His rather presciently subtitled 2008 book Flat Earth News: An Award-Winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media is an excellent, compelling read.

FORBES: Meet The Man Who Took Down Rupert Murdoch's British Empire

In popular imagination, New Zealand has become the home of dwarves, elves, dragons and 4ft-tall hairy-footed Hobbit burglars since director Sir Peter Jackson used his homeland as the backdrop for his version of Middle Earth in the Academy-Award winning film series.

BBC: In Alpine villages, Hobbits lurk

Highlights of the festival include the award-winning La Vie Sur Terre (Life on Earth) by the talented Mauritanian director Abderahmane Sissako, who was commissioned to make a film about the year 2000.

BBC: African film comes to London

Previous winners of the Cecil B DeMille Award - named for the famed director of The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Show on Earth - include Robert DeNiro, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Al Pacino and Morgan Freeman, who was awarded the honour earlier this year.

BBC: Jodie Foster