Jeffrey James is an international broadcast professional working across news, current affairs, business, and entertainment television. He has anchored and produced for leading international networks and production houses in Europe, Asia, and Australia, including Deutsche Welle Television, PBS, Beyond International, CNBC International, and i24News (Israel/USA).
Born in Sydney, Australia, he worked in Australian radio and was one of the presenters and producers on Newsfront at Sydney’s 2GB Macquarie Network, later moving into television in Australia. After several years in Australian television, he relocated to London, marking the beginning of an international career across Europe and Asia.
Starting in Australian regional radio in his late teens, Jeffrey has since written, produced, and developed programming across a wide range of broadcast genres, including music, news, current affairs, and documentaries, over what continues to be an extensive international career.
He is known for long-form interviews across current affairs and entertainment.
Showcase interviews include Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Allen, and the Bee Gees. He also secured an exclusive English-language interview with the reclusive Asian superstar Danny Chan, one year before Chan’s untimely death.
Investigative journalism took him to the southern Philippines for Beyond Productions’ series Pirates, which he co-created and co-produced. Despite Australian Embassy warnings of kidnapping risk, he secured an interview with the leader of a separatist rebel group known for attacks on inter-island shipping. The group’s commander admitted on camera to executions during vessel raids. The year-long production was funded by France’s TF1 and Australia’s Seven Network.
He covered the 2004 Al-Qaeda attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta for Deutsche Welle. Living one block from the embassy, he described the moment: “My building shook like an earthquake. I looked across and could see only thick black smoke rising above the embassy—it seemed as if the sky was on fire.” He later reflected on the loss of Indonesian civilians who had been queuing for visas.
Among his hallmark work was a Walkley Awards-nominated exclusive interview with Li Chu Wen, China’s representative to Hong Kong during the Sino-British negotiations. The interview revealed new details on China’s position ahead of the handover.
Another defining early moment came with an interview with Mother Teresa of Calcutta (now Saint Teresa of Calcutta). The experience shaped his approach to interviewing, favouring a more personal and non-scripted style. The interview was broadcast across Australia on the 2SM Network.
In 2007, Jeffrey anchored CNBC International’s first global business programme broadcast from Australia, based at a new studio centre in central Sydney. After two years, following a restructuring of the network’s global programming, he moved to Beijing to explore on-camera opportunities in China. He later appeared on CGTN’s flagship interview programme Dialogue, where he spoke on China’s evolving approach to global media and the importance of transparency, particularly in times of crisis.
During the Covid period, he developed a documentary project with A+E Asia on street children in Hanoi and the work of the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, and continues to support the foundation through media advisory work.
He was educated at Trinity Grammar School and St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney, and also studied classical music, speech, and drama. Possessing perfect pitch, he undertook music examinations through Trinity College London, achieving results within the top two percent.
His professional interests include news, current affairs, media, television and film, and geopolitics, with a particular focus on North Asia and China.
Outside his professional work, his interests include music, culture, and travel. His musical tastes are wide-ranging, from Rachmaninoff to Korean wave artists such as BTS.
In 2018, the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia preserved more than 100 hours of his work.
His sole social media presence is X: @jeffreyjamestv