On the Ground: Brian Stewart on his time as a foreign correspondent with the CBC, the important role religion played in his reporting

 

During his time as a foreign correspondent and senior reporter with the CBC from the 1980s to early 2000s, Brian Stewart interviewed world leaders and reported about events like the first Gulf War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Rwandan genocide and the Ethiopian famine. 

While reporting about those important events, one thing that stood out for Stewart was how often religion played a significant role in the news he shared with Canadians. 

“I was surprised to see how relevant religion was for my reporting,” he said, noting that, like many other journalists at that time, he had come to believe that religion was an outmoded and spent force. “I came to see that religion was part of many major stories, although it took a lot to convince my editors that was true.” 

Stewart has gathered the memories of his encounters with religion, and his overall time as a reporter, into a new book titled On the Ground: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent (Simon & Schuster). 

Read my interview with Stewart, including his thoughts about the importance of reporting about religion today, in my Free Press column.