Matt Frei
Encyclopedia
Matthias Frei better known as Matt Frei (born 26 November 1963) is a German
-born British television news journalist and writer, presently the Washington, D.C.
correspondent for Channel 4 News
.
, West Germany
. His parents were refugees who left Silesia
before it became part of Poland
and settled in West Germany. In 1973 he left Germany with his family and moved to the United Kingdom
, when his father became a London
correspondent for German radio.
He was educated at Westminster School
, then read History
and Spanish
at St Peter's College
, University of Oxford
, before graduating
in 1986.
Frei is married and has four children.
, he moved to English Language Current Affairs, where he worked for another year.
In 1989, working as a stringer
, he reported on the First Intifada
in Jerusalem, then on the Persian Gulf War as London Foreign Affairs correspondent. He took up the post of Bonn
correspondent in Germany on the same day as the fall of the Berlin Wall
.
In 1990 Frei took a holiday in Zimbabwe
and persuaded aid worker friend Katty Kay
to become a journalist.
From 1992 to 1996, he worked as Southern Europe
correspondent, based in Rome
, and covered events in Bosnia
, Kosovo
, North Africa
and various Mafia
-related stories.
After working as Southern Europe correspondent, he worked as Asia
correspondent from 1997 to 2003, based in Hong Kong
(taking up his post just before the handover to China
) and later in Singapore
.
From 2002 he was the BBC's Washington, D.C. correspondent. In 2005, Frei reported from the centre of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
. On 1 October 2007, Frei became the first presenter of the BBC World News
one hour Washington-based news broadcast, BBC World News America
, supported by correspondent Katty Kay
. It currently airs on BBC News, BBC World News and several PBS stations.
For a week in July 2008, Frei presented the London based BBC News at Six on a relief basis. A year later on 27 July 2009, Frei returned to London again to present the evening bulletin (again as a relief presenter). In January 2011, Frei presented the BBCs Newsnight
as a relief presenter.
Frei presented his own BBC
documentary
on the life and times of the German capital, Berlin
. It ran from 14 November 2009.
As part of his brief as the BBC's Washington correspondent, Frei presented a weekly Radio 4 show called Americana
, which offers listeners slices of life in all of the country's 50 states as well as political news from Washington. Frei's last Americana episode aired in May 2011.
later in the year. Frei will serve as the broadcaster's Washington correspondent, as well as reporting for Channel 4's other news programmes.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-born British television news journalist and writer, presently the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
correspondent for Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News is the news division of British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-Channel 4 News:...
.
Personal life
Frei was born in 1963 in EssenEssen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. His parents were refugees who left Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
before it became part of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and settled in West Germany. In 1973 he left Germany with his family and moved to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, when his father became a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
correspondent for German radio.
He was educated at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, then read History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
at St Peter's College
St Peter's College, Oxford
St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, located in New Inn Hall Street. It occupies the site of two of the University's oldest Inns, or medieval hostels - Bishop Trellick's, later New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall - both of which were...
, University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, before graduating
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
in 1986.
Frei is married and has four children.
BBC
Frei joined the BBC shortly after graduation. After a year in the German section of the World ServiceBBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
, he moved to English Language Current Affairs, where he worked for another year.
In 1989, working as a stringer
Stringer (journalism)
In journalism, a stringer is a type of freelance journalist or photographer who contributes reports or photos to a news organization on an ongoing basis but is paid individually for each piece of published or broadcast work....
, he reported on the First Intifada
First Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
in Jerusalem, then on the Persian Gulf War as London Foreign Affairs correspondent. He took up the post of Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
correspondent in Germany on the same day as the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
.
In 1990 Frei took a holiday in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
and persuaded aid worker friend Katty Kay
Katty Kay
Katty Kay is an English journalist and correspondent, based at the Washington, D.C. bureau of BBC News. She also blogs at the website True/Slant and is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Biography:...
to become a journalist.
From 1992 to 1996, he worked as Southern Europe
Southern Europe
The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...
correspondent, based in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and covered events in Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and various Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
-related stories.
After working as Southern Europe correspondent, he worked as Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
correspondent from 1997 to 2003, based in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
(taking up his post just before the handover to China
Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong
The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, referred to as ‘the Return’ or ‘the Reunification’ by the Chinese and ‘the Handover’ by others, took place on 1 July 1997...
) and later in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
From 2002 he was the BBC's Washington, D.C. correspondent. In 2005, Frei reported from the centre of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. On 1 October 2007, Frei became the first presenter of the BBC World News
BBC World
BBC World News is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel. It has the largest audience of any BBC channel in the world...
one hour Washington-based news broadcast, BBC World News America
BBC World News America
BBC World News America is a current affairs news programme produced by BBC World News to be shown initially for American audiences. It's presented by Katty Kay, who was announced the main anchor in September 2011....
, supported by correspondent Katty Kay
Katty Kay
Katty Kay is an English journalist and correspondent, based at the Washington, D.C. bureau of BBC News. She also blogs at the website True/Slant and is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Biography:...
. It currently airs on BBC News, BBC World News and several PBS stations.
For a week in July 2008, Frei presented the London based BBC News at Six on a relief basis. A year later on 27 July 2009, Frei returned to London again to present the evening bulletin (again as a relief presenter). In January 2011, Frei presented the BBCs Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
as a relief presenter.
Frei presented his own BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary
Berlin (documentary)
Berlin is a 2009 documentary series co-developed by the BBC and the Open University. Written and presented by Matt Frei, the series has three 60-minute episodes, each dealing with a different aspect of the history of Germany's capital city....
on the life and times of the German capital, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. It ran from 14 November 2009.
As part of his brief as the BBC's Washington correspondent, Frei presented a weekly Radio 4 show called Americana
Americana (radio series)
Americana was a British radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from spring 2009 to autumn 2011. It offered a "mix of discussion, interviews and features, with a focus on the voices of ordinary Americans" and was touted as the "successor for the late Alistair Cooke's Letter from...
, which offers listeners slices of life in all of the country's 50 states as well as political news from Washington. Frei's last Americana episode aired in May 2011.
Channel 4
It was announced in May 2011 that Frei would be switching to Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
later in the year. Frei will serve as the broadcaster's Washington correspondent, as well as reporting for Channel 4's other news programmes.
Awards
- Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Asia Award, for NewsnightNewsnightNewsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
features on VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
(1997 and 1998) - Royal Television SocietyRoyal Television SocietyThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
International News Award (2000) - Prix Bayeux for War Reporting (2000)
Books
- Italy: The Unfinished Revolution (1995). Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 978-1-85619-571-3.
- Only in America (2008). HarperCollins Publishers Limited. ISBN 978-0007248926.
External links
- BBC profile
- John Pilger doesn't buy the sales pitch of war lovers
- Americana, from BBC Radio 4