R4 man defects to al-Jazeera
Controversial Arabic broadcaster al-Jazeera has poached a producer from BBC Radio 4's Today to work on its flagship investigative series, writes Michael Rosser.
Controversial Arabic broadcaster al-Jazeera has poached a producer from BBC Radio 4's Today to work on its flagship investigative series, writes Michael Rosser.
Afshin Rattansi, who won a Sony award for international journalism in 2002, is set to leave R4's respected morning news programme next month and will join the London bureau of the Qatar-based satellite channel in July. Rattansi produced a number of programmes for R4 during the recent Iraq conflict but will now travel to locations across the globe as associate producer on Top Secret - billed as a hard-hitting investigative programme. Prior to his work on Today, Rattansi worked for The Guardian and New Statesman as well as a number of regional and national outlets of the BBC. Yosri Fouda, deputy executive director of al-Jazeera's London bureau and executive producer and presenter of Top Secret, said: 'Afshin will be a valuable asset, having had direct experience with Arabian media in the past.'
