Steve Rosenberg

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 News Russian editor.

Early life

Steven Barnett Rosenberg was born on 5 April 1968 in Epping and grew up in Chingford, East London. He is Jewish. 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 at the Moscow State Technological University STANKIN.

Career

Rosenberg began his career at CBS News' Moscow bureau, working as a translator, assistant producer and producer for six years, including covering first war in Chechnya (1994-1996).

In 1997, he joined the BBC's Moscow bureau as a producer. On New Year's Eve 1999, no journalist was in the bureau when Boris Yeltsin unexpectedly announced his resignation. "That meant I had to step in to write and broadcast my first BBC dispatch," Rosenberg recalled 25 years later. He became a reporter in 2000 and Moscow correspondent in 2003. He covered major stories such as the Kursk submarine disaster (2000),The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Murmansk "Inside the Kursk, visibility will be low, the risks high"
radio report. the Nord Ost theatre siege (2002) and the Beslan school attack (2004). In 2003, he interviewed Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

From 2006 to 2010, Rosenberg served as the BBC's Berlin correspondent, covering Germany and Europe. He returned to Moscow as a correspondent in 2010.

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 lodged a complaint with Russian authorities. In 2015, Ukraine temporarily banned him and other journalists over their coverage of the war. The decree cited "threat to national interests" and promoting "terrorist activities". The BBC labelled the ban "a shameful attack on media freedom". The authorities retracted the ban the following day.

In 2018, Rosenberg confronted Vladimir Putin about the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, receiving widespread praise from journalists despite Putin's evasive response. In November 2021, he interviewed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who admitted Belarusian troops "may have helped migrants into he EU".

On 10 March 2022, Rosenberg was appointed BBC Russia editor to strengthen coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Piano playing

Rosenberg is an amateur piano player and fan of the Eurovision Song Contest. Whilst covering the in Baku, Azerbaijan, he showcased his piano skills on the ''Ken Bruce Show'', performing a ten minute medley containing a short excerpt from every Eurovision winning song. He has repeated this medley on several occasions, including at the embassies in Russia of countries staging that year's contest, such as Portugal in and the Netherlands in . Later in the show, he took part in a " Eurovision PopMaster", narrowly losing to the author of ''The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History'', John Kennedy O'Connor.

In 2013, after an interview, Rosenberg played the piano for Mikhail Gorbachev, performing "Moscow Nights", which Gorbachev sang, followed by " Dark is the Night" and "The Misty Morning", a favourite of Gorbachev's late wife Raisa. After interviewing Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Rosenberg published his performance of " Kupalinka", a protest song associated with the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests.

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'. They were joined by Rebecca Ferguson, Daði Freyr (Iceland's entry for 2020 and 2021), and others.

Awards and recognition

* 2022 Best TV Individual Contributor 2022, Voice of the Listener and Viewer awards for Excellence in Broadcasting
* 2023 Royal Television Society Television Journalism Awards, Network Interview of the Year (Lukashenko)
* 2023 Broadcaster of the Year, London Press Club Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Steve

1968 births
Living people
20th-century British Jews
21st-century British Jews
Alumni of the University of Leeds
BBC people
British expatriates in Russia
British male journalists
British people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
People from Epping
CBS News people