Ben Hammersley

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

FRGS (born 3 April 1976) is a British consultant, broadcaster, and systems developer. Hammersley is known for coining the term ''

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

'' in 2004.

Education

Hammersley is the eldest of three children and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, from which he dropped out after a year.

Technology and strategic forecasting

Ben Hammersley has given keynote presentations to corporates and large events internationally. Until 2013, he was the UK Prime Minister's Ambassador to East London Tech City.

Multimedia reporting and broadcasting

In 2015, Hammersley presented a six-part BBC World News series on cybercrimes. He has twice presented on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's documentary strand

Analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

, covering Facebook in November 2007, and personal

genetic testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

in December 2008. He also presented the five-part

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series ''Futureproof Yourself''. Hammersley previously worked as an internet reporter for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. He was Associate Editor and Editor-at-Large at the launch of the UK edition of Conde Nast's '' Wired UK'' magazine. In 2006, he pioneered multi-platform journalism for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' covering conflict in Afghanistan, and in 2007 also for the

covering the election in Turkey. He later used the systems he developed to build ''The Guardians pioneering range of blogs, including the award-winning Comment is Free.

Podcast

Hammersley coined the term ''podcast'' in an article he wrote for ''The Guardian'' in 2004. It was declared "Word of the Year" by the New Oxford American Dictionary in 2005. Hammersley has said that he made the word up to pad out an article he was writing that was a little too short.

Fellowships and associations

Hammersley is a member of the Transatlantic Network 2020, and a trustee of the London chapter of the Awesome Foundation. In August 2011 he was made a fellow of the UNAOC. He is a judge of the Lovie Awards. In 2013, Hammersley became a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the Robert Schuman School for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, Innovator-in-Residence at the Centre for Creative and Social Technologies at Goldsmiths, University of London, a member of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

High Level Expert Group on Media Freedom, and a non-resident fellow of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

Personal life

Hammersley is married to Aleks Krotoski, with whom he has a daughter. Hammersley is a pilot, a licensed Emergency medical technician and Wilderness Medic, a triathlete and ultra-runner, a diver, photographer, and disaster response volunteer.

Bibliography

Hammersley has authored or co-authored several books on technology and journalism.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersley, Ben 1976 births Living people People from Leicester People educated at Loughborough Grammar School Alumni of SOAS University of London British male bloggers British male journalists British technology journalists British technology writers Online journalists Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Brookings Institution people