Lizzie Phelan

Last updated

Lizzie Phelan
Born
Elizabeth Cocker

c. 1986 (age 37–38)
NationalityBritish
OccupationJournalist
Employerredfish (Ruptly) [1] [2]
Organizationredfish

Lizzie Phelan is the managing director of redfish GmbH, a Berlin-based media company owned by Ruptly that focuses on creating short documentaries. Phelan was formerly employed as a reporter by RT, and specializes in reporting as a war correspondent, having reported on the First Libyan Civil War, the Syrian Civil War, and war on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. [3] [4]

Contents

Personal

Elizabeth Cocker took the name Phelan from her Irish grandmother and uses it for her professional work. [3] Her great-grandfather was William Phelan, who was a member of the Irish Citizen Army. She did a postgraduate study in journalism. [3]

Career

She first worked for the Daily Mail for experience before leaving after a few months for the Morning Star , under the byline Lizzie Cocker. [3] Later she changed her byline to Lizzie Phelan. Lizzie Phelan is a freelance journalist, and her work has appeared in RT (formerly Russia Today) and the Iranian news network Press TV. [3] In 2013, she was head of the newsroom at RT's Ruptly.tv, and worked later as RT's correspondent in Damascus, Syria. [5]

Reporting from Libya

She was among the western journalists held captive by pro-Qaddafi forces during the siege of the Rixos hotel in the hours prior to the fall of Tripoli. [6]

British regulatory response to reporting

In September 2012, UK broadcast regulator Ofcom, found that two Libyan dispatches broadcast by Phelan on RT in August 2011 were in breach of its code on accuracy and impartiality. [7] [8]

The channel responded to Ofcom's allegations insisting that "subsequent developments of the situation in Libya did however confirm", in their opinion "that Lizzie Phelan was correct in her assertions", referring to reports of civilian casualties by opposition and NATO forces by Amnesty International and the International Rescue Committee. [8]

Ofcom ended the availability of Press TV in the United Kingdom in January 2012 because its license was being controlled from Iran instead of from the UK. [9] [10] Phelan has worked for Press TV as a correspondent in Libya and then in Nicaragua. The Guardian said her Libyan reporting was "controversial". [7]

Reporting from Syria

Lizzie Phelan covered the Syrian conflict from the ground from September 2015 until April 2017. In 2015. she interviewed the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad along with a group of Russian journalists. She covered the operation to recapture Palmyra by the Syrian Army and Russian airforce in 2016 and 2017, both times being the first international journalist on the ground. In December 2016 she covered Aleppo coming back under Syrian government control and was the first to report from the Old City when opposition forces were defeated. Additionally she reported multiple times from Kurdish areas in Syria, including being the first international reporter in Afrin in 2016 after the siege on the city was lifted, and she covered the early days of the Raqqa offensive where she captured US Marines on the frontline in Tabqa, despite American claims that they had no military personnel deployed on frontlines.[ citation needed ]

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References

  1. ↑ Davis, Charles (1 February 2018). "Grassroots' Media Startup Redfish Is Supported by the Kremlin". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  2. ↑ Moore, Matthew (10 February 2018). "Company behind Grenfell YouTube film has links to Kremlin - News". The Times. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Mackey, Robert (1 February 2012). "An Interview with Lizzie Phelan". The New York Times (video). Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  4. ↑ Fais, Andrea (7 March 2012). "Interview: Lizzie Phelan". Eurasia: Rivista di studi geopolitici. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "Jihadi dad who turned daughter into suicide bomber dies". 26 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Phelan, Lizzie (22 October 2012). "Image of captive journalists at Rixos Hotel". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Libya coverage 'broke broadcasting code'". The Guardian (UK). 19 September 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin 10 September 2012" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Sweney, Mark (20 January 2012). "Iran's Press TV loses UK licence". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Lizzie Phelan Interview about Syria" (interview). Syrian Youths. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.


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