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Steven Barnett Rosenberg (born 5 April 1968) is a British journalist for BBC News. He has been its Moscow correspondent since 2003, except for being Berlin correspondent between 2006 and 2010. In 2022, he became the BBC's Russia editor.
Steve Rosenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | Steven Barnett Rosenberg 5 April 1968 Epping, Essex, England |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds |
| Occupation | Journalist |
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2024) |
Steven Barnett Rosenberg was born on 5 April 1968 in Epping and grew up in Chingford, East London. He is Jewish.[1] 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 receiving, in 1991, a first-class degree in Russian Studies. Rosenberg then moved to Moscow, initially teaching English in the Moscow State Technological University STANKIN.
Rosenberg secured work with CBS News' Moscow bureau. He spent the next six years there, as a translator, assistant producer and producer. Between 1994 and 1996 he covered the first war in Chechnya.[citation needed]
In 1997, Rosenberg became a producer in the BBC's Moscow bureau. In 2000, he was appointed as a reporter and in 2003 he became the Moscow correspondent. Stories he covered included the Kursk submarine disaster (2000),[2] the Nord Ost theatre siege (2002)[3] and the aftermath of the Beslan school attack (2004).[4] In 2003, he interviewed Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.[5]
Between 2006 and 2010, Rosenberg was the BBC's Berlin correspondent, covering stories in Germany and across Europe. In 2010, he became Moscow correspondent.[6][7]
In 2014, Rosenberg and his crew were attacked in Astrakhan after interviewing the sister of a Russian soldier killed during the war in Donbas. The BBC complained to the Russian authorities.[8][9] In 2015, the government of Ukraine banned several journalists, including Rosenberg, over his coverage of the war. 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".[10] The authorities retracted the ban the following day.[11]
In 2018, Rosenberg was praised on social media by other journalists for confronting Vladimir Putin about the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Putin did not directly answer the question.[12] In November 2021, he interviewed Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko and elicited the admission from Lukashenko that Belarusian troops "may have helped migrants into [the] EU".[13][14]
On 10 March 2022, to strengthen the BBC's coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Rosenberg was appointed Russia editor, an expansion of his role.[15]
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.[16][17] 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.[18] 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.[19][20][21]
As part of the BBC's programming in the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, Rosenberg, alongside Mel Giedroyc presented 'Eurovision Piano Party'.[22] They were joined by Rebecca Ferguson (singer), Daði Freyr (Iceland's entry for 2020 and 2021), and others.
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