Cecilia Uddén (born 28 October 1960) is a Swedish journalist, radio host and foreign reporter for

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

. Uddén has worked as a radio foreign correspondent to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

since 1993.

Early life

Cecilia Uddén was born in

Hägersten Hägersten (''Heronstone'') is an urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * ...

, Stockholm, the oldest daughter of Per Olov Edvin Uddén and Sigrid Chatarina Öhlén-Johannsen. During her childhood, her family also spent time in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, Thailand. Uddén attended Norra Latins Gymnasium in Stockholm and studied philosophy at

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

. She also studied journalism at Skurups folkhögskola in

Skurup Skurup is a locality and the seat of Skurup Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of Swe ...

, Sweden. Uddén has to children with ex-husband Otto Manheimer, a cultural journalist and translator. She is now in a relationship with artist Elisabeth Ohlson.

Career

In 1988, Uddén started working in

's culture department. Between 1993 and 1998, she was a foreign correspondent to the Middle East and was based in Cairo and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Between 1998 and 2003, she was the foreign correspondent to Washington for Sveriges Radio. In 2004, she began to host the radio show ''Konflikt'' which was broadcast between 2004 and 2005. She worked as a foreign correspondent based in Amman from 2006 and 2011. After the Syrian authorities withdrew permission for her to work as a journalist, stating that she had conveyed "false information", Uddén left Syria in December 2016. SR rejected the claims made against Uddén.

Criticism

During the 2004 American presidential election, Uddén was criticised for making an evaluative statement about one of the candidates on Sveriges Radio. The comment was seen as a breach of impartiality, leading to the suspension of Uddén from election coverage. Uddén was criticized in December 2011, by Peter Wolodarski in ''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ''Da ...

'' after she posed for a photo with two

salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...

s she had interviewed.

Awards

*1997: ''Stora Journalistpriset'' *2001: ''Sveriges Radios språkpris'' *2003: ''Jolopriset'' *2005: ''Torgny Segerstedts frihetspenna'' *2006: ''Vilhelm Moberg-priset'' *2010: ''Cordelia Edvardsonpriset'' *2011: ''Stora Journalistpriset''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uddén, Cecilia 1960 births Living people 21st-century Swedish journalists Swedish radio personalities Swedish women journalists Swedish women radio presenters Journalists from Stockholm Stockholm University alumni 20th-century Swedish women writers