On Point producer Stefano Kotsonis

Stefano Kotsonis began his career in broadcasting in 1987 as a founding member of the nationally syndicated PBS current affairs program, “THE KWITNY REPORT,” which was awarded the George Polk Award for Television Investigative Journalism.

In 1989, Stefano moved to Athens, Greece where he worked as a freelance reporter and producer for major television, radio and print outlets such as CNN, BBC, CBC The European and USA Today.

Later, as Bureau Chief and Correspondent for CNN based in Amman, Jordan, Stefano covered most of the top stories of the 90s, including the Gulf War, Middle East Peace Process, the wars of Yugoslavia, the Somali civil war and the humanitarian response that it engendered. His reporting sent him to the corners of the Caucasus, Middle East, Europe, and East and South Africa.

He returned to the United States in 1996, at first reporting and producing for Reuters TV.

By 1997, Stefano was producing and writing for television documentaries which aired on The History Channel, Discovery Health and PBS, such as “ISLAM: EMPIRE OF FAITH,” (a three-hour documentary about the rise of the early Islamic empires which aired on PBS).

Stefano made the switch to public radio in the summer of 2001, and has worked on several WBUR-produced programs, including “Here & Now” and now, On Point.

Stefano speaks many languages poorly: English, Greek, French, Turkish, Arabic. And if phrases like “good morning,” “thank you” and “more, please,” can be considered fluency, he can claim to have some command of Serbo-Croatian, Somali, Swahili, Kurdish, Persian and Armenian.

Not that you asked, but Stefano is a proud father of two young boys and a cranky but devoted husband.