Orla Guerin

Orla Guerin (born 15 May 1966, Dublin, Ireland) is the BBC Africa correspondent, based in Johannesburg. She has extensive experience having been based in many areas including Jerusalem (where she reported on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict), the West Coast of the USA, Southern Europe, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Basque country in northern Spain and in Moscow where she covered the Kursk submarine disaster in 2000. She first came to attention as a journalist and foreign correspondent with RTÉ News. Guerin joined RTÉ in 1987 and was their correspondent in Eastern Europe from 1990-4, travelling widely and reporting from Eastern and Central Europe, the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Sarajevo. Guerin left RTÉ to run as a Labour Party (Ireland) candidate in the 1994 elections to the European parliament. A political novice, Guerin had been hand picked by then Labour Party leader Dick Spring. Even though she was not selected at the party convention, Spring insisted that she be added to the ballot. Vilified as a "parachute" candidate, she did not win a seat (although she did poll relatively well). She joined the BBC in 1995. In 2003 Orla married leading Reuters correspondent Michael Georgy.

JOURNALISM QUALIFICATIONS She qualified as a journalist in 1985 with a Certificate in Journalism from the College of Commerce in Dublin. She also holds a Masters Degree in Film Studies from University College Dublin.

AWARDS In 2002 Orla Guerin was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Essex in the UK and won the Broadcaster of the Year Award from the London Press Club. In 2003 she was awarded the News and Factual Award by Women in Film and Television UK. She was awarded an MBE (Hons) for services to broadcasting.

Controversy

Guerin has been accused of biased reporting on a number of occasions, usually by Israeli and pro Israel critics. [1], [2], [3]

External link

• BBC profile