the Isle of Lewis, MacKay studied politics at the University of Glasgow and edited the Glasgow University Guardian. He began his journalism career at The Sunday Post in 1986, tried radio at Radio Clyde, and later joined BBC Scotland as a reporter and presenter for Reporting Scotland, also working as a sports correspondent and editor.
In 1994 he joined Scottish Television (now STV) as a reporter and presenter for Scotland Today, becoming the main anchor by 1998. When Scotland Today was renamed STV News at Six in 2006, he fronted the 6pm programme for Glasgow and the West and a lunchtime bulletin for Central Scotland. In 2011 he began presenting Scotland Tonight, sharing duties on alternating nights.
MacKay has produced non-news programming for STV, including The Real MacKay and Diary of a Pipe Band. In 2018 STV merged its Glasgow and Edinburgh news into a Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six, with MacKay anchoring in Glasgow. He was furloughed in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and returned in September 2020. In 2024 the Central Scotland edition moved to a single-anchor format with MacKay presenting Wednesday to Friday. On 30 October 2025, he announced he would leave STV in March 2026 to focus on writing and other ventures.
MacKay is descended from the Hebrides and has written several Lewis-set novels: The Road Dance (2002), Heartland (2004) and The Last of the Line (2006). The Road Dance was made into a 2022 film. His other books include Notes of a Newsman (2015) and Home (2021), with an updated edition Notes of a Newsman: Scotland Today and Yesterday published in 2024.
He lives in Renfrewshire with his wife Jo and their two sons.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:12 (CET).