Jeremy Wagstaff

Jeremy Wagstaff (born 1962) is a British journalist and technology columnist based in Asia.

General Background

Born in Northampton, UK, Wagstaff studied History at the University of Exeter and got his master's degree in South East Asian Studies at SOAS. Before and after pursuing his master's degree, he worked as manager in a local bookstore in London.

Wagstaff is an avid musician of the post-punk rock genre, and was a founding member of British band "Puzzled But Dancing" as keyboard/synth player and vocalist. After "Puzzled But Dancing", he continued to write and record music, which was described by the Keyboard Magazine as "assimilat[ing] the sometimes floating, sometimes driving drums of Indonesian music with catchy techno-pop hooks and winding post-minimalist patterns." He resides in Singapore with his Indonesian journalist wife, Sari Sudarsono, and one daughter.

Journalism Work

Wagstaff has worked as a journalist since 1986 for the BBC, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, and the Far Eastern Economic Review. He held various positions from correspondent to editor. Prior to joining BBC, he worked as freelance journalist for a magazine writing about espionage and politics. Thereafter, most of his time has been spent in Asia, covering revolutions, wars, colonial retreats and elections, including the Burmese uprising in 1988, the guerrilla war in Cambodia from 1987 to 1991, Thailand's popular uprising in 1992, the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in 1996, the transfer of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997, the independence movement in East Timor from 1993 until 1999, and the fall of Suharto and its aftermath in Indonesia from 1998 until now. On his experience being an international journalist, he said:

"During this period I have found myself in the midst of extraordinary events in unusual places, from the fall of Kabul to Taleban guerrillas to the student uprising against the Burmese military government in 1988. I have been shot at by Thai soldiers, come under mortar fire from Afghan rebels and had my car assaulted by Indonesian transvestite prostitutes."

Technology Columnist Work

Since 2000 he has been writing about technology as well and has since 2004 appeared regularly on the BBC World Service. Between 2000 and 2007 he wrote a weekly technology column for the Wall Street Journal (his final column in the Journal appeared on 28 December 2007) and Far Eastern Economic Review, called "Loose Wire". He admitted that he's no techie, but his interest in technology grew out of a realization that it was changing the way journalists - and the world - work, and that following it would probably be a better idea than fighting it. The focus of his column is how to make technology practical for average people. In 2005 he published Loose Wire, a personal guide to making technology work for you. He also keeps a blog dedicated for technology issues. In 2012, he rejoined Thomson Reuters as Chief Technology Correspondent for Asia.

References

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