Martin Bashir appointed BBC's Religious Affairs Correspondent
The BBC today announced that award-winning journalist Martin Bashir has been appointed as the new BBC Religious Affairs Correspondent.
Published: 26 September 2016
Martin’s track record in enterprising journalism is well known and respected in the industry and amongst our audiences.
Martin will be returning to the BBC having previously worked as a correspondent for BBC News from 1987 until 1992 when he joined the BBC’s flagship investigative programme Panorama until 1999. Martin was a correspondent for Tonight on ITV before moving to the United States and hosting ABC’s Nightline programme in 2004. In 2010 he joined NBC News as an MSNBC anchor and a correspondent on NBC’s Dateline programme.
Martin is known for conducting high profile interviews and making ground-breaking, landmark documentaries such as an investigation into abuse within the Church of Scientology and exposing the ‘BALCO’ performance-enhancing drugs scandal that involved Olympic athletes Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.
During his distinguished career Martin’s historic interviews include those with HRH Diana Princess of Wales, the suspects in the murder of Stephen Lawrence and Michael Jackson. Martin previously worked on BBC religion and ethics programmes and documentaries in the 1990s, including Radio 4’s Sunday programme. He has chaired debates on the battle between historic faiths and the New Atheist movement, reported on Anti-Semitic attacks in Europe and for ABC moderated a televised debate on political correctness entitled ‘Sex and God at Yale’.
As Religious Affairs correspondent, Martin will report on events and provide analysis and insight on the major themes and issues affecting different faiths in the UK and around the world.
Jonathan Munro, Head of BBC Newsgathering said: “Martin’s track record in enterprising journalism is well known and respected in the industry and amongst our audiences. As a student of theology, Martin will bring immense knowledge of the brief to his new role, and an enthusiasm to cover the broadest range of faith-based stories.”
Martin Bashir says: “I am delighted to be re-joining the BBC at this time and in this subject area. The opportunity to cover the broad spectrum of religious affairs is challenging and compelling and I cannot wait to get started.”
EF