Hot Shots 2024: Ayshah Tull

Ayshah Tull is not new to news – she first became a CBBC Newsround presenter in 2013, three years after starting as a BBC production trainee – but 2024 is shaping up to be her year.

She has delivered a string of exclusives and agenda-setting interviews for Channel 4 News, and established herself as a mentor to young journalists, as the most senior black woman in her newsroom.

Having spent years building up the trust of Windrush scandal victim Richard Black, who had been exiled in Trinidad for 40 years, Tull filmed exclusively with him and his family on his first day back in the UK. The fi lm, in which Black visits his mother’s grave, having been prevented from attending her funeral, has had more than half a million views on social media.

“Ayshah is a driven, passionate and tenacious journalist, who’s brimming with warmth, empathy and compassion,” says former C4 News director of communications Hayley Barlow.

Yet three years ago, Tull was set to walk away from journalism, following the sudden death of her brother Rob. “Grief overshadowed everything,” she says. “This year, I’ve battled back… and recommitted to tell the stories of underrepresented groups and speak truth to power.”