Tim Sebastian

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This article is about the English television journalist. For the German footballer, see Tim Sebastian (footballer).

Tim Sebastian (born 13 March 1952, London, England) is a television journalist. He is the moderator of the New Arab Debates[1] the Doha Debates,[2] and the the Outsider Debates,[3] and was the first presenter of BBC's HARDtalk.[4]

He won the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Richard Dimbleby award in 1981[5] and Britain's prestigious Royal Television Society Interviewer of the Year award in 2001 for the second time in a row.[6]

Education

Sebastian was educated at Westminster School, a fee-paying independent school in Central London. He holds a BA Honours degree in Modern Languages from New College, Oxford University, and speaks both German and Russian.[6] He has a Diploma in Journalism Studies from Cardiff University, graduating in 1974.

Journalist

Sebastian began his journalism career at Reuters in 1974, moving to the BBC as foreign correspondent in Warsaw in 1979.[7] He became BBC's Europe correspondent in 1982, for Moscow in 1984 (until his expulsion from the USSR in 1985[7]) and then for Washington from 1986 to 1989.[8]

Sebastian has worked for the Mail on Sunday, and has contributed to the Sunday Times.

Interviewer

Sebastian was stated by his BBC employer to be a rigorous and skillful interviewer[citation needed], and the seven years that he spent at HardTalk were described by the BBC accordingly.

Debate moderator

Sebastian is a frequent moderator of major conferences, seminars and forums across the globe. Currently , Sebastian is the Chairman of "The Doha Debates", a Qatar Foundation programme that is broadcast monthly on BBC World News where it is the highest rated weekend programme. The Debates were founded by Sebastian in 2004 and their fifth series begins in September 2008.

Following the political and social unrest in Egypt and Tunisia in early 2011, Tim Sebastian founded the New Arab Debates,[9] which are held in Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan and broadcast on Deutsche Welle English [10] as well as regional television channels. The debates are now in their second season, and are also held in Arabic and hosted by Egyptian TV Presenter Mai El Sherbiny.

Author

Sebastian is the author of eight novels and two non-fiction books. They include: Ultra (1998), War Dance (1996), The Memory Church (1994), Last Rights (1993), Exit Berlin (1992), Saviour's Gate (1991), Spy Shadow (1990), The Spy in Question (1989) and Nice Promises: Tim Sebastian in Poland (1985).

Awards

In 1982 Sebastian was awarded the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Richard Dimbleby Award and was named Television Journalist of the Year by the Royal Television Society. Additionally he has twice won the Royal Television Society's Interviewer of the Year Award for his HARDtalk interviews.

References

  1. ↑ Medien, Ahmed (21 October 2011), Tim Sebastian Launches "New Arab Debates", Tunisia Live, retrieved 2011-11-20 
  2. ↑ Mendenhall, Preston (22 February 2005), Another revolution in the land of Al-Jazeera, MSNBC, retrieved 2011-09-14 
  3. ↑ Mendenhall, Preston (August 25, 2012), The Outsider, MSNBC 
  4. ↑ "A look ahead...". BBC. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 2011-09-14. 
  5. ↑ "Television Nominations 1981". BAFTA. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 2011-11-20. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "The man with all the questions". BBC. 4 July 2002. Retrieved 2011-09-14. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Shivdasani, Menka (17 April 2000), "Behind those interviews", Business Line (Madras), retrieved 2011-09-14 
  8. ↑ Church, Michael (31 December 2002), "Tim Sebastian: 'It's not a social event'", The Independent (London), retrieved 2011-09-14 
  9. ↑ http://www.newarabdebates.com/en/about-us/a-message-from-tim-sebastian/
  10. ↑ http://www.dw.de/program/the-new-arab-debates/s-30470-9798

External links

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