Stephanie Flanders
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| Stephanie Flanders | |
| Born | 5 August 1968 |
|---|---|
| Education | Balliol College, University of Oxford Harvard University |
| Known for | Television presenter |
| Parents | Michael Flanders and Claudia Cockburn |
| Relatives | Laura Flanders (sister) Olivia Wilde (half-cousin) Alexander Cockburn (half-uncle) Andrew Cockburn (half-uncle) Patrick Cockburn (half-uncle) Sarah Caudwell (half-aunt) Leslie Cockburn (half-aunt by marriage) Claud Cockburn (grandfather) |
Stephanie Hope Flanders (born 5 August 1968)[1] is a British award-winning broadcast journalist, and is currently the BBC economics editor.[2] She is the daughter of British actor and comic singer Michael Flanders and wife Claudia Cockburn.
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[edit] Early life
Flanders' father, Michael Flanders, died in 1975 when she was six years old. She went to St Paul's Girls' School and was a student at Balliol College, Oxford and Harvard University.
[edit] Early career
Flanders began her career as an economist at the London Business School and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. She then became a leader writer and columnist at the Financial Times from 1994.[3] She became a speechwriter and advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers in 1997, and joined the New York Times in 2001.[4]
[edit] Newsnight
Flanders joined the BBC's Newsnight in 2002. A keen cyclist, in 2005 she presented a review of Britain's economic status for Panorama from her bicycle, travelling the length of the country. She also contributed (with reference to her father's song "A Transport Of Delight") to the BBC News coverage of the last of Routemaster buses. In 2006 and 2007 she presented some relief shifts for BBC News between 2pm and 5pm.
On a Newsnight programme in August 2007, Flanders interrogated Conservative Party leader David Cameron about his proposed policy of tax breaks for married couples while questioning him with other journalists, asking him whether he had ever met anyone who would get married for an extra £20 per week. As an unmarried mother, she also asked Mr. Cameron whether the Conservative Party would like her to be married. Her contribution was criticised by Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn on 31 August 2007, where he made references to her "privileged" educational background and later wrote that "If Stephanie Flanders speaks for Britain, then I'm a gnu" (in reference to The Gnu - a song sung by her father and stage partner Donald Swann).
[edit] Economics editor
In February 2008 it was announced that she would replace Evan Davis as BBC economics editor, since he was moving to present Radio 4's Today programme. She took up this position on 17 March.[5]
[edit] Family
United States based journalist Laura Flanders is her sister, and journalists Alexander Cockburn, Andrew Cockburn and Patrick Cockburn are her uncles. She is the granddaughter of the famous British Communist journalist, Claud Cockburn and is distantly related to the novelists Alec and Evelyn Waugh. Her cousin is the television and film star Olivia Wilde.
On June 30, 2007, Stephanie presented a BBC documentary about Michael Flanders, featuring her journey of discovery about her father's career, on BBC Radio 4's The Archive Hour, called "Flanders on Flanders."[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Who's Who
- ^ PR Newswire (19 January 2007). "The Work Foundation's Workworld Awards Winners Announced". Press release.
- ^ Mary Greenham - Administrative/Management for TV Presenters and Broadcast Journalists
- ^ Stephanie Flanders - The New York Times
- ^ BBC Ten OClock News. 2008-03-17.
- ^ Re-discovering my father. BBC (29 June 2007).
