Frank Gardner (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Frank Rolleston Gardner OBE
(born 31 July 1961) is an English journalist
and correspondent
. He is currently the BBC
's Security Correspondent. He was appointed an OBE
in 2005 for his services to journalism.
in the Netherlands
. The excitement of travel to a foreign country left a lasting impression. Educated at Saint Ronan's School
, and Marlborough College
, teachers pushed Gardner into taking up biathlon
, which enabled him to travel to Austria
to train with the British Army
biathlon team.
Aged 16, Gardner and his mother had met the Arabian explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger
(whom his mother knew previously) on a bus. Invited to the explorer's home in Chelsea
, the initially reluctant Gardner fell in love with Arabia. Partly as a result - and partly reasoning that knowing the Arabic language would make him recruitable in 22 countries many of which had oil - he was determined to study the Arabic language
.
In his gap year
Gardner went backpacking to Greece where, when working at a restaurant, he spotted an advertisement for a £100 one way ticket to Manila
in the Philippines
. Once there, he spent time with the tribal people.
He returned to study at the University of Exeter
.
Between 1984 and 1990 he served as a Territorial Army officer in the 4th Battalion the Royal Green Jackets
.
After a nine year career in banking as an investment banker with Saudi International Bank and then Robert Fleming Bank
from 1986 until 1995, Gardner left banking and started working in journalism for BBC World.
as a producer and reporter, and became the BBC's first full-time Gulf
correspondent in 1998, setting up an office in Dubai
. In 2000 Gardner was appointed BBC Middle East correspondent in charge of the bureau in Cairo
, but traveled throughout the region. After September 11, 2001 attacks
on New York, from 2002 Gardner specialised solely in covering stories related to the War on Terror
.
On 6 June 2004, while reporting from Al-Suwaidi
, a suburb of Riyadh
, Saudi Arabia
, Gardner was shot six times and seriously injured in an attack by al-Qaeda
sympathisers. His colleague Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers
was shot dead. Of the bullets which hit Gardner in his torso (others passed through his shoulder and leg) most missed his major organs yet one hit his spinal nerves and he was left partly paralysed in the legs and dependent on a wheelchair. The Saudi Arabian government had forced Gardner to use official minders, who ran away once the firing started. The Saudi government promised compensation but in the end they never paid.
After 14 operations, 7 months in hospital and months of rehabilitation he returned to reporting for the BBC in mid-2005, using a wheelchair or a frame. Despite his injury, he still occasionally reports from the field including places like Afghanistan
and Colombia
but usually comments on top stories from a BBC studio. In addition to this, Gardner recently presented "Tintin's Adventure with Frank Gardner" for the BBC, in which he travelled Northern Europe following Tintin
on his first ever adventure - Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
.
as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates of Laws by Nottingham, Staffordshire, Exeter, East Anglia and Open Universities, the McWhirter Award for Bravery, Spain’s El Mundo Prize for International Journalism, the Zayed Medal for Journalism and voted Person of the Year by the UK Press Gazette. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and his Sunday Times bestseller ‘Blood and Sand’, describing his 25 years of Middle Eastern experiences, was published by Transworld in 2006. His new book, Far Horizons, about unusual journeys to unusual places, was published in May 2009.
using a bobski (also called a sit-ski), which is a device that allows disabled people to ski while seated, after attending a British Army
training course for disabled skiers. He is also an avid birdwatcher
, and presented a September 2009 Archive Hour programme on Sir Peter Scott
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 31 July 1961) is an English journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
. He is currently the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Security Correspondent. He was appointed an OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 2005 for his services to journalism.
Background
Gardner's father and mother were both diplomats and aged six he moved from the UK to the HagueThe Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The excitement of travel to a foreign country left a lasting impression. Educated at Saint Ronan's School
St. Ronan's School
Saint Ronan's School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for boys and girls from 3 to 13 years located near Hawkhurst in Kent, England. It currently has about 200 boys and 100 girls, all of them day pupils, although boarding is available from time to time...
, and Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
, teachers pushed Gardner into taking up biathlon
Biathlon
Biathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...
, which enabled him to travel to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
to train with the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
biathlon team.
Aged 16, Gardner and his mother had met the Arabian explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger
Wilfred Thesiger
Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, CBE, DSO, FRAS, FRGS was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.-Family:...
(whom his mother knew previously) on a bus. Invited to the explorer's home in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, the initially reluctant Gardner fell in love with Arabia. Partly as a result - and partly reasoning that knowing the Arabic language would make him recruitable in 22 countries many of which had oil - he was determined to study the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
.
In his gap year
Gap year
An expression or phrase that is associated with taking time out to travel in between life stages. It is also known as sabbatical, time off and time out that refers to a period of time in which students disengage from curricular education and undertake non curricular activities, such as travel or...
Gardner went backpacking to Greece where, when working at a restaurant, he spotted an advertisement for a £100 one way ticket to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Once there, he spent time with the tribal people.
He returned to study at the University of Exeter
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
.
Between 1984 and 1990 he served as a Territorial Army officer in the 4th Battalion the Royal Green Jackets
Royal Green Jackets
The Royal Green Jackets was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division .-History:...
.
After a nine year career in banking as an investment banker with Saudi International Bank and then Robert Fleming Bank
Robert Fleming & Co.
Robert Fleming & Co. was an asset manager and merchant bank founded in Dundee, Scotland, in 1873. In 1909 the firm moved its headquarters to London. It was sold to Chase Manhattan Bank for over $7 billion in 2000....
from 1986 until 1995, Gardner left banking and started working in journalism for BBC World.
Journalism
In 1995 he joined BBC WorldBBC World
BBC World News is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel. It has the largest audience of any BBC channel in the world...
as a producer and reporter, and became the BBC's first full-time Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
correspondent in 1998, setting up an office in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
. In 2000 Gardner was appointed BBC Middle East correspondent in charge of the bureau in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, but traveled throughout the region. After September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on New York, from 2002 Gardner specialised solely in covering stories related to the War on Terror
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
.
- "He was always cut out for journalism. When Kuwait was liberated, he was there with his camera, doing a piece like a reporter. He's a good communicator, incredibly good at thinking on his feet, knows how to handle situations spontaneously and comes across really well. I met him studying Arabic and Islamic Studies at Exeter University and described him as incredibly widely-travelled, especially in the Middle East. In one year he travelled to 28 countries. He's the sort of guy who will get through a passport because he runs out of room," said friend of 25 years Anthony Campanale.
On 6 June 2004, while reporting from Al-Suwaidi
Al-Suwaidi
Al-Suwaidi is a district in southwestern Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia on the western side of the Wadi Hanifa.As of 2005 more than 500,000 people lived in the area. John R...
, a suburb of Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Gardner was shot six times and seriously injured in an attack by al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
sympathisers. His colleague Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers
Simon Cumbers
Simon Peter Cumbers was an Irish-born freelance journalist working for the BBC who was murdered by apparent Al Qaeda sympathisers while filming one of the terrorist group's safehouse in Saudi Arabia.-Career:...
was shot dead. Of the bullets which hit Gardner in his torso (others passed through his shoulder and leg) most missed his major organs yet one hit his spinal nerves and he was left partly paralysed in the legs and dependent on a wheelchair. The Saudi Arabian government had forced Gardner to use official minders, who ran away once the firing started. The Saudi government promised compensation but in the end they never paid.
After 14 operations, 7 months in hospital and months of rehabilitation he returned to reporting for the BBC in mid-2005, using a wheelchair or a frame. Despite his injury, he still occasionally reports from the field including places like Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
but usually comments on top stories from a BBC studio. In addition to this, Gardner recently presented "Tintin's Adventure with Frank Gardner" for the BBC, in which he travelled Northern Europe following Tintin
Tintin
Tintin, Tin-Tin or Tin Tin may refer to:* The Adventures of Tintin , the series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist Hergé...
on his first ever adventure - Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
Tintin in the Land of the Soviets is the first title in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin, written and drawn by Belgian cartoonist Hergé...
.
Awards
In 2005, for services to journalism, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates of Laws by Nottingham, Staffordshire, Exeter, East Anglia and Open Universities, the McWhirter Award for Bravery, Spain’s El Mundo Prize for International Journalism, the Zayed Medal for Journalism and voted Person of the Year by the UK Press Gazette. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and his Sunday Times bestseller ‘Blood and Sand’, describing his 25 years of Middle Eastern experiences, was published by Transworld in 2006. His new book, Far Horizons, about unusual journeys to unusual places, was published in May 2009.
Hobbies
A keen skier, after his spinal injury Gardner resumed skiingSkiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
using a bobski (also called a sit-ski), which is a device that allows disabled people to ski while seated, after attending a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
training course for disabled skiers. He is also an avid birdwatcher
Birdwatching
Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...
, and presented a September 2009 Archive Hour programme on Sir Peter Scott
Peter Scott
Sir Peter Markham Scott, CH, CBE, DSC and Bar, MID, FRS, FZS, was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer and sportsman....
.
External links
- Official Frank Gardner website
- BBC NewsWatch profile of Gardner
- Revised BBC News profile of Gardner - post shooting
- Press freedom groups condemn shooting - IFEXInternational Freedom of Expression ExchangeThe International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....
- BBC News article on Gardner's OBE honour
- Frank Gardner interview From London's Evening Standard.
- Gardner on the slopes BBC Sport article about a Ski Sunday TV programme featuring Gardner.
- Journalisted - Articles by Frank Gardner