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Ewen MacAskill (born 1951) is a Scottish journalist. He worked for 22 years on The Guardian , ending his career in September 2018 as the newspaper's defence and intelligence correspondent. MacAskill was involved in preparing the publication disclosures from Edward Snowden of the activities of the American National Security Agency (NSA).
- Journalist
- University of Glasgow
- 1974–2018
- 1951 (age 71–72), Glasgow, Scotland
Ewen MacAskill was the Guardian's defence and intelligence correspondent until 2018. He was Washington DC bureau chief from 2007-2013, diplomatic editor from 1999-2006, chief political ...
Dec 14, 2016 · Ewen MacAskill has been a journalist on Guardian for 20 years, first as chief political correspondent, then diplomatic editor, Washington bureau chief, general reporter based in New York and now London-based defense and intelligence correspondent. Born Glasgow, Scotland, MacAskill graduated Glasgow University with MA Honours in Modern History and Politics. He worked as reporter on Glasgow ...
- When Did You Decide to Become A Journalist?
- How Did You Come to The Guardian?
- Do You Remember Your First Day on The Guardian and How It Felt to Be Here?
- Did The Guardian Live Up to Expectations?
- You Started Out at Westminster – What Was That like?
- What Stories Had The Biggest Impact on You?
- Tell Us About Covering Obama’s Two White House Elections.
- What Have You Done Since You Came Back to The UK?
- What Else Stands Out from That time?
- What Was It Like to Be Played in A Hollywood Film, Snowden?
The catalyst was a school trip to the Scottish Daily Express, based in Glasgow. The deputy chief sub-editor showing us around was obviously well-liked and there was a lot of banter between him and other journalists and with the printers. That was it for me. I never wanted to be anything else. That deputy chief sub eventually ended up at the Guardia...
I was on the Glasgow Herald and the Scotsman and had a couple of stints working overseas. I was interviewed by then editor Alan Rusbridger in 1996. The interview went badly - neither of us is particularly loquacious and there were a lot of awkward silences - but he gave me the job anyway.
I was taken on as chief political correspondent. I had been in Northern Ireland for a few days for the Scotsman covering an outbreak of trouble. I flew back to London for a lunch at the Guardian office for the then Labour leader Tony Blair. I immediately liked the general lack of deference shown towards Blair. That set the tone for the next 22 year...
Yes. Kath Viner joined a few months after me and rose to become editor-in-chief. I stayed as a reporter but I think I got the better deal. Reporters have more fun.
The Guardian office in parliament was a happy one. Then political editor Mike White and sketch-writer Simon Hoggart bickered like brothers but were funny with it. Around six o’clock, one of us would bring in a tray of drinks and we would sit drinking beer or wine as we wrote. I doubt if the political team still does that but who knows? I was involv...
After Westminster, I was on the foreign team for 14 years, travelling all over the world. I covered various conflicts but the one that had the most impact was Israel-Palestine. I have not been back in over a decade but it is still vivid. I interviewed Yasser Arafat, the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Israeli soldiers, settlers and the victims ...
I arrived in the US early in 2007 and one of the first things I did was to go to Iowa to see Hillary Clinton speak. She was favourite to secure the Democratic nomination for the White House race but I was disappointed: she was all platitudes and cliches. When I saw Obama speak for the first time, I thought he could win, even though he was 30 points...
I have had a varied beat. I did defence. And spies. I was part of the team which covered the Scottish independence referendum. It was great to see so many people engaged in and passionate about politics. I found the same engagement and passion when covering Corbyn’s leadership campaign.
Then US editor Janine Gibson showed courage in publishing the first of the stories. On a conference call, they tried to flatter her with an invitation to the White House. They tried to intimidate her. She told them she was going ahead with publication.
It was nice to be portrayed by Tom Wilkinson. But it never felt like me. He refers to Ed as ”‘laddie”. I have never called anyone “laddie” in my life.
Dec 14, 2016 · Meet the Journalist: Ewen MacAskill. Among many grim places around the world is Villa Grimaldi, a former farmhouse in Santiago, Chile. It was one of secret detention centers run by the security services after the 1973 military coup, a place of torture and murder. Ewen MacAskill visited Villa Grimaldi to speak with one of the victims to try to ...
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Jun 7, 2023 · Ewen MacAskill was on the staff of The Guardian from 1996 to 2018, serving at different times as chief political correspondent, diplomatic editor, Washington bureau chief, and defense and ...
Ewen has worked on a number of projects with the Thomson Foundation and is acting as a mentor for participants on the Thomson Foundation digital and multimedia summer course. He is also assisting participants from the Journalism Now e-learning programme on investigative journalism techniques. Ewen MacAskill is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former ...
