Peter Greste

Peter Greste is a journalist, academic and media freedom activist.  He spent 25 years as a foreign correspondent for the likes of the BBC, Reuters and Al Jazeera, chasing his curiosity and dreams of adventure by covering some of the world’s most difficult conflicts.

In 2013, while he was covering the unfolding political crisis in Cairo, he and two colleagues were arrested on terrorism charges. He smuggled out two letters describing their case as an attack on press freedom – a move that framed the campaign that ultimately got him released after 400 days in prison.

Since his release he has become a strong voice for media freedom, winning numerous awards for his campaigning. He has set up his own advocacy group and become a professor of journalism at Macquarie University.

He wrote about his incarceration and what he regards as the “global war on journalism” in his book, The Correspondent which has now been turned into a major film starring Richard Roxburgh.