John Simpson

In the Front Line

One of John's more recent and demanding major assignments was reporting from Afghanistan during the fall of Kabul. John also reported from Belgrade during the Kosovo crisis. He was one of only a handful of journalists to remain in the Serbian capital when the authorities expelled those from Nato countries at the start of the conflict. "As everyone else was pulling out I decided I would just stay put and see what happened," he said. For the next 12 weeks he filed reports every day and often round-the-clock for all BBC services, and was the first BBC journalist in a war zone to answer questions from Internet users via BBC News Online.

Journalist of the Year

In April 2000, he was named RTS (Royal Television Society) Journalist of the Year for his reporting of the conflict.

Behind the Scenes

In a career which makes visiting trouble spots a way of life, John says he rarely fears for his safety - even when a Palestinian soldier ordered him to kneel in the road and held a gun to his head and, just recently, when a 'friendly fire' anti-tank bomb was dropped and detonated a few yards from him in Iraq, killing his translator and showering John with shrapnel.

Other close shaves include being shelled in Afghanistan, attacked with poisonous gas in the Gulf and dodging the bullets in Tiananmen Square. John also had the honor as a young reporter of being punched by Harold Wilson for asking whether he was about to call an election.

Earlier Career

John was appointed World Affairs Editor in 1988 following periods as Diplomatic Editor and presenter of the Nine O'clock News. Before that he worked as a correspondent in South Africa, Brussels and Dublin.

John also presents a current and political affairs program called Simpson's World. John Simpson's World is broadcast on BBC World and BBC News 24, and is seen in 200 countries. Each edition has an audience that has been estimated at 151 million viewers. In its five years, Simpson's World has interviewed more than a hundred people in over forty countries, and is one of BBC World's most popular programs.

From 1990-6 John was associate editor of 'The Spectator'. Since 1996 he has written a foreign affairs column for The Sunday Telegraph. His most recent books include an autobiographical trilogy: 'Strange Places, Questionable People' (1998), 'A Mad World, My Masters' (2000), 'News From No Man's Land' (2002), 'The Wars Against Saddam' (2003) became a 'bestseller' and is now available in paperback, and his book "Days from a Different World" was published September 2005.   In October 2007, he released in hardback his latest book 'Not Quite World's End: A Traveller's Tales'

Awards

John received a CBE in the (1991), and is one of only two people to have been twice named the Royal Television Society's 'Journalist of the Year' (1991 and 2000). Among his other awards have been three BAFTA's, a Golden Nymph Award for his reporting of Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran (1979), a Peabody Trust Award for news (1999), a special jury's award at the Bayeux War Correspondents Awards (2002) and most recently an International Emmy Award for News Coverage for his report on the fall of Kabul for BBC's Ten O'Clock News (2002), GQ Magazine "Author of the Year" (2003) and in 2004 John received the award from Pan MacMillan for the "Audio Book of the Year" for The Wars Against Saddam (2004). In September 1999, Magdalene College awarded John an honorary fellowship and, in November 2005, John was installed as Chancellor of Roehampton University .

Personal

Born on 9 August 1944, John was brought up in London and Suffolk, and educated at St Paul's School and Magdalene College, Cambridge where he read English and edited the magazine Granta. In September 1999, Magdalene College awarded John an honorary fellowship.

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