Steve Rosenberg

Last updated

Steve Rosenberg
Born
Steven Barnett Rosenberg

(1968-04-05) 5 April 1968 (age 55)
Epping, Essex, England, UK
Alma mater University of Leeds
OccupationJournalist

Steven Barnett Rosenberg (born 5 April 1968) is a British journalist for BBC News. He has been the BBC's Moscow correspondent almost continuously since 2003, except for a stint as Berlin correspondent between 2006 and 2010. In 2022, Rosenberg's role in Moscow was expanded and he was appointed the BBC's Russia editor.

Contents

Early life

Steven Barnett Rosenberg was born on 5 April 1968 in Epping and grew up in Chingford, East London.[ citation needed ] He is Jewish. [1] In 1894, his great-grandfather Haim Gnessin left the city of Shklow in the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus) on a passport Rosenberg still has. [2] During his senior high school summer holidays, Rosenberg worked at the BBC's teletext service, Ceefax.

Following A-Levels at Chingford Senior High, he attended the University of Leeds. In 1991, he received a first-class degree in Russian Studies. After graduating, in August 1991, Rosenberg moved to Moscow and spent the next 15 years there,[ citation needed ] initially teaching English in the Moscow State Technological University STANKIN.

Career

Rosenberg secured work with CBS News in the network's Moscow bureau. He spent the next six years at CBS, working first as a translator, then assistant producer, and then producer. Between 1994 and 1996 he was part of the CBS crew covering the first war in Chechnya.

In 1997, Rosenberg became a producer in the BBC's Moscow bureau. In 2000, he was appointed as a reporter for the BBC in Moscow. Three years later, he became its Moscow correspondent. Among the stories he covered in that period were the Kursk submarine disaster (2000), [3] the Nord Ost theatre siege (2002) [4] and the aftermath of the Beslan school attack (2004). [5] In 2003, he interviewed Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. [6]

Between 2006 and 2010, Rosenberg was the BBC's Berlin correspondent, covering stories in Germany and across Europe. In 2010, he returned to Russia for a second stint as Moscow correspondent. [7] [8]

In 2014, Rosenberg and his film crew were attacked in Astrakhan by unidentified men after conducting an interview with the sister of a Russian soldier killed during the war in Donbas. The BBC filed an official complaint with the Russian authorities about the attack. [9] [10]

In 2015, the government of Ukraine issued a decree banning several journalists, including Rosenberg, from entering the country over his coverage of the war in Donbas. The decree stated those banned were a "threat to national interests" or engaged in promoting "terrorist activities". The BBC labelled the ban "a shameful attack on media freedom". [11] The Ukrainians retracted the ban just a day later. [12]

In 2018, Rosenberg was praised by other journalists for confronting Vladimir Putin with a question about the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Putin did not directly answer the question. [13]

In November 2021, Rosenberg conducted a high-profile interview with Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko. During the interview he elicited the admission from Lukashenko that Belarusian troops "may have helped migrants into [the] EU". [14] [15]

On 10 March 2022, to strengthen the BBC's coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Rosenberg was appointed Russia editor of BBC News. This was an expansion of his role as Moscow correspondent. [16]

Piano playing

Rosenberg is an avid amateur piano player.

As a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest, Rosenberg covered the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he demonstrated his piano playing skills when appearing on the Ken Bruce Show, on the morning before the event. He played a short excerpt from every Eurovision winning song, a medley lasting ten minutes. He has repeated this several times since, including from the embassies in Russia of countries staging that year's contest, such as Portugal in 2018 and the Netherlands in 2021. [17] [18] Later in the show, he took part in a 'Eurovision PopMaster', narrowly losing the competition to the author of The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History, John Kennedy O'Connor.[ citation needed ]

In 2013, after an interview, Rosenberg played the piano at the request of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union. He played "Moscow Nights", which Gorbachev sang, followed by "Dark is the Night" and "The Misty Morning", a song he said was a favourite of his late wife Raisa. [19] After his interview with Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Rosenberg published his performance of "Kupalinka", a protest song associated with the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. [20] [21] [22]

In June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosenberg and BBC North West Tonight weather presenter and drummer Owain Wyn Evans came together to present the Match of the Day theme. Rosenberg went on to demonstrate more of his piano homages to Russian and English-speaking culture via the BBC with which he entertained people during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which he posted on his Twitter feed.[ citation needed ]

In March 2022, he posted his piano piece "Isolation" on Twitter, saying, among other things, "It's how I'm feeling right now." On 12 March 2022, he posted the Ukrainian folk song "In the Grove by the Danube". [23] On 12 February 2023, he posted his own composition, "Parallel Reality", to show how he feels about living in Russia under wartime state media. [24]

As part of the BBC's programming in the led up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, Rosenberg, alongside Mel Giedroyc presented 'Eurovision Piano Party'. [25] Within the programme, Rosenberg plays Eurovision Classics requested by the Live audience at Jimmy's Bar and online through Email, Facebook, and Facebook. They were also joined by Guests like Rebecca Ferguson (singer), Daði Freyr (Iceland's Entry for the 2020 and 2021 contest), and many more.

Valentina's kiosk

In January 2021 Steve Rosenberg started filming his conversations with a local newspaper kiosk vendor in Moscow. The series #ValentinasKiosk ran for more than a year and gained a lot of followers on his social media accounts.

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References

  1. ↑ "Letter from Moscow - Steve Rosenberg on the changing relationship between Russia and Israel". BBC.
  2. ↑ Rosenberg, Steve [@BBCSteveR] (18 July 2019). "A family anniversary: 125 years ago today, my Great Grandfather left the Russian empire & sailed to Britain. Here's the Russian passport he used to exit the country" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 January 2021– via Twitter.
  3. ↑ The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Murmansk "Inside the Kursk, visibility will be low, the risks high", radio report.
  4. ↑ Rosenberg, Steve (15 January 2003). "Moscow siege victims defend decision to sue". BBC News. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  5. ↑ "Mass funerals while Russia mourns". BBC News. 6 September 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  6. ↑ Rosenberg, Steve (24 August 2003). "Chasing 'Mr Chelski'". BBC News. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "Official twitter account" . Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "The Bridge between British and Russian business since 1916". Russo-British Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Conlan, Tara (18 September 2014). "BBC journalists attacked and equipment smashed in Russia". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  10. ↑ Holden, Michael (20 September 2014). "BBC protests to Moscow after assault on journalist". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  11. ↑ Luhn, Alec (16 September 2015). "Ukraine bans journalists who 'threaten national interests' from country". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  12. ↑ Luhn, Alec (17 September 2015). "Ukraine allows BBC journalists to remain". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "BBC reporter praised for confronting Putin with question on Russian spy attack". Arab News. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  14. ↑ "Belarus's Lukashenko tells BBC: We may have helped migrants into EU". BBC News. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  15. ↑ Roth, Andrew (19 November 2021). "Lukashenko says Belarusian troops may have helped refugees reach Europe". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  16. ↑ "Steve Rosenberg to become Russia Editor for BBC News". Media Centre. BBC. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  17. ↑ "Five decades of Eurovision songs... from memory". BBC News. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg on the music that has shaped his life". Classical Music. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "Duetting with Mikhail Gorbachev". BBC News. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  20. ↑ Rosenberg, Steve [@BBCSteveR] (27 November 2021). "I play the Belarusian folk song Kupalinka" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 November 2021– via Twitter.
  21. ↑ Rosenberg, Steve (3 January 2021). Kupalinka - Piano solo. YouTube. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  22. ↑ Braxton, Mark (19 January 2021). "Rosenberg's brilliant musical tributes have been cheering us up during lockdown". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  23. ↑ Rosenberg, Steve. "I play the Ukrainian folk song In the Grove by the Danube". Twitter. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  24. ↑ Rosenberg, Steve. "What's it like living in a world of alternative reality". Twitter. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  25. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 2023 on the BBC". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
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