Marc De Jersey, ABC News reporter, Memorial Dinner

I came up with the idea of having a dinner to celebrate the life of my close friend Marc. One of his greatest pleasures in life was having a fine meal with close friends, so it was heart-warming that this event came together so spectacularly. 

Dominic Sutherland spoke movingly about Marc at this approximately seventy-five-person event in Chelsea's 50 Cheyne. This was celebrating Marc de Jersey's life on what would have been his 49th birthday. Marc's early death was a tragedy; He suffered severe mental health issues from childhood sexual abuse (aged eight) perpetrated by a trusted senior master (teacher) at his private British 'prep' boarding school. 

He was again a victim of further PTSD due to the Russian authority's barbaric treatment of him while simply trying to do his job as a journalist and report the news while working in Russia from 2004-5. 

Today, I am friends with the editor of The Sun Newspaper & the 'A-lister actress' mentioned in the funny anecdote about Marc in the video below.

With two decades of experience at the highest levels of American and British networks, Marc's career took him to various corners of the globe, reflecting his insatiable curiosity and commitment to uncovering the truth. 

In 2005 and 2006, he ventured to Moscow, Russia, where he was pivotal in launching the English-speaking rolling news channel known today as RT. Marc's unwavering integrity and refusal to compromise his journalistic principles, despite adversity, made him a beacon of trust and authenticity.

During his seven-year tenure at ABC News, Marc stood at the forefront of historic moments, including the devastating events of 9/11. As one of the national editors on duty that fateful day, his exceptional leadership and editorial acumen contributed to ABC News winning the prestigious Peabody Award and the DuPont Award. 

Marc's commitment to delivering accurate and insightful news coverage continued throughout the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, where he played an instrumental role in the newsgathering operations. His outstanding work in the West Bank earned him an Emmy award, a testament to his relentless pursuit of truth and justice.

After returning to the United Kingdom, Marc embarked on a groundbreaking environmental feature for Channel 4 News, bringing attention to the effects of global warming on the Inuit community in the Peruvian Amazon. 

His work garnered critical acclaim and was nominated for the Foreign Press Association's Environmental Film of the Year. Marc's ability to shed light on pressing global issues through his documentaries and interviews exemplified his commitment to giving a voice to the voiceless.

In addition to his extraordinary career as a broadcast journalist, Marc also dedicated himself to academia. As a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, he shared his wealth of knowledge and expertise with aspiring journalists, shaping the next generation of storytellers. 

Marc's commitment to education extended to his pursuit of knowledge, as he embarked on a Ph.D. focusing on the proliferation of international news channels. His intellectual curiosity and passion for understanding the ever-evolving landscape of journalism were truly inspiring.

Some of the highlights of Marc's life:

> Promoted to News Editor at ABC News in London

> Promoted to work on the news team at ABC News at their global HQ in New York.

> Winning an 'Emmy' for his work at ABC News covering the 9/11 attacks

> Recruited to a Senior Editorial position on the newsdesk at BBC News

> Working as a Senior News Editor on the SKY News Desk, 2003-2004.

> Setting up Russia Today in Moscow in 2005

> Covering abuses by major oil companies in the Amazon rain forest for The Guardian Newspaper

Sadly Marc never did get around to taking his planned Ph.D. in Journalism or writing the thesis he had designed, which would have made a brilliant book. 

However, he taught journalism for several years at the University of Cardiff and Lancaster. Here are some extracts from his Ph.D. thesis plan:

      The Rise and Fall of Russian Journalism 1990 to 2010 

Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cardiff School of Journalism, Marc De Jersey

When the journalist Anna Politkovskaya was found dead in the lift of her block of flats in central Moscow on October 7th, 2006, it made headlines worldwide. People were shocked, and yet the intimidation and murder of journalists have been widespread in Russia since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000. She just happened to be the most high-profile journalist with an international reputation. Her assassination was effective. It ended reporting from Chechnya. But what of the 13 Russian journalists who have also been murdered in contract killings[1]? The scores beaten up and intimidated? The hundreds of professional journalists who have been fired?

When I was in Russia I was taken out for dinner by a very senior Russian journalist who was trying to protect me from falling out with the Kremlin and the FSB. This was in 2006, four months before the death of Anna Politkovskaya. He failed but he sat me down and said to me: 'Let me tell you about the state of Russian Media at the moment: We. Don't. Care.'

I want to ask the question what happened to Russian journalism? When? And most importantly why? When I eventually was deported from Russia I had a chance to look at some of those questions and interview a lot of journalists, both Western and Russian, on the topic.

What first surprised me in my research is that there has been no substantive account or academic study on the subject. Yes, articles have been written or commissioned by the Index of Censorship, IWPR, CPJ, the Guardian and others, but none of them, though commendable, could be classed as academic. [2]

Next what struck me was what a complicated, rich and layered story this is in terms of subject matter. At the heart of the story is Russian journalism and its relationship to the government, but also behind this is a story of the Russian oligarchs entering Russian media in the Yeltsin years and then Vladimir Putin clamping down and closing TV stations that were critical of him via giant multinational Russian companies such as Gazprom. It is argued that the current state of affairs has led to an acute lack of pluralism in Russia. Also, Russian Television news is now 100% state-controlled and it is almost impossible to know what is happening in Chechnya at the moment.[3]

There are two reasons I think this project is important. The first is that it hasn't been done in depth at an academic level. The second is from an academic perspective: to the best of my knowledge Russia is unique in the sense that we have three very different political ideologies impacting freedom of the press in one country over a period of 20 years.

This is not an easy project. Getting Russians to talk is often hard and sometimes dangerous. We'd be looking to interview Russian journalists, oligarchs and enemies of Putin, some now exiled, as well as leading academics in Russian affairs, NGO's and professional Western journalists who have worked in Russia.

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[1] NB: 'There is no evidence that the Russian authorities were involved in these killings, but they did stand accused of not having investigated these murders with adequate vigour and of having tolerated the conditions that allowed these murders to happen.' Professor Richard Sakwa, University of Kent, 2007.

[2] The Guardian's Luke Harding, himself deported from Russia, has written a book called 'Mafia State: Inside Putin's Russia.' This is not an academic work but more his story at the way he was treated by the FSB when in Moscow.

[3] Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist, Frontline Club talk, October 24th, 2011..

Marc De Jersey-Lowney, Broadcast News Journalist

September 27th 1972 - May 23rd 2021