INFO

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When war broke out in Sierra Leone in 1991, Matthew Tostevin was the only journalist to document the conflict on the front line in the West African country as a photographer and as a reporter for BBC World Service radio.

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That was the start of a career reporting from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

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After working as a radio producer on the influential Focus on Africa progamme of the BBC World Service in London, Matthew joined Reuters as correspondent in the splintered country then known as Zaire during the last years of Mobutu Sese Seko’s rule.

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From there, Matthew moved to Nigeria, covering the end of General Sani Abacha’s dictatorship, the return of civilian rule and increasing violence in the oil-producing Niger Delta. From 2001, Matthew led Reuters coverage from West and Central Africa, including reporting on civil wars in Ivory Coast and Liberia.

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He was assigned to Jerusalem in 2003 and led the team in Israel and Palestinian Territories from the end of the Second Intifada through a period that included the death of Yasser Arafat, Ariel Sharon’s withdrawal of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and the Israel-Hezbollah War.

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Matthew returned to Africa as Johannesburg-based Editor in 2009, to build coverage of a continent that emerged as a global hotspot of growth, before moving to London in 2012 to take on a number of management roles.

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Matthew moved to Bangkok in early 2017. During his time in Southeast Asia he covered the protests in Thailand in 2020 and organised coverage of Myanmar after the 2021 coup.

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For nearly a year and a half, he led efforts on the ground in Myanmar to secure the release of two colleagues, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who had been jailed after being set up by police while they were reporting on a massacre. They were freed in May, 2019.

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Matthew is currently based in the United Kingdom.