Stephen Claypole: global news executive

DMA Media’s Chairman Stephen Claypole, has done pretty much everything in television news. He's well known in international TV circles - with a career that's spanned most of the world over more than thirty years.

He started in newspapers before joining the BBC, where he became a senior manager and editor of global newsgathering. He was in charge of the BBC’s Northern Ireland operations for several years during the 1980s.

Stephen then ran the TV operations Reuters, and was the launch CEO of Associated Press Television (now APTN). In this post, he was responsible for leading AP’s first steps into television, and he set up a global network of newsgathering, sharing resources when appropriate with the print side of the AP. APTV’s newsgathering quickly established it as the market leader.

At DMA Media, Stephen has worked on projects all over Europe and North America. He led a task force that provided a framework for public service broadcasting in Kosovo, working in the province just after the NATO campaign in 1999.

After the 2004 Gulf War and fall of Saddam Hussein, Stephen worked in Kuwait and Iraq for several months to assess the outlook for TV and radio. He has also recently provided an Action Report for the United Nations on its media activities.

Stephen is a frequent contributor to publications and forums about the Middle East, newsgathering, and the challenges of journalism in conflict regions.

Stephen is currently spending much of his time in New York where he was the interim Chairman and CEO of World Picture Network LLC, a multi-media co-production company.

e-mail: sclaypole@dma-media.com