WORDS OF WISDOM: Jeremy Bowen
with trainee journalist Andrew McQuarrie
THERE are few journalists as authoritative on foreign affairs as Cardiff’s Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East editor.
In his 32 years with the BBC, Bowen has provided frontline reports from countless conflicts.
Bowen’s current focus is the Syrian civil war. He has interviewed President Assad on three occasions.
“Assad is a very polite man when you meet him. He sees himself as the man who is at the centre of a great web of things in the Middle East and he knows more about it than anybody else,” he said.
And for those romanticising the eventual defeat of ISIS, the veteran journalist has these words of warning: “I think ISIS will probably produce something else. ISIS came out of al-Qaeda. My question is ‘What’s going to come out of ISIS?’”
Bowen advises young journalists to have a goal in mind.
“Think about what you’d like to do. Get your training. Then have a goal and push for it. Don’t be a pain in the butt, but believe in yourself. Because if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody will,” he added.
Jeremy Bowen was speaking at Cardiff High School’s Class of 1976 reunion.
