Peter W. Klein
Encyclopedia
Peter W. Klein is an American television host and producer, writer and documentary filmmaker. Klein had been a producer for the CBS
newsmagazine
60 Minutes
since 1999. He also produces pieces for other programs, including ABC News
, NBC News
, PBS
, HDNet
and The History Channel
. Klein is the host of VisionTV and Joytv
's current affairs interview program, The Standard, and he is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia
's Graduate School of Journalism where he runs the International Reporting program. He produces international project with his students for major media outlets and won an Emmy award in 2010 for a project done in collaboration with his graduate students, a first for a Canadian university.
while freelancing print stories for various publications. In 1994, he helped found VNI New York Times Television, which pioneered foreign news reporting using small format Hi-8 cameras. He went from there to become a senior producer for CBS News’ cable channel, Eye on People, and created a documentary series called I-Witness, where video journalists spent months covering one topic.
investigated anti-government militias, as well as Eric Rudolph of the Army of God’s string of abortion clinic attacks. Klein and correspondent Elizabeth Vargas
investigated the wrongful conviction of a woman named Betty Tyson and helped overturn her conviction, a project which earned Vargas her first Emmy nomination.
Klein also filmed, edited and produced documentary specials for Nightline, following characters over long periods of time, including the abortion clinic bombing victim Emily Lyons
as she spend her first year recovering from a near-fatal blast. In a project entitled "Life & Death," Klein shadowed Noel Earley, a Vietnam veteran dying of Lou Gherig’s Disease
, as he fought for the right to use doctor-assisted suicide. In another project, Klein followed a convicted child molester from the day he was released from prison. Over a six-month period, Klein documented his journey moving back into society, showing the police notifications, the community meetings and the pedophile’s life at his mother’s house.
reported on the threat posed by unsecured smallpox
virus samples, and on September 5, 2001, their report won a News and Documentary Emmy. After 9/11, Klein went on to work with Wallace covering the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Their interview with Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson
, in which Thompson insisted the country was completely safe from any biological attack, led to a Senate hearing about US biowarfare preparedness. Klein was one of the first network magazine producers to travel to Iraq
after the invasion and, working with correspondent Bob Simon
, he secured the first and to-date, only Western TV interview with the Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr
.
Prior to teaching at UBC, he taught at Columbia University
and New York University
.
called Beyond Top Secret. The series received two Emmy nominations in 2007 and was featured on a segment of The Daily Show
with Jon Stewart
.
In 2009, Klein became the host of a nationally-aired current affairs program on VisionTV and JoyTV in Canada called The Standard. Some of his notable guests have included former Mossad director Efraim Halevy and Nate Phelps, son of the radical anti-gay preacher Fred Phelps
.
Klein has written for The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Christian Science Monitor and numerous other publications during his career.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
newsmagazine
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
since 1999. He also produces pieces for other programs, including ABC News
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
, PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, HDNet
HDNet
HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...
and The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
. Klein is the host of VisionTV and Joytv
Joytv
Joytv is a privately held Canadian television system owned by ZoomerMedia. Joytv airs a mix of multi-faith and family-oriented programming in the form of dramas, comedies, news magazines, talk shows and more.-History:...
's current affairs interview program, The Standard, and he is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
's Graduate School of Journalism where he runs the International Reporting program. He produces international project with his students for major media outlets and won an Emmy award in 2010 for a project done in collaboration with his graduate students, a first for a Canadian university.
Career
In the early 1990s, Klein worked as a public radio reporter during the Bosnian warBosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
while freelancing print stories for various publications. In 1994, he helped found VNI New York Times Television, which pioneered foreign news reporting using small format Hi-8 cameras. He went from there to become a senior producer for CBS News’ cable channel, Eye on People, and created a documentary series called I-Witness, where video journalists spent months covering one topic.
ABC News
Klein left CBS to become a producer at ABC News' Law and Justice Unit. There he conducted investigations for 20/20, Nightline and World News Tonight. In the late 90s he and correspondent John MillerJohn Miller (journalist)
John Miller is an American journalist and a former government official.He is the former Associate Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analytic Transformation and Technology...
investigated anti-government militias, as well as Eric Rudolph of the Army of God’s string of abortion clinic attacks. Klein and correspondent Elizabeth Vargas
Elizabeth Vargas
Elizabeth Vargas is an American television journalist who is anchor of ABC's television newsmagazine 20/20 and ABC News Specials. She was previously an anchor of World News Tonight.-Early years:...
investigated the wrongful conviction of a woman named Betty Tyson and helped overturn her conviction, a project which earned Vargas her first Emmy nomination.
Klein also filmed, edited and produced documentary specials for Nightline, following characters over long periods of time, including the abortion clinic bombing victim Emily Lyons
Emily Lyons
Emily Lyons is an American nurse who was gravely injured when Eric Robert Rudolph bombed an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, where she worked. She was a prominent figure during Rudolph's trial and sentencing, and has also become an activist for abortion rights.-Bombing:Lyons was born in...
as she spend her first year recovering from a near-fatal blast. In a project entitled "Life & Death," Klein shadowed Noel Earley, a Vietnam veteran dying of Lou Gherig’s Disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
, as he fought for the right to use doctor-assisted suicide. In another project, Klein followed a convicted child molester from the day he was released from prison. Over a six-month period, Klein documented his journey moving back into society, showing the police notifications, the community meetings and the pedophile’s life at his mother’s house.
60 Minutes
In 1999, Klein joined 60 Minutes as a staff producer. In 2000 he and Mike WallaceMike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
reported on the threat posed by unsecured smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
virus samples, and on September 5, 2001, their report won a News and Documentary Emmy. After 9/11, Klein went on to work with Wallace covering the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Their interview with Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson
Tommy Thompson
Thomas George "Tommy" Thompson , a United States Republican politician, was the 42nd Governor of Wisconsin, after which he served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, but dropped out early after a poor performance in polls...
, in which Thompson insisted the country was completely safe from any biological attack, led to a Senate hearing about US biowarfare preparedness. Klein was one of the first network magazine producers to travel to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
after the invasion and, working with correspondent Bob Simon
Bob Simon
Bob Simon is a CBS News television correspondent.From 1964–67, Simon served as an American Foreign Service officer and was a Fulbright Scholar in France and a Woodrow Wilson scholar. From 1969–71, he served a tour in the CBS News London bureau. From 1971–77, he was based in the London and Saigon...
, he secured the first and to-date, only Western TV interview with the Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr
Muqtada al-Sadr
Sayyid Muqtadā al-Ṣadr is an Iraqi Islamic political leader.Along with Ali al-Sistani and Ammar al-Hakim of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Sadr is one of the most influential religious and political figures in the country not holding any official title in the Iraqi government.-Titles:He is...
.
University of British Columbia
In addition to his professional work, in 2005 Klein became an associate professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Journalism, where he runs the investigative reporting program. In 2009, with the support of a $1 million donation from Mindset Foundation, he founded the International Reporting Program in which he takes graduate students overseas to produce long-form reporting projects. In 2009, his class produced a documentary for PBS Frontline/World called “Digital Dumping Ground” in which they traced the path of electronic waste to three continents. The project won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative in a Newsmagazine, the first time a student journalism project has been honored with a national Emmy. The piece also earned the Society of Professional Journalists' prestigious Sigma Delta Chi award.Prior to teaching at UBC, he taught at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Other Highlights
In 2006, Klein launched an investigative series for The History ChannelThe History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
called Beyond Top Secret. The series received two Emmy nominations in 2007 and was featured on a segment of The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
with Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
.
In 2009, Klein became the host of a nationally-aired current affairs program on VisionTV and JoyTV in Canada called The Standard. Some of his notable guests have included former Mossad director Efraim Halevy and Nate Phelps, son of the radical anti-gay preacher Fred Phelps
Fred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church , an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas...
.
Klein has written for The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Christian Science Monitor and numerous other publications during his career.