As the first person of mixed race with dreadlocks to be a reporter
for the British Broadcasting Corporation, on both television and
radio (Today Programme, Six O'clock News, Panorama and The One
Show) I helped re-write the rules on what makes an international
BBC correspondent. I am an experienced undercover and investigative
journalist and presenter on both prime-time television and
international platforms such as Netflix. Yet it is being an
inspiration to an under-served and diverse audience across the
globe that inspires me. I broke the mold on what an international
reporter looks like, sounds like and has as a background; I am
proud of the fact that in doing so I inspire others. Less than a
year later I began a new career as a journalist and broadcast
reporter for the BBC, starting at the Today programme, the pinnacle
of BBC Radio 4. I had a voice, and I was lucky enough to be allowed
to use it. There were many other reporters, but none were ex
prisoners, non had dreadlocks and non were mixed race. From this
most prestigious and influential show I moved to television
reporting in 2003 for BBC1's The Six O'Clock News. This is the
pinnacle of prime-time television, and here I was, dreadlocks and
mixed race, with a long stretch of my life lost to incarceration
and fighting to prove my innocence. Not exactly the stereotypical
BBC reporter! However, it was precisely this that propelled my
career even further and between 2004 and 2006 I made hard hitting
documentaries for BBC2 and BBC3, covering issues such as serial
killers, knife crime, drugs, corrupt UN peacekeepers, enviromental
crime and terrorism. One of my investigations played a pivotal part
in freeing a man convicted of the assasination of a high profile
BBC celebrity. The BBC recognised that I have tenacity, courage and
the life experience that most investigative journalists can only
read about, and I became a correspondent for the prestigious
Panorama show. This is World's longest running current affairs TV
series and once again I was the first ex-prisoner and person of
colour, with dreadlocks, to have achieved such a position. This was
a far cry from those years in prison cells, fighting to prove I did
not commit the crimes of which I was accused. I was now able to use
that experience and the skills it taught me of patience and
perseverance to become a recognised household name. My work has
taken me to some of the world's most dangerous places, but I thrive
on it. At times I had to operate undercover to expose injustice and
crime. I smuggled conflict diamonds to show how the system was
corrupted, secretly filmed Congolese militia rebels to expose their
ruthless tactics and threw light on the illegal international
logging and deforestation of some of the World's most precious
resources. In undertaking that particular assignment I risked my
own life to save the life of an orangutan and I would do it again
in a heartbeat. I currently host Inside the World's Toughest
Prisons on Netflix. Even with my experiences of life inside behind
me, and my position as a free and innocent man confirmed, it has
been one hell of a discovery. People ask me why go back into
maximum security prisons, as an innocent man, after fighting for so
many years to get out? "I am scarred by my life experience but I
have not allowed it to hold me back."
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