Karen Bowerman

Karen Bowerman is a multi-award winning English journalist, television presenter, film maker and travel writer who has worked for Sky, ITV, CNN International and the BBC.^[1] Formerly the Consumer Correspondent for BBC One,^[2] and the Business and Consumer Presenter for the BBC News Channel and BBC World,^[3] she is now a freelancer, working as a presenter and film maker for the BBC's Travel Show on BBC World & BBC 2 ^[4] and for other BBC outlets. She writes for a range of newspapers, magazines and websites and specialises in travel, consumer issues and business. When she is not on assignment she does various corporate work.

Education

Karen Bowerman was an academic scholar at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She has a BA (Hons) and MA in Theology. She was offered a place at Wolfson College, Oxford, to study for a Ph.D in Theology but deferred for a year to try to secure funding. During this time, having always really wanted to be a journalist, she worked, for free, for a local paper.

Career

After a brief spell in newspapers, beginning in Devon,^[5] Karen became a BBC Trainee in News which led to her reporting and presenting for BBC South West. She joined Sky News in 1998 as a producer and soon became a presenter/reporter. She turned freelance a couple of years later, continuing to work for Sky while also reading the news for CNN International.

BBC News

In 2001 Karen returned to the BBC, after being offered a job as the Consumer Correspondent for the BBC News at One, BBC News at Six and the BBC News at Ten. She specialised in original journalism, undercover filming and special investigations.^[6] In 2005 she became the Business & Consumer Presenter for the BBC News Channel.

Programmes

After focussing on News, Karen went to work as a contributor and presenter for BBC programmes. Stints included Weekend Watchdog, Newsnight, Fast:track (now the Travel Show) and the Heaven and Earth Show. She conceived and co-produced Test the Nation's Morals, a live show broadcast by BBC Religion & Ethics which gave birth to a national equivalent.^[7] She presented several series of BBC Northern Ireland's Consumer show, Fair Play,^[5] focussing on undercover investigations. Some led to criminal proceedings.

Since 2007 Karen has worked as a freelance for the BBC News Features department, focussing on travel. She specialises in adventure, activity, eco/sustainable travel and consumer issues, shooting the films herself.

Assignments have taken her to the Arctic and Antarctic where she has made documentaries for TV and radio. She has sailed a replica Phoenician ship, travelled with the grandson of Gandhi and rafted through the Grand Canyon.^[8]

Awards

UK Travel Broadcaster of the Year: 2010, 2012, Travel Press Awards; Best British Regional Feature Writer: 2010, 2013, Travel Press Awards. Short-listed (one of three): Travel Broadcast Journalist of the Year Award, 2009; Specialist Journalist, British Regional Press Awards, 2012; British Guild of Travel Writers Broadcaster of the Year, 2011.

Corporate work

Karen regularly hosts international conferences and does various corporate presentation work. Clients have included the UN, Mercedes, Hitachi, Danone, Swiss Re, Saga, Farnborough Air Show, the International Telecommunications Union and leading supermarkets.

The wrong guy

Karen's infamous claim to fame was interviewing the wrong guy, Guy Goma on BBC News. Goma was an unsuspecting applicant for an IT job who thought it was all part of his interview process. The BBC said Karen sensed something was about to go wrong but that in the frantic environment of live news her editor did not hear her. ^[9] In the end she was told to keep the man talking while producers scrambled to find another guest.^[10] The story gave Fleet Street a good run for their money. Karen's editor said she "deserved a medal" for her good humoured handling of the affair.^[10]

References