Robin Lustig

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robin Francis Lustig (born 30 August 1948) is a BBC journalist and radio broadcaster who currently presents programmes for the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4.

After studying politics at the University of Sussex, Lustig became a foreign correspondent for the European news agency Reuters and was based in the Spanish capital, Madrid, later moving to Paris and Rome. He then worked for the British broadsheet Sunday paper The Observer for twelve years, where he was Home Affairs Editor, Middle East Correspondent and Assistant Editor. In 1998, he won the prestigious Sony Silver Award for Talk/News Broadcaster of the Year.

As an election specialist, Lustig has anchored special election programmes for the BBC in the last three election years - 1997, 2001 and 2005 - and also provided coverage of the US Presidential election of 2004. His understanding of world politics has also led him to interview prominent world leaders, including Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Presently, Lustig is a main presenter of BBC Radio 4's news programme The World Tonight which is broadcast live on weekdays at 2200 hours GMT/BST; usually Claire Bolderson is the presenter when Lustig is absent. Lustig travelled to the two Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan in May 2006, reporting on the Maoist rebellion and protests against the monarchy from the former and how the Government wishes to increase 'Gross National Happiness' from the latter. BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Julian Worricker often presents the programme in the absence of either Lustig or Bolderson. For the BBC World Service, Lustig has presented Newshour and, since 1998, the global phone-in talk show Have Your Say (formerly Talking Point) which airs simultaneously on BBC World television and the internet. He also hosted a five-part documentary series in December 2006 for BBC Generation Next.