Greste brings rich experience to new academic role

Journalist Peter Greste, who spent 400 days in an Egyptian prison, has joined the University of Queensland as a professor of journalism and communication.

Peter Greste at his home in Bardon, Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen.

Journalist Peter Greste, who spent 400 days in an Egyptian prison on trumped-up charges, has opened a new chapter in his life by joining the University of Queensland as a professor of journalism and communication.

Mr Greste, who has become a prominent voice for press freedom and freedom of speech since his release in 2015, said he was at a pivotal moment in his career.

“I’m moving from field reporting to more thoughtful academic pieces,” he said.

The Brisbane-born Mr Greste spent nearly 25 years as a foreign correspondent in some of the world’s most challenging regions for journalism — the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Central Asia — and was in the thick of the major stories following the 2001 terror attacks.

But being a foreign correspondent is no longer a practical option for Mr Greste. Although released by the Egyptian government he is still regarded as a convicted terrorist, which makes it risky for him to travel to most of the Middle East and Africa.

University of Queensland vice-chancellor Peter Hoj said Mr Greste’s experience as a foreign correspondent would give journalism and communications students wonderful opportunities.

“By bringing a leading practitioner into the classroom as an advocate for the fundamental principles of free speech and a free press, we are helping prepare students to work with passion and integrity in a rapidly changing media landscape,” he said. Mr Greste said that he would teach, research and be an advocate in his new role. “It combines a list of things I’ve been doing since I left Egypt,” he said.

Last year Mr Greste published a book, The First Casualty, which was part memoir and part critical examination of Western responses to terrorism and the overwhelming need for quality journalism and a free media.

He became a foreign correspondent in 1991, and in 1995 reported on pre-9/11 Afghanistan for the BBC, covering the rise of the Taliban.

After the 2001 terror attacks he returned to Afghanistan as a war correspondent. From 2004 he was based in Africa.

His incarceration in 2013 came after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi banned the Muslim Brotherhood. Mr Greste and two colleagues (all working for Al Jazeera) were arrested in the country and sentenced for allegedly collaborating with the group.

Mr Greste has also completed a two-part TV documentary for the ABC, General Monash and Me, about Australia’s World War I general John Monash, which will screen later this year — marking the centenary of Monash’s battlefield achievements.

He said the programs included a strong personal element as four of his great-uncles fought under Monash — two were killed and the other two were wounded.

Mr Greste will take up his four-year appointment at the University of Queensland next month.

His position is supported by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.