Ben Anderson (journalist)

Ben Anderson is a journalist, television reporter, and writer. A winner of the Foreign Press Award,[1] he was born in Middlesbrough, educated at Bedford Modern School[2] and now lives in London.

Biography

A veteran sleuth and presenter, in 2005, Anderson reported for Frontline Football – four films for the BBC that followed national football teams beset by turmoil during the qualifying rounds of the World Cup. In the previous year, he was a reporter on Holidays in the Danger Zone - The Violent Coast. This four part series for BBC2 focused on travelling along West Africa's notoriously dangerous coast. Back in 2003, Ben was a reporter on Correspondent - Terror in South East Asia, which profiled Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's time in Manila with Ramsi Yousef, prior to the September 11 attacks.

Anderson is perhaps most famous for Holidays in the Axis of Evil, the BBC series where he travelled secretly to Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria, Libya and Cuba. He also made films about gang wars in El Salvador, the landless movement in Brazil, pollution in Varanasi, homosexuals in America, Maoist insurgents in Bihar, water rights for Palestinians in the West Bank, the third generation of Agent Orange victims in Vietnam, deportees and pimps in Cambodia and the war in Southern Iraq. Ben is also the presenter of World's Toughest Tribes – a six-part television documentary series for Discovery Channel that focuses on unique modern day tribes.

His recent work included "Taking on the Taliban", a harrowing film that resulted from two months in Helmand, Afghanistan's most violent province, with the Queen's Company, Grenadier Guards. The film was shortlisted for RTS programme and Journalism awards, as a well as a BAFTA. His diary from Helmand was published by the London review of Books.

He has since covered Slave labour in Dubai, and new threats and solutions to deforestation for BBC 1's Panorama. He has been back to Helmand several times, for Newsnight, The Times, the Guardian magazine, GQ and VBS (where Spike Jonze singled out his film "Obama's War" as amongst the best of 2009.) In 2010 he wrote, filmed and produced The Battle for Marjah for HBO/Channel Four and in 2011 he made The Battle for Bomb Alley for BBC1, which followed US Marines as they struggled to reclaim the district of Sangin in Afghanistan.[3] In 2012 his book, No Worse Enemy, chronicling his experiences in Afghanistan was released.[4] His most recent documentary, titled "This is What Winning Looks Like", can be viewed on YouTube through Vice media and focuses on the American and British troops' withdraw from Afghanistan and the problems that have arisen from this.

He has worked with World Champion Boxer David Haye on a film.[5]

Filmography

Year Name
2003 Holidays in the Axis of Evil
2005 America Was Here
2006 World's Toughest Tribes
2007 Taking on the Taliban
2010 The Battle for Marjah
2011 The Battle for Bomb Alley
2013 This Is What Winning Looks Like

Writings

Year Name ISBN
2012 No Worse Enemy: The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan ISBN 185168977X

References

  1. ↑ "Academic Awards 2012". Bedford Modern School. April 10, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ Bedford Modern School, by Andrew Underwood (1981); updated (2010)
  3. ↑ "Ben Anderson". Curtisbrown.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
  4. ↑ "The Definitive Account of the War in Afghanistan". Noworseenemy.com. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
  5. ↑ Nick Duerden (2012-03-11). "How We Met: David Haye & Ben Anderson - Profiles - People". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-04-30.

Further reading