Ben Hunte is an Anchor & Correspondent for CNN, based in Atlanta (USA) and London (UK).

Previously, Ben was the BBC’s first LGBT Correspondent, reporting on stories surrounding sexuality and gender, before becoming the BBC’s West Africa Correspondent. He went on to be a Global Correspondent for VICE News, investigating stories about LGBTQ people, race, and inequality from across the world. 

In 2023, Ben won the Out D’or Foreign Press Award in France, for his investigations into transphobia at the Equality and Human Rights Commission. In 2022, Ben Hunte was listed in Forbes 30 Under 30. In 2020, Ben took the top spot in The Guardian and DIVA Magazine’s Pride Power List.

Ben’s digital films have been seen by millions, with topics ranging from men feeling ‘too ugly’ to be gay, to racism within the LGBT dating scene, and queer individuals being failed in Senegal.

While Global Correspondent at VICE News, Ben travelled the world to cover breaking news and original investigations, including:

• How Jamaicans reacted to the Queen’s death – and their new King

• Why Hungary’s elections are terrifying for LGBTQ people

• Namibia’s Supreme Court fight for LGBTQ rights

Ben has a strong track record of delivering agenda-setting original journalism for Online, TV, and Radio. His digging has led to several viral and trending reports, including:

• The UK’s Equalities Minister, Kemi Badenoch, going on an “anti-LGBTQ rant” in 2018, and then sending messages saying “I don’t care about colonialism”. Ben later revealed how the minister encouraged city firms to block their trans inclusion policies.

• Ben’s award-winning investigative series looking into the Equality and Human Rights Commission made headlines across the UK and received several mentions in UK parliament. Ben exposed how bosses were meeting with “transphobic groups”, how staff were quitting because of an anti-LGBT culture, he published scrapped-guidance showing show trans people were to be prevented from using public bathrooms, and he showed how the UK government blocked a guide supporting trans school children

• Government whistleblowers enabled Ben to expose how the UK government planned to block trans UK civil servants from using single-sex spaces, while also passing him documents showing the UK government’s plans to stop Scotland’s gender recognition bill

• Ben’s report about trans people in Ukraine being stranded - because of their identities not matching their official IDs - went viral on every social media platform. The millions of views led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being donated to LGBTQ charities for work in Ukraine.

• Ben broke the news that the BBC was getting ready to withdraw from the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme and that BBC employees were quitting because of a transphobic culture

• His digging revealed that UK government officials held secret meetings with 10 “ex-gay” and “former LGBT” leaders of an organisation that provides so-called conversion therapy

• He exposed how the UK government quietly axed LGBT anti-bullying projects in schools; the government was challenged with Ben’s research in Parliament

• Ben exposed Poland’s ‘LGBT-Free Zones’

• He revealed that LGBT people are still under attack in the UK in 2021. Also, he explored how attacks based on sexuality-alone increased in 2020, as well as investigating how trans people are being ‘failed’ by UK police

• His exclusive coverage of electric shock ‘gay conversion therapy’ exposed Birmingham University’s leading role, as well as uncovering exclusives around Instagram & Facebook banning all conversion therapy promotion

• Ben’s investigation into the government failing to record LGBT suicides led to policy change

• He uncovered how Black male victims of sexual abuse are ‘ignored’ by the government

• Ben revealed that several Black and Asian LGBT people experienced racism from staff at Manchester Pride 2019

• After his investigation into the gay men breaking blood donation rules, Ben also broke news of the rules changing

• Ben’s digging revealed that people were testing HIV positive while waiting to get a place on the UK’s PrEP trial

• Whilst fronting a season of coverage celebrating 50 years since the Stonewall Riots, Ben broke the news of HRH Prince William supporting a potential LGBT royal

Ben Hunte’s presenting and journalism SKILLS HAVE been
recognised by prestigious organisations:

• Winner - Foreign Press Award - Out D’or, France, 2023

• Winner - Forbes 30 Under 30 - Europe, 2022

• Winner - Journalist of the Year - One Young World, 2020

• Winner - Alumni Laureate Award - University of Nottingham, 2019

• Finalist - Outstanding Recorded News Program - News & Documentary Emmy Awards, 2023

• Finalist - Specialist Journalist of the Year - British Journalism Awards, 2020

• Finalist - Social Affairs Journalist of the Year - British Journalism Awards, 2022

• Finalist - Young Talent of the Year - Royal Television Society, 2020

• Finalist - Outstanding Contribution to LGBT Life; Journalist of the Year; Global Media Trailblazer - 2017; 2020; 2022

• Finalist - Journalist of the Year - PinkNews, 2020

• Finalist - Kids: Factual Programme of the Year - International Emmy Awards 2019

In 2019 Ben was awarded an ‘Alumni Laureate Award’ by the University of Nottingham, where he studied a Neuroscience degree on an all-expenses-paid scholarship in Malaysia.

In 2018 Ben was a BBC World Service & BBC News Africa presenter, where he travelled to the African continent and created content for global BBC audiences, across TV, radio and social media. 

Before jumping into the world of journalism, Ben worked for Google as a Strategic Partnership Manager, whilst juggling work as a YouTuber and ‘social media influencer’, with over 100,000 followers.