Journalist and academic — 400 days in an Egyptian prison — on press freedom, resilience and identity.
Peter Greste is an Australian foreign correspondent with 25 years' experience, reporting for Reuters, CNN, the BBC and Al Jazeera English from some of the most demanding environments in the world. In December 2013 he was arrested in Cairo while covering Egypt's political crisis, charged with terrorism-related offences, convicted of falsifying news and sentenced to seven years. Egypt's Court of Cassation quashed that conviction in January 2015 and ordered a retrial. He was deported on 1 February 2015 after 400 days in prison, then convicted again in absentia in August 2015 and sentenced to a further three years. He has not been able to return to Egypt since.
The years since have been spent partly in academic work — he is Professor of Journalism at Macquarie University — and partly in press freedom advocacy as a director of the Alliance for Journalists' Freedom. He writes regularly for The Guardian, The Australian, Crikey, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Conversation. The speaking is measured, well-paced and refreshingly free of the dramatic framing the story would otherwise invite.
For event organisers, Peter is a strong fit for leadership conferences, journalism and media events, education programs and in-house audiences where the brief is a substantive voice on resilience, freedom of expression and identity under pressure.
Professor Peter Greste is a keynote speaker based in Queensland who speaks on inspiration, leadership and media & journalism. Book through Executive Speakers Australia.
This topic explores the experience of imprisonment, and the psychological strategies Greste developed to survive.
This topic unpacks one of Greste’s most profound lessons of prison – that ‘hope’ encourages us to focus on things beyond our control, and avoids dealing with the most powerful thing we can control – our own minds.
This topic explores the zone of tolerance – the space between the blacks-and-whites of polarized extremes essential to democracy, but that appears to be unravelling. The recent US election saw the Grey Zone diminish, along with the rise of far-right parties in Europe.
Peter Greste was amazing and so inspiring. We are proud the conference was able to share the latest in research, innovation and solutions on Collaboration for prevention and change. The keynote speakers were exceptional. In particular, the positive message from Peter Greste about how he overcame the adversity of his experience to deliver a positive message. His capacity to look forward was inspirational.Comcare
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