Peter Charley


Peter Charley is a U.S-based journalist, documentary film maker and television producer.

Early life and education

Peter was born in Deniliquin, Australia. His father, Philip Charley, was the son of Sir Philip Charley and grandson of Major Philip Charley, one of the ‘Syndicate of Seven’ who founded Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd in 1883. https://www.brokenhill.nsw.gov.au/broken-hill-history/syndicate-seven In 2018, BHP's revenue was estimated to be $US43.64 billion. https://www.bhp.com/ Peter spent his teenage years at boarding school in Australia and in Papua New Guinea where his family was based in Goroka, Madang and Port Moresby. In 1973, Peter was invited to accompany a medical expedition into the remote Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea to investigate an outbreak of the fatal brain disorder ‘kuru’, caused by ritualistic cannibalism. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Kuru-Information-Page.
Peter attended The Scots School, Albury, and Newington College, in Sydney. He studied communications at New York University and holds a master's degree in media practice from the University of Sydney.
At Harvard University, Peter studied Central Challenges of American National Security, Strategy and the Press.
Peter undertook European studies at the European Academy in Berlin and studied Spanish Language at Escuela Dinámico in Antigua, Guatemala, and Spanish Language and Latin American Culture at the Academia de Español in Quito, Ecuador.

Journalism career

Peter began his career as a reporter on the Sydney Morning Herald and the Sydney Sun newspapers in Australia where he worked as a general news reporter, feature writer and music critic. He later worked as an on-air news and current affairs reporter and producer at the Seven Network in Australia before moving to New York, where he worked as Associate Producer at Sixty Minutes, Channel Nine, and as a reporter for National Public Radio.
Peter traveled extensively throughout Central and South America, covering conflict and civil unrest in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil.
Peter's coverage of conflict also included unrest in Syria, Cambodia's fight against the Khmer Rouge, East Timor's struggle for independence, the Bougainville war, unrest in South Africa, Libya and the Los Angeles riots.
In 1986, Peter was appointed Show Producer of the weekly, current affairs program, The Reporters, produced by Fox Television, New York.
Between 2000 and 2007, Peter worked as Executive Producer of the ABC's flagship news program, Lateline. He then joined Australia's SBS television as Executive Producer of the international current affairs program, Dateline – a position he held for seven years. In 2014, Peter left Dateline to take up the role of Senior Executive Producer of Al Jazeera's North American investigative unit, based in Washington DC.
At Al Jazeera, Peter was responsible for producing, writing and reporting the controversial two-part series 'How to Sell a Massacre' which involved a three-year undercover infiltration of the National Rifle Association of America. The program led to the resignation of 'Pauline Hanson's One Nation' Senate candidate Steve Dickson after secretly-recorded video showed Dickson and One Nation's Chief of Staff James Ashby meeting with officials from the NRA and with representatives of Koch Industries in Washington, DC.

Awards

How to Sell a Massacre. 2019. Reporter and Producer.
Episode One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYyX7O02yOg
How to Sell a Massacre. 2019. Reporter and Producer.
Episode Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zIodf0o3T0
Football's Wall of Silence. 2018. Executive Producer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz85ZyOGWeE
The Poacher's Pipeline – Dealers, Diplomats and the Illegal Horn Trade. 2017. Executive Producer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMguWY99q6s
Spy Merchants. 2017. Executive Producer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HA-cEMKCDs
The Dark Side – The Secret World of Sports Doping. 2016. Executive Producer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJRPxmTuxoI
On Life's Border. 2000. Writer and Producer.
https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/video/11755075787/On-Lifes-Border
Border Lives. 2001. Writer and Producer.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/border-lives
Bolivia's Coca Wars. 2000. Reporter, Producer/Director, Cameraman.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/bolivias-coca-wars