Insight with Mike Thomson: Conflict in Eastern Congo (DRC)
Mike recently returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he witnessed devastation, poverty and violence despite the promises for peace following the country’s first democratic elections in four decades. He will talk about the difficulties of achieving a lasting peace in a lawless part of the country.
Mike Thomson began his broadcast career in BBC local radio in 1986 before becoming a freelance reporter for national radio, television and press. He has working for Sky News, World Service Television, the Daily Mail, the Independent and the Observer.
In the mid 1990’s Mike rejoined the BBC as a staff reporter on Radio 4’s Today programme and began to specialise in foreign news. He was one of only a handful of journalists to report from Libya before the restoration of diplomatic relations with Britain. More recently Mike has specialised in Africa. In 2002 he broke the Ethiopian famine story and covered the DRC peace deal.
During his career Mike has won a number of prestigious awards, including five Sony Radio Academy Awards (two of them Gold) and a Silver Sony last month for News Journalist of the Year 2007.
Michela Wrong is a columnist for the New Statesman and author of In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in the Congo.
