Katya Adler
Award-winning BBC senior journalist Katya Adler is well-known for her (stylish) ability to make the complexities and insecurities of the world we live in, accessible, understandable and relatable.
From her recent head-line making interview with Emmanuel Macron to sit-downs over the years with Angela Merkel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenburg, Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon, the prime ministers of Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal and many more, Katya brings her geopolitical expertise to life, covering Russia-Ukraine, the global economy, the Middle East in crisis, challenges facing Europe, Britain’s role on the European and world stage, as well as tracking power plays between the US, China and Russia.
Katya deep knowledge of news and current affairs lead to her appointment as the BBC’s Europe Editor and host of the Global Story podcast, as well as occasional presenter of The Today Programme on Radio 4 and news bulletins on BBC1.
Documentary-making is also a passion of Katya’s. the 2023 series Living Next Door to Putin was a crtiics’ choice. Previous films include Mexico’s Drug Wars, Spain’s Stolen Babies and After Brexit, the Battle for Europe
Katya spent many years, earlier in her career, as a frontline war reporter, mainly in the Middle East.
She is now also a regular presenter of the BBC Proms.
Career Background
Katya's journalistic career began in Vienna with the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation where she reported across Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, covering the Kosovo war and fallout for NATO in 1999.
She joined the BBC firstly as a freelancer from Vienna, then in London from 2000, covering European affairs as both presenter and roving reporter. She commuted regularly to Berlin too, to appear as a news anchor on Deutsche Welle Television.
In 2003, Katya became the BBC's Madrid correspondent, covering the Madrid train bombings in 2004. She also travelled regularly across the continent to cover breaking stories.
In 2006, she became the BBC's Middle East correspondent based out of Jerusalem, specialising in war reporting across the region.
She was appointed the BBC’s Europe Editor in 2014, co-presenting the award winning Brexitcast podcast during the Brexit process.
Awards
In acknowledgement of her expertise and extensive reporting, Katya has been awarded two honorary doctorates (Bristol University and University of London). She was named Broadcast Journalist of the year at the Political Society Awards 2018. In 2019 she was named Broadcast Journalist of the Year, alongside her BBC colleague, Laura Kuenssberg by the London Press Club. She is also the 2019 recipient of the the British Journalism Review and University of Westminster's Charles Wheeler award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism. The Brexitcast podcast which she co-hosted with three other colleagues received the Listeners Choice award at the British podcast awards 2019 - the same year as the London Evening Standard newspaper named her as one of the city's most influential people. In 2022 Bristol University named Katya their Arts and Media Alumnus of the Year.
Linguist
Katya speaks fluent German, Italian, Spanish, and French plus some Arabic and Hebrew, in addition to her mother-tongue, English.
