Steven Barnett Rosenberg (born 5 April 1968) is a British journalist for
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
. He has been the BBC's Moscow correspondent almost continuously since 2003, except for a stint as Berlin correspondent between 2006 and 2010. In 2022 Rosenberg's role in Moscow was expanded and he was appointed the BBC's Russia editor.
Early life
Steven Barnett Rosenberg was born on 5 April 1968 in
Epping Epping may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Epping railway station, Sydney
* Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
* Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...
and grew up in
Chingford,
East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
. He is
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. In 1894 his great-grandfather Haim Gnessin left the city of
Shklow
Shklow ( be, Шклоў, ; Škłoŭ; russian: link=no, Шклов, ''Shklov''; yi, שקלאָוו, ''Shklov'', lt, Šklovas, pl, Szkłów) is a town in Mogilev Region, Belarus, located north of Mogilev on the Dnieper river. It has a railway ...
in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
(present-day
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
) on a passport Rosenberg still has. During his senior high school summer holidays, Rosenberg worked at the BBC's teletext service,
Ceefax
Ceefax (, punning on "seeing facts") was the world's first teletext information service and a forerunner to the current BBC Red Button service. Ceefax was started by the BBC in 1974 and ended, after 38 years of broadcasting, at 23:32:19 BST ( ...
.
Following
A-Level
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
s at
Chingford Senior High, he attended the
University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
. In 1991 he achieved a
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
in Russian Studies. After graduating, in August 1991 Rosenberg moved to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and spent the next 15 years there, initially teaching English in the Moscow State Technological University
STANKIN
The Moscow State University of Technology "STANKIN" (MSUT "STANKIN") (Russian: Московский Государственный Технологический Университет "СТАНКИН" (МГТУ "СТАНКИН")), previously th ...
.
Career
Rosenberg secured work with
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
in the network's Moscow bureau. He spent the next six years at CBS, working first as a translator, then assistant producer, and then producer. Between 1994 and 1996 he was part of the CBS crew covering the
first war in Chechnya.
In 1997 Rosenberg became a producer in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
's Moscow bureau. In 2000, he was appointed as a reporter for the BBC in Moscow. Three years later, he became its Moscow correspondent. Among the stories he covered in that period was the
Kursk submarine disaster (2000),
[The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Murmansk "Inside the Kursk, visibility will be low, the risks high"](_blank)
radio report. the
Nord Ost theatre siege (2002)
and the aftermath of the
Beslan school attack
The Beslan school siege (also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre) was a terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004, lasted three days, involved the imprisonment of more than 1,100 people as hostages ( ...
(2004).
In 2003 he interviewed Russian oligarch
Roman Abramovich.
Between 2006 and 2010, Rosenberg was the BBC's
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
correspondent, covering stories in Germany and across Europe. In 2010 he returned to Russia for a second stint as Moscow correspondent.
In 2014, Rosenberg and his film crew were attacked in
Astrakhan by unidentified men after conducting an interview with the sister of a Russian soldier killed during the war in
Donbas
The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
. The BBC filed an official complaint with the Russian authorities about the attack.
In 2015, the
government of Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine ( uk, Кабінет Міністрів України, translit=Kabinet Ministriv Ukrainy; shortened to CabMin), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine ( uk, Уряд України, ''Uriad Ukrai ...
issued a decree banning several journalists, including Rosenberg, from entering the country over his coverage of the
war in Donbas. The decree stated those banned were a "threat to national interests" or engaged in promoting "terrorist activities". The BBC labelled the ban "a shameful attack on media freedom". The Ukrainians retracted the ban just a day later.
In 2018, Rosenberg was praised by other journalists for confronting
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
with a question about
the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Putin did not directly answer the question.
In November 2021 Rosenberg conducted a high-profile interview with
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
president
Alexander Lukashenko. During the interview he elicited the admission from Lukashenko that Belarusian troops "may have helped migrants into
he EU".
On 10 March 2022, to strengthen the BBC's coverage of
the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Rosenberg was appointed Russia editor of BBC News. This was an expansion of his role as Moscow correspondent.
Piano playing
As a fan of the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
, Rosenberg covered the in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
,
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
, where he demonstrated his piano playing skills when appearing on the
''Ken Bruce Show'', on the morning before the event. He played a short excerpt from every Eurovision winning song, a medley lasting ten minutes. He has repeated this several times since, including from the embassies in Russia of countries staging that year's contest, such as
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
in and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in . Later in the show, he took part in a '
Eurovision PopMaster', narrowly losing the competition to the author of ''The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History'',
John Kennedy O'Connor.
In 2013, after an interview, Rosenberg played the piano at the request of
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
, the last leader of the Soviet Union. He played "
Moscow Nights", which Gorbachev sang, followed by "
Dark is the Night" and "The Misty Morning", a song he said was a favourite of his late wife
Raisa. After his interview with Belarusian authoritarian leader
Alexander Lukashenko, Rosenberg published his performance of "
Kupalinka
Kupalinka is a popular Belarusian song described as a “musical business card of Belarus”.
Lyrics
The song's lyrical heroine, the Kupala Night Maiden is “weeding a rose, piercing her white hands” and “plucking flowers, weaving wreaths, ...
", a protest song associated with the
2020–2021 Belarusian protests
The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass political demonstrations and protests against the Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government protests in the history of Belarus, the demonst ...
.
In June 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Rosenberg and ''
BBC North West Tonight
''BBC North West Tonight'' is the BBC's regional television news programme covering North West England and the Isle of Man. Produced by BBC North West, the programme airs at 1.30pm (as ''North West Today''), 6.30pm and 10.30pm, with shorter bu ...
'' weather presenter and drummer
Owain Wyn Evans came together to present the ''
Match of the Day'' theme. Rosenberg went on to demonstrate more of his piano homages to Russian and English-speaking culture via the BBC with which he entertained people during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which he posted on his Twitter feed.
In March 2022, he posted his piano piece "Isolation" on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, saying, among other things, "It's how I'm feeling right now." On 12 March 2022, he posted the
Ukrainian folk song "In the Grove by the Danube".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Steve
BBC people
British male journalists
1968 births
People from Epping
Living people
British people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
British expatriates in Russia
Alumni of the University of Leeds