Fergal Keane

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fergal Patrick Keane OBE (born January 6, 1961) is an Irish writer and broadcaster. For many years, Keane was the BBC's correspondent in Southern Africa. He is the nephew of Irish author John B. Keane.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Published works
4 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in London, he grew up in Dublin and later in Cork. He attended Terenure College in Dublin and Presentation Brothers College in Cork.

[edit] Career

On finishing school in 1979, he started his career as a journalist with the Limerick Leader. Subsequently, he worked for the Irish Press. Later, he moved into broadcast journalism with RTÉ.

He joined the BBC in 1989 as Northern Ireland Correspondent, but in August 1990 he was appointed their Southern African Correspondent, having covered the region during the early 1980s. From 1990 to 1994 Fergal's reports covered the township unrest in South Africa, the first multi-racial elections following the end of apartheid, the genocide in Rwanda.

In 1995 he was appointed Asia Correspondent based in Hong Kong and two years later, after the handover, he returned to be based in the BBC's World Affairs Unit in London.

One of his reports for BBC Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent took the form of a letter to his new born son, Daniel. Letter to Daniel prompted an emotional response from numerous listeners and won a number of awards.

Fergal Keane's reporting has attracted widespread critical acclaim. He was named as overall winner of the Amnesty International Press Awards in 1993 and won an Amnesty television prize in 1994 for his investigation of the Rwandan genocide, Journey Into Darkness. He is the only journalist to have won both the Royal Television Society Journalist of the Year award and the Sony Radio Reporter of the Year in the same year - 1994. He won a One World Television award in 1999 as well as The Voice of The Viewer and Listener award for his radio despatch Letter To Daniel. He won a BAFTA award for his documentary on Rwanda, Valentina's Story. He has won the James Cameron Prize for war reporting, the Edward R Murrow Award for foreign reporting and the George Orwell Prize for non-fiction for his book Season of Blood.

Critics of Keane's journalistic style suggest that his search for a 'human angle' on many of the news stories that he covers serves merely to sensationalise, and ultimately to trivialise, the events themselves. In addition, it leaves him open to the charge of patronising his listeners and wallowing in the suffering of others.

He has written several books: The Bondage of Fear - A Journey Through the Last Empire (an account of South Africa's transition to democracy); Season of Blood; Letter to Daniel; Letters Home and A Stranger's Eye (an account of a journey through deprived areas of Britain).

He has been awarded honorary degrees in literature from the University of Strathclyde and Staffordshire University. In 1996 Fergal Keane was awarded an OBE for services to journalism.

[edit] Published works

Keane, Fergal (2006). All of These People - a memoir. HarperPerennial. ISBN 0-00-717693-7.
Keane, Fergal (2001). A Stranger's Eye (BBC Radio Collection). BBC Audiobooks. ISBN 0-563-47814-4.
Keane, Fergal Godson, Rory (1989). Bloody Revolutionaries: Inside Story of the Irish National Liberation Army. Queen Anne P. ISBN 0-356-17607-X.
Keane, Fergal (1995). The Bondage of Fear: A Journey Through the Last White Empire. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-14-023488-8.
Keane, Fergal (1999). Dispatches From The Heart. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-027155-4.
Keane, Fergal Kenny, Shane (1987). Irish Politics Now: "This Week" Guide to the 25th Dáil. Brandon. ISBN 0-86322-095-9.
Keane, Fergal (1999). Letters Home. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-14-028979-8.
Keane, Fergal (1996). Letter to Daniel: Despatches from the Heart. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-14-026289-X.
Keane, Fergal (1996). Season of Blood: Rwandan Journey. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-14-024760-2.