Cohen: Breaking not making news

When Benjamin Cohen was appointed to the business and technology desk at Channel 4 News, he became the youngest correspondent in the programme’s history at just 23 years old. He also became the first person to work on the show with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). He talks to Paul Carter about his career, condition and his desire to not become the story

Still only 26, Benjamin Cohen has already achieved much in what is a difficult and challenging industry.

We meet in the grandiose looking setting of the ITN building in London, an elaborate Norman Foster-designed tower practically dripping in corporate media modernity, where LCD TV screens broadcasting various channels of output adorn most of the glass and chrome surfaces.

The interview is taking place on the day of the G20 protests which is why, he says, the Channel 4 News newsroom is quieter than usual, with many of the reporters and correspondents out covering the demonstrations.

However, his brief as business and technology correspondent (Channel 4 News’s first) means today he is away from the hustle and bustle.

He tells me how his aim is to report on developments in the media and technology world that are likely to have a direct impact on everyday people. “I always ask myself, will my grandparents understand this?” he says.

Despite his relative youth, Cohen’s success can hardly be considered an overnight development.

Long before entering the world of television news, he already had an established profile in the field and had attracted plenty of media attention for his business interests.

He first rose to public prominence during the so-called “dot com boom” of the late 1990s after setting up an early social networking site for the Jewish community, which led the media to label him (“wrongly”, he says) as one of the country’s youngest dot com millionaires. He later went on to have a high-profile dispute with Apple over the iTunes domain name, as well as setting up the gay news website Pinknews.co.uk.

“During that time I was offered the chance to write a column for The Times,” he says. “It started out as a ‘dot com diary’ but later developed into something looking at the wider industry as a whole.

“When the role at Channel 4 News became available, I was encouraged to apply.”

He has now been with the programme for over three years, and is now a regular fixture on Channel 4’s news at noon, main evening programme and More 4 news as well as writing regularly for the Channel 4 news website, covering subjects such as the recent Google Street View controversy, and problems faced by broadband consumers.

As the first person working for Channel 4 News with MS, would he agree that it’s been a learning curve for them?

“It’s definitely been a learning curve for both of us. For example, we’ve all had to find new ways of working and ways around things. One example is that when I’m out with a film crew, the reporter will usually hold the camera while the cameraman sets up the tripod and the like. I can’t do that.”

He explains that an everyday issue is neuropathic pain – “the worst symptom of all.

“It makes my hands and legs feel like they have pins and needles and cramp semi-permanently.”

He tells me that one of the biggest difficulties he faces is organising the many hospital and doctor’s appointments around his daily working life. Even as we are talking he has to break off from the interview for a couple of minutes to answer a call on his mobile from the hospital.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of our conversation though centres around perceptions of disability, both within the media and the wider general viewing public.

He refers to a situation that arose last year.

“I was having considerable sight loss and ophthalmic pain caused by the MS, and the only thing that helped it was wearing an eye patch.”

“We had to decide whether or not I would go on air wearing it, or take it off for the programme and put it back on afterwards.”

Despite the discomfort, he eventually went on screen without the patch, a decision that he insists was mutual between himself and the production team.

He says: “The problem is that with me there is not the visual signposting to suggest that I’m a disabled person. If I was to suddenly appear on screen one day wearing an eye patch, the viewers would be thinking ‘why is he wearing an eye patch?’ rather than focusing on the issue.

“For example,” he says, “the BBC have a very good political correspondent [Gary O’Donoghue] who is blind and appears on screen regularly, but that’s not an issue because it’s quite obvious he’s disabled. With me, there isn’t that visual signposting and I think viewers would find that distracting.”

This desire to not detract from the stories which he covers, combined with the unknown and often unpredictable outlook for those with MS is clearly something that plays on his mind.

“It wouldn’t be practical for me to be in the studio one day and have Jon [Snow, presenter] or whoever to say ‘and now we pass over to our business and technology correspondent Benjamin Cohen, who by the way is disabled and is today wearing an eye patch.’”

He also talks about feeling extremely conscious about a studio piece he had done during a time where his MS had caused the fingers on his hands to become contorted.

Was there really an issue or was it merely something he was overly aware of?

“No, we actually had someone call the Channel 4 duty line and say ‘could someone tell Ben Cohen to do something about his hands.’”

Having only been diagnosed with MS three years ago, Cohen admits that he is also still learning about his condition, its symptoms, and the subsequent difficulties of managing a fluctuating condition, as well as trying to educate others.

“Also,” he says, “there are elements of the condition that I don’t want everyone to know about. There are symptoms and effects that are personal to me, so it is about striking a balance.”

So, what are the future plans for some­one who has already achieved so much?

“I’m aware that my working life will most likely be shorter than others, so I just want to make sure that I achieve as much as possible while I’m still able to do so.”

On previous form, that doesn’t look unlikely.