John Simpson

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For other persons named John Simpson, see John Simpson (disambiguation).

John Cody Fidler-Simpson CBE (born August 9, 1944), commonly known as John Simpson, is a British journalist who currently holds the most senior role of World Affairs Editor for BBC News. He also presents the current affairs programme Simpson's World.

1 Biography
2 Books
3 Awards and personal life
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Biography

Born in Cleveleys, Lancashire, Simpson went to St Paul's School, a famous British independent school. He read English at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he edited the magazine Granta. As a student he competed on the television programme University Challenge in 1965. His first job with the BBC was as a trainee sub-editor in Radio News in 1966.

He was promoted to the role of reporter in 1970. His autobiography recalls an occasion on his first day on the news team when he attempted to record a quote from Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who punched Simpson in the stomach for his impudence. He presented the BBC Nine O'Clock News for a short period in the 1980s, became the BBC's Diplomatic Editor, and was appointed World Affairs Editor in 1988.

In a BBC career spanning more than 30 years, Simpson has earned a reputation as one of the world's most experienced and authoritative journalists.

He has reported from more than 100 countries across the globe, from 30 war zones, and has interviewed numerous world leaders.

During this time he was the first BBC journalist in a war zone to answer questions from internet users via BBC News Online.

He has faced many dangerous situations including being shelled in Afghanistan, attacked with poisonous gas in the Gulf and dodging the bullets in Tiananmen Square.

He has also worked as a correspondent in South Africa, Brussels and Dublin.

Simpson has received numerous awards including a CBE in the Gulf War Honours in 1991, three Baftas and an International Emmy award for News Coverage for his report on the fall of Kabul for the BBC Ten O'Clock News.

He interviewed the King of Buganda Mutesa II a few hours before his death on November 21, 1969; he was present at the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in 1989 and the fall of Nicolae Ceauşescu in Bucharest later that year. He spent the early part of the 1991 Gulf War in Baghdad, before being expelled by the authorities.

He also reported from Belgrade during the Kosovo War of 1999, where he was one of only a handful of journalists to remain in the Serbian capital after the authorities expelled those from NATO countries at the start of the conflict. Two years later, he was one of the first journalists to enter Kabul after the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

While working as a non-embedded journalist in Northern Iraq in the 2003 Iraq war, he was injured in a friendly fire incident when an American anti-tank bomb was dropped on the American unit he was with. The incident was captured on film and has been broadcast. A member of his crew was killed during the incident, whilst Simpson was left deaf in one ear.

Simpson has freely admitted to experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs offered to him by natives and locals while working in various jungles of the world. This has prompted numerous light-hearted jibes from other panellists whenever Simpson has appeared on the topical quiz show Have I Got News For You. On his first appearance, Simpson revealed, in all seriousness, that one hallucination involved a six-foot goldfish putting his flipper round his shoulders while wearing dark glasses and a straw hat.

[edit] Books

Simpson has written several books, including the autobiographical trilogy:

Strange Places, Questionable People (1998)
A Mad World, My Masters (2000)
News From No Man's Land (2002).

His last book on Iraq War was:

The Wars Against Saddam: Taking the Hard Road to Baghdad (2004)

His most recent autobiography is:

Days from a Different World: A Memoir of Childhood (2005)

[edit] Awards and personal life

John Simpson was awarded the CBE in 1991. He became the first Chancellor of Roehampton University in 2005.

Simpson, who has two adult daughters from his first marriage, married his second wife Dee, a television producer 19 years his junior, in 1996. A son, Rafe, was born to the couple in January 2006 [1]. He currently lives in Ireland, and often travels on an Irish passport [2].