Tim Sebastian
{{Short description|English television journalist}}
{{about|the English television journalist|the German footballer|Tim Sebastian (footballer)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tim Sebastian
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|3|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place = London, England, United Kingdom
| death_date =
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| occupation = {{hlist|Television journalist|novelist}}
| credits = {{flatlist|
| nationality = English
| alma_mater = New College, Oxford
Cardiff University
| spouse =
| children = 1
| yearsactive =
| website =
}}
Tim Sebastian (born 13 March 1952) is an English television journalist and novelist. He is the moderator of Conflict Zone{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/top-stories/conflict-zone/s-32860|title=Political interviews by Tim Sebastian & Michel Friedman | DW|website=DW.COM}} and New Arab Debates{{Citation
|last = Medien
|first = Ahmed
|title = Tim Sebastian Launches "New Arab Debates"
|website = tunisia-live.net
|publisher = Tunisia Live
|date = 21 October 2011
|url = http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/10/21/tim-sebastian-launches-new-arab-debates/
|accessdate = 2011-11-20
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160331102441/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/10/21/tim-sebastian-launches-new-arab-debates/
|archive-date = 31 March 2016
|url-status = dead}} on Deutsche Welle. He previously worked for the BBC, where he hosted Doha Debates{{Citation
| last = Mendenhall
| first = Preston
| title = Another revolution in the land of Al-Jazeera
| publisher = NBC News
| date = 22 February 2005
| url = http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6870459
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305161410/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6870459/
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 5 March 2016
| accessdate = 2011-09-14
}} and was the first presenter of HARDtalk.{{Cite web
| vauthors =
| title = A look ahead...
| publisher = BBC
| date = 4 November 2010
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/about_hardtalk/default.stm
| accessdate = 2011-09-14}} Sebastian also presented Bloomberg TV's The Outsider, an India-focused debating programme.{{Citation
| last = Mendenhall
| first = Preston
| title = The Outsider
| publisher = MSNBC
| date = 25 August 2012
| url = http://bloomberg.com
He won the Richard Dimbleby Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1981,{{Cite web
| vauthors =
| title = Television Nominations 1981
| publisher = BAFTA
| date = 4 November 2010
| url = http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/nominations/?year=1981
| accessdate = 2011-11-20}} and was twice designated Royal Television Society Interviewer of the Year in the United Kingdom — once in 2000 and again in 2001.{{Cite web
| vauthors =
| title = The man with all the questions
| publisher = BBC
| date = 4 July 2002
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/2000692.stm
| accessdate = 2011-09-14}}
Early life and education
Sebastian was born in London, England. He was educated at Westminster School, a fee-paying independent school in Central London. He holds a BA degree in Modern Languages from New College, Oxford and speaks both German and Russian.
He has a Diploma in Journalism Studies from Cardiff University, graduating in 1974.
Journalist career
Sebastian began his journalism career at Reuters in 1974, moving to the BBC as foreign correspondent in Warsaw in 1979.{{Citation
|last = Shivdasani
|first = Menka
|title = Behind Those Interviews
|newspaper = Business Line
|location = Madras
|date = 17 April 2000
|url = http://hindu.com/businessline/2000/04/17/stories/101768s6.htm
|accessdate = 14 September 2011
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20121005005737/http://hindu.com/businessline/2000/04/17/stories/101768s6.htm
|archivedate = 5 October 2012}} He became BBC's Europe correspondent in 1982. At that time in 1983 in Wrocław, 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.{{Cite book |last=Rymanowski |first=Bogdan |title=Dopaść Morawieckiego. Życie doczesne i wieczne Kornela Buntownika |publisher=Zysk i S-ka Wydawnictwo |year=2022 |isbn=9788382026986 |edition= |location=Wrocław |pages=289 |language=pl}}
Between 1984 and 1985 (until his expulsion from the USSR in 1985) he was BBC's correspondent for Moscow; he then reported from Washington between 1986 and 1989.{{Citation
| last = Church
| first = Michael
| title = Tim Sebastian: 'It's not a social event'
| newspaper = The Independent
| location = London
| date = 31 December 2002
| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tim-sebastian-its-not-a-social-event-612466.html
| accessdate = 2011-09-14
}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
Sebastian has worked for The Mail on Sunday, and has contributed to The Sunday Times.
Television hosting
Tim Sebastian was the original presenter of HARDtalk when the programme launched in March 1997.{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-04-03/meet-stephen-sackur-the-world-famous-interviewer-whos-tougher-than-paxman|title=Meet Stephen Sackur – the world famous interviewer who's tougher than Paxman|first=Martin|last=Fletcher|website=Radio Times|date=3 April 2017}} He hosted the show till March 2007.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4307489.stm|title=Final farewell|author=Tim Sebastian|website=BBC.co.uk|date=1 March 2007|access-date=27 March 2025}} Hard Talk had many notable interviews with world leaders,{{Cite web |url=http://www.knightayton.co.uk/male-presenters/tim-sebastian |title=Memorable interviews |access-date=28 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815091513/http://www.knightayton.co.uk/male-presenters/tim-sebastian |archive-date=15 August 2015 |url-status=dead}} including US Presidents Bill Clinton{{Cite web |url=http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/item/indexf2fa.html?d=34&s=2&mode=transcript |title=Interview Bill Clinton |access-date=28 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208171700/http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/item/indexf2fa.html?d=34&s=2&mode=transcript |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=dead}} Donald Trump{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4CqF4hjCGI|title=Donald Trump, 1998 - BBC HARDtalk|date=15 September 2016 |via=www.youtube.com}} and Jimmy Carter,{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/2568809.stm|title=Jimmy carter|date=12 December 2002|publisher=BBC News}} Archbishop Desmond Tutu,{{Cite web |url=http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/item/index1dd9.html?d=33&s=2&mode=transcript |title=Interview Archbishop Desmond Tutu |access-date=28 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208132756/http://www.thedohadebates.com/debates/item/index1dd9.html?d=33&s=2&mode=transcript |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=dead}} Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew,{{cite web|title=Mr Lee Kuan Yew's interview with Mr Tim Sebastian on BBC HARDTalk|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOpS-06hAHQ|website=YouTube| date=8 April 2015 |accessdate=21 October 2015}} and the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/3704476.stm|title=Mikhail Gorbachev|date=30 September 2004|publisher=BBC News}} He currently hosts Conflict Zone, a one-on-one interview show on Deutsche Welle's international English-language channel.
= 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 programme that was broadcast monthly on BBC World News 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,{{cite web |url=http://www.newarabdebates.com/en/about-us/a-message-from-tim-sebastian/ |title=A message from Tim Sebastian | the New Arab Debates |accessdate=2013-02-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130411112321/http://www.newarabdebates.com/en/about-us/a-message-from-tim-sebastian/ |archivedate=11 April 2013}} which have been held in Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan and were broadcast on Deutsche Welle English{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/tv/the-new-arab-debates/s-30470|title=The New Arab Debates | DW|website=DW.COM|access-date=22 December 2019|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330202429/https://www.dw.com/en/tv/the-new-arab-debates/s-30470|url-status=dead}} as well as regional television channels. The debates are also held in Arabic and hosted by Egyptian TV presenter Mai El Sherbiny.
Awards
In 1982, Sebastian was awarded the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Richard Dimbleby Award and was named Television Journalist of the Year by the Royal Television Society. Additionally he has twice won the Royal Television Society's Interviewer of the Year Award for his HARDtalk interviews.
Personal life
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
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.thedohadebates.com "The Doha Debates" website]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081225014906/http://www.thedohadebates.com/page.asp?p=3282 Official biography of Tim Sebastian]
- {{IMDb name|1489489}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090129170210/http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=222448&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16 Interview in the Gulf Times: 'Sebastian is looking beyond the stereotypes']
- [http://thedohadebates.com/files/pdf/March%20Oryx_Tim%20Sebastian.pdf Interview in Oryx Magazine: 'Courting Controversy']{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}
- [http://www.qatarvisitor.com/index.php?cID=412&pID=1680 Tim Sebastian and the Doha Debates]
- [http://www.newarabdebates.com "The New Arab Debates" website]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastian, Tim}}
Category:People educated at Westminster School, London
Category:English reporters and correspondents
Category:BBC newsreaders and journalists
Category:BBC World Service presenters
Category:English male journalists
Category:English television presenters
Category:BAFTA winners (people)
Category:20th-century English novelists
Category:English male novelists