Tim Sebastian (born 13 March 1952) is a television journalist and novelist. He is the moderator of ''Conflict Zone'' and ''The New Arab Debates'', broadcast on

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service cons ...

. He previously worked for the BBC, where he hosted '' The Doha Debates'' and was the first presenter of ''

HARDtalk ''HARDtalk'' is a BBC television and radio programme broadcast on the BBC News Channel, on BBC World News, and on the BBC World Service. Broadcast times and days vary, depending on broadcasting platform and geographic location. ''HARDtalk' ...

''. He also presented Bloomberg TV's ''The Outsider'', an India-focused debating programme. He won the BAFTA (

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

)

Richard Dimbleby Frederick Richard Dimbleby (25 May 1913 – 22 December 1965) was an English journalist and broadcaster, who became the BBC's first war correspondent, and then its leading TV news commentator. As host of the long-running current affairs ...

award in 1981 and Britain's prestigious ''Royal Television Society Interviewer of the Year'' award in 2000 and 2001.

Education

Sebastian was born London, England. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, a fee-paying

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. He holds a BA degree in

Modern Languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such ...

from

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

and speaks both

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Russian. He has a Diploma in Journalism Studies from

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, graduating in 1974.

Journalist

Sebastian began his journalism career at

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

in 1974, moving to the BBC as foreign correspondent in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

in 1979. He became BBC's

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

correspondent in 1982. At that time in 1983 in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

, during Martial law in Poland, Tim Sebastian interviewed Kornel Morawiecki, the leader of the Polish anti-Soviet and anti-communist underground organization Fighting Solidarity, hiding from the Polish security service. Between 1984 and 1985 (until his expulsion from the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

in 1985) he was BBC's correspondent for

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 ...

in 1984 and then for

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

from 1986 to 1989. Sebastian has worked for ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

'', and has contributed to ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''.

Interviewer

Memorable ''Hard Talk'' interviews with world leaders included US Presidents

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...

, Singapore's first Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

, and the last leader of the Soviet Union

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 the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Com ...

. He currently hosts ''Conflict Zone'', a one-on-one interview show on

's international English-language channel. In March 2016, he interviewed the leader of the German party AfD,

Frauke Petry Frauke Petry (; ; born 1 June 1975) is a German politician who chaired the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from July 2015 to September 2017. A chemist by training and with a professional background as a businesswoman, some political scientist ...

Debate moderator

Sebastian is a frequent moderator of major conferences, seminars and forums across the globe. He was the chairman of '' The Doha Debates'', a

Qatar Foundation Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development ( ar, مؤسسة قطر) is a state-led non-profit organization in Qatar, founded in 1995 by then- emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser. Qatar Fo ...

programme that was broadcast monthly on

BBC World News BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media an ...

where it was the highest-rated weekend programme. The ''Debates'' were founded by Sebastian in 2004 and their fifth series began in September 2008. Following the political and social unrest in Egypt and Tunisia in early 2011, Tim Sebastian founded ''The New Arab Debates'', which have been held in Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan and were broadcast on Deutsche Welle English as well as regional television channels. The debates are also held in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and hosted by Egyptian TV presenter Mai El Sherbiny.

Awards

In 1982, Sebastian was awarded the British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Award and was named Television Journalist of the Year by the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) 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. It currently has fourteen r ...

. Additionally he has twice won the Royal Television Society's Interviewer of the Year Award for his ''HARDtalk'' interviews.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

* ''Nice Promises: Tim Sebastian in Poland'' (1985) * ''I Spy in Russia'' (1986)

Novels

* ''The Spy in Question'' (1988) * ''Spy Shadow'' (1989) * ''Saviour's Gate'' (1991) * ''Exit Berlin'' (1992) * ''The Memory Church'' (1993) * ''Last Rights'' (1993) * ''Special Relations'' (1994) * ''War Dance'' (1995) * ''Ultra'' (1997)

References

External links

"The Doha Debates" website

Official biography of Tim Sebastian
*
Interview in the Gulf Times: 'Sebastian is looking beyond the stereotypes'

Interview in Oryx Magazine: 'Courting Controversy'

Tim Sebastian and the Doha Debates

"The New Arab Debates" website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastian, Tim 1952 births Living people People educated at Westminster School, London British reporters and correspondents BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC World News BBC World Service presenters English male journalists English television presenters BAFTA winners (people) 20th-century English novelists English male novelists Qatar Foundation people 20th-century English male writers