Robert Fisk is a Middle East correspondent for British newspaper The Independent. He is regarded as one of the most well respected and well known foreign correspondents in international journalism.
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Fisk was born in Kent, England where went to school at Lancaster University and then earned his PhD in Political Science at Trinity College in Dublin. After he graduated he worked for The Times and then moved to The Independent where he is still now. He’s spent the last 30 years living in Beirut, Lebanon working as a Middle East correspondent.
Fisk has no shortage of accomplishments. Here are just a few of the things he’s done during his career:
- interviewed Osama bin Laden three times
- covered conflict in Portugal
- covered the Iraqi war stationed in Baghdad
- covered the Lebanese civil war (not so fun fact, same war forced my parents to leave to America)
- covered the first Gulf war
- covered the war in Afghanistan
- written five books
- won the British Press Awards International Journalist of the Year award seven times
One thing that I found fascinating about Fisk who has covered so many wars and conflicts is that he is a pacifist and has never even voted. His articles are quick to point out how the West has been the cause of much of the conflict in the Middle East, something he has received much criticism for.
For instance, the term “fisking” is attributed to American conservative bloggers dissecting his work and providing commentary. It is now used anytime an article/report is dissected paragraph by paragraph.
Fisk continues to report for The Independent, you can find a list of his articles here.
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