Ian Masters (journalist)

Ian Masters
Born
Australia
Occupation(s)Journalist, radio show host
Spouse
​
(m. 2005)​

Ian Masters is an Australian-born, BBC-trained American broadcast journalist, commentator, author, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker.[1][2]

Masters[3] hosted the KPFK, Pacifica Radio program Background Briefing which deals with American politics, foreign policy as well as domestic American security issues. Masters has hosted a once weekly episode of Background Briefing since 1980; in 2009, the program was expanded to five days per week.[4] It is broadcast on more than forty radio stations across the US, and is also available as a podcast.[5][6]

Masters resigned[citation needed] from his position hosting "Background Briefing" at KPFK[7] and now produces the show at his home in Santa Monica as an online podcast. His shows are no longer aired on FM radio station KPFK. Instead, they now air on KPFA in Berkeley, CA.[8]

Masters was formerly a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs based at UCLA, and a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Relations at UCLA. He also served as a consultant to the Center for National Security Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

He hosted the 2005 PEN Center USA Awards from Los Angeles, California, which has in the past honored those such as Gore Vidal, Ursula K. Le Guin, Charlie Kaufman, and Robert Alter. On September 18, 2007, Masters moderated a discussion billed as "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy" with John J. Mearscheimer and Stephen M. Walt. The event was part of the Hammer Forum held at UCLA's Hammer Museum. On September 25, 2007, Masters moderated a panel discussion on "Foreign Policy after the Bush Administration". The event was also held at UCLA's Hammer Museum. Panelists included John Brady Kiesling, John B. Judis, Christopher O'Sullivan and Steven Clemons.

  1. ^ Carroll, Rory (10 September 2015). "'This is the end': leftwing Pacifica Radio affiliates enter protracted death spiral". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Sean (May 13, 2007). "A quarter-century of levelheaded talk". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ "Background Briefing with Ian Masters". KPFK 90.7 FM. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Online Archives Archive". KPFK Public Radio. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  5. ^ Masters, Ian. "Background Briefing with Ian Masters". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Background Briefing: June 3, 2018". Background Briefing. June 3, 2018. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Background Briefing with Ian Masters".
  8. ^ Masters, Ian. "Archives : Page 9 of 9". Background Briefing with Ian Masters. KPFA. Archived from the original on 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.