Office: Room 111A
Office hours: By appointment
Email:
Courses: Advanced TV, Investigative Reporting, International Reporting
Peter W. Klein is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and Acting Director of the Graduate School of Journalism.
Klein joined the faculty of UBC in 2005, and in 2008 he launched the International Reporting Program in which he takes students overseas to produce major works of global journalism. His 2010 class’ Frontline/WORLD documentary investigating the international electronic waste trade earned them the Emmy for Best Investigative Newsmagazine and the Society of Professional Journalist’s prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best Documentary.
In 1999 Klein joined CBS News 60 Minutes as a producer. He continues to contribute to the venerable American news program, as well as to a variety of other broadcasts in Canada and the US. He has written for The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor and many other publications.
Klein is currently working on a book for St. Martin’s Press about the domestic war on terror in the United States, and he’s directing a feature-length documentary about global access to medicine.
He began his career as a radio reporter for National Public Radio, covering the Bosnian war and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. He went on to help found New York Times Television, a pioneer of small-format TV newsgathering. He was senior producer of I-Witness, an 18-hour documentary series for CBS in which videojournalists spent months in the field covering a single topic, and he went on to film, edit and produce his own news documentaries, spending as much as a year shadowing his subjects for ABC News Nightline specials.
He is also the creator and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated History Channel (US) series Beyond Top Secret, which investigates clandestine operations around the world and has earned numerous Emmy nomination, as well as mentions in The New York Times and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. From 2009-2010, he was the host of the national Canadian television program The Standard, in which he conducted interviews with newsmakers.
In addition to his 2010 Emmy, Klein won on an Emmy for his 2000 60 Minutes investigation into the former Soviet Union’s smallpox weapons program, and shared an Emmy in 1996 for a documentary about global health. In 2003 he won a Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism fellowship in Atlanta.
Klein has previously taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and New York University’s Department of Journalism. He has an MS from Columbia and a BA (honours) in Philosophy from Pennsylvania State University.
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Other
An avid SCUBA diver, accomplished jazz pianist and mediocre skier.
Recent Work
Cheap Shrimp, Hidden Cost
GlobeandMail.com investigation, conducted with students, into the environmental, human rights and health costs of shrimp aquaculture in Thailand.
Over a Barrel: The Truth About Oil
ABC News hour documentary special with anchor Charlie Gibson, investigating the oil industry. Emmy Award nomination for Best Business Documentary.
Digital Dumping Ground
PBS Frontline/World investigation, conducted with students, into the global e-waste trade. Earned Emmy Award for Best Investigative Magazine, Emmy nomination for Best Research and Sigma Delta Chi award for Best Documentary.
Kidnapped in Basra
60 Minutes report about changes in the southern Iraqi city Basra since the British military pull out.
A Hornet’s Nest
60 Minutes report from the front lines of the war in Afghanistan, including face-to-face battle footage, as well as exclusive material from captured insurgent surveillance video of US soldiers.
The Truth About Canadian Healthcare
Dan Rather Reports documentary, produced with students, examining the pros and cons of socialized healthcare.
Who’s Filling Up American Now?
CNBC Business Nation story on efforts to develop unconventional sources of fuel in North America, including oil sands in Alberta and oil shale in Colorado.
A Safe Place to Shoot Up
Dan Rather Reports two-part documentary, produced in collaboration with students, on a safe injection site in Vancouver and other harm reduction efforts in the city.
Beyond Top Secret: Iran
History Channel investigative documentary about clandestine activities inside Iran and secret plans by the US and Israel to bomb the country.
Just Another Day
60 Minutes documenting the daily life of two families in Baghdad amidst sectarian strife and US occupation.
Dissention in the Ranks
60 Minutes report on protest movement by serving members of the US military to speak out against the war in Iraq.
Beyond Top Secret: Iraq
History Channel investigative documentary about the intelligence failures and military intelligence successes in the days leading up to the US-led invasion of Iraq. Two Emmy nominations, for Best Research and Best Editing.
