Are lawyers killing investigative journalism? Once upon a time investigative journalists had only to fear the physical violence of military men or organised crime. Those dangers remain, but today i...
John Kampfner
John Kampfner is Chief Executive of Index on Censorship, one of the world's leading free expression organisations. In late 2009 Index launched a successful campaign to change UK libel laws. John is also Chair of the board of Turner Contemporary in Margate, Kent. The Turner Contemporary gallery is scheduled to open in spring 2011, making it one of the most important visual arts and regeneration projects in the south east of England.
John's latest book, Freedom For Sale, was launched in the UK in September 2009 and in the US in March 2010. It is also being published in Italian, Spanish and Russian. Promotion events have taken place around the UK and the rest of the world, from Oslo to Brussels, from Singapore to India. The book was shortlisted for the prestigious Orwell Prize in May 2010. His previous books include the critically acclaimed and best selling Blair's Wars, an account of the former prime minister's militaristic hubris.
John has presented several documentaries for BBC television and radio. In 2002 he won the Foreign Press Association award for Film of the Year and Journalist of the Year for his two-parter on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, called The Ugly War. His film War Spin, exposing the propaganda behind the rescue of Jessica Lynch, received considerable publicity in the US and UK. John is a regular pundit for all channels on politics and foreign affairs.
He began his career as a foreign correspondent with the Daily Telegraph, first in East Berlin where he reported on the fall of the Wall and the unification of Germany, and then in Moscow at the time of the coup and the collapse of Soviet Communism. On returning to the UK in the mid-1990s, he became Chief Political Correspondent at the Financial Times and political commentator for the BBC's Today programme. Between 2002 and 2005, John was Political Editor of the New Statesman.