About Patrick

Patrick Chalmers was born in Fife, central Scotland in 1966, then spent most of his first two decades in Moray, further North.

He studied mechanical engineering and French at Bath University and journalism at London’s City University before starting as a freelance reporter in Brussels, Belgium. In 1994, he joined Reuters, staying 11 years with the global news agency for postings in London, Kuala Lumpur and back, with reporting assignments elsewhere. He covered the environment, various financial markets, trade, economics and politics, becoming aware of the threads joining them all.

Grown disillusioned with the editorial values at Reuters, not least on fairness and balance, he negotiated redundancy in 2005 then moved with his family to France. Once installed, he renovated a house and wrote Fraudcast News, his first book, a biographical critique of democracy and journalism.

Patrick’s work since has included freelance journalism, consultancy for environment and development organisations and teaching at several Toulouse universities. In 2017, he co-founded All Hands On, a Scottish independent film company making documentaries about better politics.

He is a practitioner of mindfulness meditation, practising Plum Village’s 14 Mindfulness Trainings with the aim of bringing more compassion and understanding into both his personal life and work.