Datshiane Navanayagam

Datshiane Navanayagam (born May 1987)^[1] is a British journalist and broadcaster working for a variety of media outlets.

Navanayagam's grandparents were born in Sri Lanka and moved to Malaysia, and her father moved from there to London in the 1950s.^[2] Navanayagam had a challenging childhood during which she spent periods of time being homeless.^[3] Her father experienced disability during her childhood and at one point, Navanayagam was placed in a single room in a bed-and-breakfast along with three members of her family.^[4] Navanayagam attended South Hampstead High School in South Hampstead, London on a bursary.^[5] After finishing school, she attended the University of Cambridge from 2005 where she studied history at Trinity Hall.^[6]

Navanayagam's broadcasting career began in local radio. She was then awarded a place on the BBC Production Trainee scheme.^[7]

In 2013, she reported for Farming Today on BBC Radio 4.^[8]

In 2018, Navanayagam made, in collaboration with colleagues,^[9] and presented, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary examining homelessness affecting working adults. The documentary was created based on research carried out by a homelessness charity. Navanayagam had experienced homelessness while being adult prior to making the documentary in collaboration with colleagues.^[10] Her work on housing issues also includes a 2019 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary about poor practice by landlords^[11] and a 2020 BBC Panorama documentary about a government shared-ownership housing scheme.^[12]

As of 2017 and 2018, Navanayagam's on-air work for the BBC was across range of factual programmes.^[13] In 2021, she presented several episodes of the Media Show on BBC Radio 4.^[14] As of 2022 and 2023, Navanayagam's on-air BBC work remained across a variety of factual programmes.^[15] In April 2024, Navanayagam was announced as one of the two new presenters of The Conversation, a programme about women's experiences and issues on the BBC World Service.^[16] As of late 2024, Navanayagam was also a presenter of Countryfile on BBC One, a reporter for File on 4 on BBC Radio 4,^[17] and a reporter for Tonight on ITV1.^[18]

Navanayagam occasionally presents Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. She continues to co-make and present factual and investigative documentaries for a variety of media outlets.^[19]

Navanayagam has sat in for other presenters on BBC Radio 5 Live news programmes; for example, in July 2023, she co-presented Saturday Breakfast^[20] and in September 2024 she co-presented Drive.^[21]

Navanayagam is the co-presenter of a series of podcasts for BBC Bitesize which focuses on topics within GCSE History.^[22]

Navanayagam is a judge for the Trinity Hall Prize in Student Journalism,^[23] run by the Cambridge University college which she attended.^[24]