Ian Stewart
SPEAKING CLIENT
Author of Ambushed: A War Reporter's Life on the Line and Former Associated Press Bureau Chief for West Africa
Program Title - Life on the Line: A War Reporter's Survival Story
Iraq, Darfur, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone... genocide and war dominates today’s headlines. Journalist Ian Stewart has experienced the brutalities of war firsthand, surviving an ambush in Sierra Leone during the height of the country's civil war, where he was shot in the head and left for dead. At the podium, the former AP West African bureau chief brings the atrocities of war to vivid life; from the “boy soldiers” he met while in Sierra Leone to eyewitness accounts of massacres, brutality and the decimation of once-beautiful lands, ultimately to his own near-death experience as a war reporter.
Ian Stewart was appointed chief of the Associated Press's West Africa bureau in 1998. During his ten-year career, he had worked and lived in more than 40 countries, including Afghanistan, the former Zaïre, Sierra Leone and Cambodia. Ian Stewart's life was permanently shattered one fateful day in 1999 in Freetown, the capitol city of Sierra Leone. While reporting on the devastating civil war, his vehicle was fired upon by rebel forces. A fellow reporter was killed, and Ian Stewart was left for dead with a bullet in his brain, fighting for his life alone in the African heat. After being air-lifted to London and undergoing countless operations, he was forced to struggle for several years to recover from this nightmare encounter.
Ian Stewart’s book, Ambushed, not only recounts his personal struggle of recovery, but also enlightens the reader on the unimaginable violence and human tragedy that occurs during times of war. A sought-after commentator on Africa and war reporting, Stewart has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC's Primetime Thursday, and CNN's Crossfire. His reporting in Africa has been cited as a finalist for numerous writing awards, including the French-based Bayeux Award for war correspondents. In October 2000 he won The Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) Award for feature writing. Ian Stewart is now dedicated to telling the stories of war, and the horrors experienced by children and other innocents. He works tirelessly to raise public awareness and help end the needless suffering he witnessed firsthand.
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