# Peter Charley

Peter Charley is an Australian journalist, documentary film maker, television producer and author.

## Early life and education

Charley was born in Deniliquin, New South Wales, Australia. His father, Philip Nivison Charley OAM was the son of Sir Philip Belmont Charley and grandson of Major Philip Charley, one of the ‘Syndicate of Seven’ who founded Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd in 1883. In 2021, BHP's revenue was estimated to be US$60.82 billion. Charley 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, he 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.
Charley 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, Charley studied Central Challenges of American National Security, Strategy and the Press (via Ed-X). Charley 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

Charley 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.
Charley 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.
Charley'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, Charley was appointed Show Producer of the weekly, current affairs program, The Reporters, produced by Fox Television, New York.
Between 2000 and 2007, Charley worked as Executive Producer of the ABC TV'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, he 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, Charley 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. In 2019, Charley was approached by HarperCollins to write a book on the making of the documentary series. The book, 'How to Sell a Massacre - One Nation, the US gun lobby and $20 million - inside journalism's most audacious sting', was published in August 2020, reaching an Amazon ranking of Number One Best Seller under the categories of Federal Jurisdiction Law, Conventional Weapons and Warfare History, Political Freedom, Journalism & Nonfiction Writing Reference, and Radical Political Thought.
Charley has twice been invited by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to participate as Juror for the International Emmy Awards competition to judge international television programming.

## Awards

| Published work | Award name | Award given | Award year |
| On Life’s Border – The Plight of North Korean Refugees in China | Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies | First Prize, SAIS Novartis Awards | 2000 |
| On Life’s Border – The Struggle of North Korea’s Refugees | Walkley Award | Winner, Excellence in International Reporting (with Jung-Eun Kim) | 2000 |
| One Last Chance | New York Festivals | Best Investigative Report | 2000 |
| One Last Chance | Columbus International Film & Video Festival | Chris Award Statue | 2000 |
| Kidnapped | Human Rights Press Award, Hong Kong | Winner (as executive producer of Dateline, SBS) | 2009 |
| Dateline, SBS | New York Festivals | Best Current Affairs Program | 2013 |
| The Dark Side | New York Festivals | Gold World Medal, Sports | 2017 |
| The Dark Side | New York Festivals | Gold World Medal, Current Affairs | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Society for Environmental Journalists | Honorable Mention, Outstanding In-depth Reporting | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Asian Television Awards | Highly Commended | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | CINE Golden Eagle Awards | Finalist, Investigations | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Association of International Broadcasters | Highly commended, Investigative | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Headliner Awards | Second Place, Documentary | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Rockie Awards, Banff World Media Festival | Finalist, Social & Investigative | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Foreign Press Association Media Awards | Winner, Environment Story of the Year | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, New York | Best Middle East Film | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Vancouver South African Film Festival | People's Choice Winner | 2017 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | Envirofilm Awards | Winner, Best Story Presentation | 2018 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | New York Festivals | Silver World Medal, Current Affairs | 2018 |
| The Poacher's Pipeline | New York Festivals | Silver World Medal, Nature and Wildlife | 2018 |
| Spy Merchants | DIG Awards, Riccione, Italy | Best Investigative Documentary, Long Form | 2018 |
| Spy Merchants | New York Festivals | Gold World Medal, Current Affairs | 2018 |
| Spy Merchants | Rockie Awards, Banff World Media Festival | Finalist, Crime and Investigation | 2018 |
| Football's Wall of Silence | Association of International Broadcasters | Highly Commended, Investigative | 2018 |
| Football's Wall of Silence | British Academy of Film and Television Arts | Finalist, Current Affairs category | 2019 |
| Football's Wall of Silence | New York Festivals | Gold World Medal, Current Affairs | 2019 |
| Football's Wall of Silence | New York Festivals | Gold World Medal, Sports | 2019 |
| Islamophobia | New York Festivals | Gold World Medal, Current Affairs | 2019 |
| Islamophobia | New York Festivals | Silver World Medal, Religious | 2019 |
| Islamophobia | Kennedy Awards | Nominee, Journalist of the Year | 2019 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Broadcast Awards | Finalist | 2019 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Kennedy Awards | Winner, Most Outstanding Investigative Report | 2019 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Kennedy Awards | Finalist, Scoop of the Year | 2019 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Association for International Broadcasting | Winner, International Affairs | 2019 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Graham Perkin Awards | Finalist, Australian Journalist of the Year | 2019 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | New York Festivals | Gold World Medal, Film | 2019 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Walkley Award | Winner, Scoop of the Year | 2019 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Gold Lovie Award | Winner, Documentary | 2020 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Webby Awards | 'Al Jazeera Investigates Extra' Nominee | 2021 |
| How to Sell a Massacre | Telly Awards | Gold Medal | 2021 |
Gold Telly Award (Social Impact) Issued by Telly Awards · May 2023 The Truth Illusion
https://www.tellyawards.com/winners/2023/television/general-social-impact
Silver Telly Award (General Documentary - Long Form) Issued by Telly Awards · May 2023 The Truth Illusion https://www.tellyawards.com/winners/2023/television/general-documentary-long-form-above-40-minutes
Silver Telly Award (Political Commentary) Issued by Telly Awards · May 2023 The Truth Illusion https://www.tellyawards.com/winners/2023/television/general-political-commentary
Gold World Medal (Documentary - Social Issues) Issued by New York TV & Film Awards · Apr 2023 The Truth Illusion https://tvfilm.newyorkfestivals.com/Winners/WinnerDetailsNew/301711dc-00bb-407b-b536-762783bee3d5
Gold World Medal (Social Issues Podcast) Issued by New York Festival Radio Awards · Apr 2023 The Truth Illusion https://tvfilm.newyorkfestivals.com/winners/List/7839e438-6aec-439e-bf9a-7ca894d7d5dd
Shorty Award Bronze Medal (News and Politics Podcast) Issued by Shorty Awards · Apr 2023 The Truth Illusion https://shortyawards.com/15th/winners
Silver World Medal (Documentary - Current Affairs) Issued by New York TV & Film Awards · Apr 2023 The Truth Illusion https://tvfilm.newyorkfestivals.com/winners/List/7839e438-6aec-439e-bf9a-7ca894d7d5dd
Gold Medal (Best Writing) Issued by Signal awards · Oct 2023 Gold Mafia - Podcast (Executive Producer) https://network.aljazeera.net/en/awards/al-jazeera-wins-four-signal-awards
Gold Medal (General News & Politics) Issued by Signal Awards · Oct 2023 Gold Mafia – Podcast: Episode 6 (‘The Crocodile’) (Executive Producer) https://network.aljazeera.net/en/awards/al-jazeera-wins-four-signal-awards
Silver Medal (General - Documentary) Issued by Signal Awards · Oct 2023 Gold Mafia – Podcast: Episode Three (‘Blowing Smoke’) (Executive Producer) https://network.aljazeera.net/en/awards/al-jazeera-wins-four-signal-awards
Cannes Film Festival Cannes Film Festival - finalist Issued by Cannes Media & TV Awards · Jul 2023 The Truth Illusion https://www.cannescorporate.com/en/
Webby Award (Documentary, Long Form) Issued by Webby Awards (nomination) · Apr 2023 The Truth Illusion https://winners.webbyawards.com/2023/video/general-video/documentary-longform/242602/al-jazeera-investigations--the-truth-illusion
A.I.B. Award (Specialist Factual) Issued by Association of International Broadcasters · Nov 2022 The Truth Illusion https://theaibs.tv/AIBs-2022/Gala-evening/The-AIBs-22-winners-book.pdf
Foreign Press Association Award (TV Documentary of the Year) - finalist Issued by Foreign Press Association, London · Nov 2022 The Truth Illusion https://www.fpalondon.org/fpa-media-awards
Venice TV Award (Documentary) - nominee Issued by Venice TV Awards · Sep 2022 The Truth Illusion
https://venicetvaward.com/winners-and-nominees-2022/

## Published works
### Books

* Charley, Peter (2020). How to Sell a Massacre. Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Corporation Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Australia. ISBN 978-0-7333-4108-3.

### Video

* Charley, Peter (reporter, producer/director and cameraman) (2000). Bolivia's Coca Wars. Australia: SBS TV.
* Charley, Peter (writer and producer) (2000). On Life's Border. Australia: SBS TV.
* Charley, Peter (writer and producer) (2001). Border Lives. Australia: SBS TV.
* Charley, Peter (executive producer) (2016). The Dark Side – The Secret World of Sports Doping. YouTube.
* Charley, Peter (executive producer) (2017). Spy Merchants. YouTube.
* Charley, Peter (executive producer) (2017). The Poacher's Pipeline – Dealers, Diplomats and the Illegal Horn Trade. YouTube.
* Charley, Peter (executive producer) (2018). Football's Wall of Silence. YouTube.
* Charley, Peter (reporter and producer) (2019). How to Sell a Massacre (Episode One ed.). YouTube.
* Charley, Peter (reporter and producer) (2019). How to Sell a Massacre (Episode Two ed.). YouTube.