John Simpson (journalist)
| John Simpson | |||
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Simpson at Chatham House, April 2015
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| Born |
John Cody Fidler-Simpson 9 August 1944 Cleveleys,Lancashire, England |
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| Occupation | Journalist | ||
| Notable credit(s) |
BBC News "BBC News: The Editors" |
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| Spouse(s) | Diane Jean Petteys (1965-1995) Adele Kruger (1996-present) |
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| Children | 3 | ||
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John Cody Fidler-SimpsonCBE (born 9 August 1944) is an English foreign correspondent and world affairs editor of BBC News. He has spent all his working life at the BBC, and has reported from more than 120 countries, including thirty war zones, and interviewed many world leaders.
Simpson was born in Cleveleys, Lancashire. He says in his autobiography that his father was an anarchist. He spent ten years growing up in Dunwich in Suffolk. He was educated at Dulwich College Preparatory School and St Paul's School, followed by Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read English and was editor of Granta magazine. In 1965 he was a member of the Magdalene University Challenge team. A year later Simpson started as a trainee sub-editor at BBC radio news.
Simpson became a BBC reporter in 1970. On his very first day, the then-prime minister Harold Wilson, angered by what he saw as the sudden and impudent appearance of the novice's microphone, punched him in the stomach.
Simpson was the BBC's political editor in 1980–81. He presented the Nine O'Clock News in 1981–82 and became diplomatic editor in 1982. He had also served as a correspondent in South Africa, Brussels and Dublin. He became BBC world affairs editor in 1988 and presented an occasional current affairs programme, Simpson's World.
Simpson's reporting career includes the following episodes:
Simpson has freely admitted to using hallucinogenic drugs offered to him by locals in various jungles of the world. This prompted jibes from other panellists when Simpson appeared on BBC Television's topical quiz show Have I Got News For You. On his first appearance, Simpson revealed that one hallucination involved a six-foot goldfish putting its flipper round his shoulders while wearing dark glasses and a straw hat.
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