Background
Peyton was born in Bury Street Edmunds, Suffolk.
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Kate Peyton
Edit ProfileEducation
She was educated at Culford School and read civil engineering at Manchester University.
Career
She was killed in a shooting incident in Somalia whilst reporting on that country"s nascent peace process. However, while at university she found herself increasingly drawn to books and journalism and resolved to make a career as a producer in broadcasting. On leaving university she got her first job, at British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Suffolk, and also worked at Radio Merseyside and GMR. Her long-term ambition as a young radio producer was eventually to work in South Africa, a country she had first visited with her family in 1979.
She finally moved to South Africa to work in the 1990s, firstly for the South African Broadcasting Corporation and the British Broadcasting Corporation as a freelance producer.
She was eventually appointed to the post of Africa Producer for the British Broadcasting Corporation early in the new millennium. She covered many major stories, including the emerging Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome crisis in South Africa, the Mozambique floods and the humanitarian emergency of Darfur.
In February 2005, Peyton was warned by the British Broadcasting Corporation"s Johannesburg bureau chief that there was concern over her perceived lack of focus. When she was asked to travel to Somalia to report on the situation there for the World Service, she saw it as a chance to demonstrate her commitment and improve the chances of her contract being renewed.
On arrival in Mogadishu, Peyton, accompanied by reporter Peter Greste, checked into the Sahafi Hotel.
Only a few hours later she was shot in the back while standing outside the hotel, which was popular with politicians and journalists. She underwent emergency surgery but died later the same day in the hospital. lieutenant was later found by the United Nations that her killing was likely organised by the First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Qaeda-affiliated military leader, Aden Hashi Farah.
After Peyton"s death her family and friends raised questions over how much pressure to take on dangerous assignments was put on producers and reporters retained on short-term contracts.
At the inquest into her death the coroner stated that while the British Broadcasting Corporation was not liable for Peyton"s death, British Broadcasting Corporation managers had to recognise that staff had an overriding right to turn down dangerous jobs, regardless of any fears they might have for their future employment.
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Born
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Died
February 9, 2005 (aged 39) -
Nationality
Somalia