Ben Hammersley


Ben Hammersley FRSA FRGS is a British internet technologist, journalist, author and broadcaster based in London, England.

Education

Hammersley is the eldest of three children and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, from which he dropped out after a year.

Career

Hammersley previously worked as an internet reporter for The Times. Until 2013, he was the UK Prime Minister's Ambassador to East London Tech City.
Hammersley is a member of the Transatlantic Network 2020, and a trustee of the London chapter of the Awesome Foundation. In August 2011 he was made a fellow of the UNAOC. He is a judge of the Lovie Awards.
In 2013, Hammersley became a fellow of the Robert Schuman School for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, Innovator-in-Residence at the Centre for Creative and Social Technologies at Goldsmiths, University of London, Editor at Large of Conde Nast's Wired UK magazine, a member of the European Commission High Level Expert Group on Media Freedom, and a non-resident fellow of the Brookings Institution.

Multimedia reporting and broadcasting

Hammersley has twice presented on BBC Radio 4's documentary strand Analysis, covering Facebook in November 2007, and personal genetic testing in December 2008. In 2014, he presented a six-part BBC World News series on cybercrimes.
He is also known for being the inventor of the word "podcast", recalling that he made it up to pad out an article he was writing that was a little too short.

Personal life

Hammersley is married to Aleks Krotoski, with whom he has a daughter.