Alan Friedman

In January 2018, Friedman published a new book on the Italian economy (Newton Compton Editori) entitled “Dieci cose da sapere sull’economia italiana prima che sia troppo tardi” (Ten Things To Know About The Italian Economy Before It Is Too Late) which was a Top Ten best-seller in Italy for 17 weeks.

In March 2018 Friedman gave his first TEDxTalk at Oxford University in the UK to an audience of 1,800 people. In his talk Friedman repeatedly criticized Donald Trump for damaging the social fabric of the United States, sowing hatred and division and leading a populist wave of demagogy that threatened America's traditions of strength through cultural diversity. Friedman also warned that Trump was attacking several pillars of American democracy with his repeated attacks on law enforcement, the Justice Department, the rule of law, the free press and the rights of women, gays and minorities.

In a June 2018 article, The New York Times named Friedman as a former associate of Paul Manafort who had contacted Special Counsel Robert Mueller to inform the counsel of Manafort's attempt at witness tampering. The article described how Friedman had helped to arrange and gave advice on writing op-eds that favored Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine during his short tenure as president at the behest of Manafort and that Friedman "helped lead a project to which prosecutors say Mr. Manafort funneled more than $2 million."

In February 2017 Friedman published a book called This Is Not America (Biteback Publishing in UK and Newton Compton in Italy) that was harshly critical of Donald Trump and examined the divisions in American society. The book was a bestseller in Italy for several months in 2017.

In June 2015 it was announced in the Italian media that Friedman would write the first authorized biography of the former Italian Prime Minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi. In a video message in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica Berlusconi explained that for many years journalists had asked him to write his biography but he had always declined. He finally decided to work with Friedman because he trusts him. Berlusconi also added: "As Steve Jobs said to his biographer: I will tell you my story. You will write what you like".

Friedman's biography of Berlusconi is being published in 19 languages and in 32 countries in the United States, Europe and Asia. First publication was in October 2015 in the United States by Hachette Books (Berlusconi: The Epic Story of the Billionaire Who Took Over Italy), in the UK (My Way: Berlusconi in his own words) and in Italy by Rizzoli (My Way: BERLUSCONI si racconta a FRIEDMAN), in France by Michel-Lafon (Berlusconi se raconte a Friedman), in the Netherlands (BERLUSCONI) and subsequently in Finland, Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Spain, China, Russia, Azerbaijan, Sweden, Turkey, and other countries.

In February 2014, his new book Ammazziamo il Gattopardo (Let's Murder the Leopard) was serialised with an excerpt in The Financial Times of London.

He received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2014 and, on September 6, 2014, he was awarded the Premio Cesare Pavese, an Italian literary award, for his book Ammazziamo il Gattopardo.

On December 2, Friedman received the Premio Pannunzio 2014, an Italian journalism award, with this motivation read on behalf of the Jury: “He represents a fine example of journalism in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, a journalism where facts are separated from opinions, with independent judgement in describing Italian politics, and this is very much to his credit. Friedman succeeds in putting the present into historical perspective, with objectivity and impartiality”.

From 2003 to 2005 he was global economy columnist for The Wall Street Journal Europe. He was executive editor of World Business, a weekly global business programme produced by FBC Media and broadcast on CNBC. Friedman founded and was chairman of FBC. The programme was cancelled in August 2011 after it was revealed that FBC acted as a public relations firm for the government of Malaysia and carried puff pieces in the shows it produced. FBC Media went into administration on 24 October 2011.

From 2011 to 2013 with liaison to Viktor Yanukovych's chief of staff Serhiy Lyovochkin, Alan Friedman, Eckart Sager, who was a one time CNN producer, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, and Manafort's senior aide Konstantin Kilimnik devised a strategy to discredit Yulia Tymoshenko along with Hillary Clinton. This effort supported the pro-Russia administration of then President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. In September 2018, Manafort pleaded guilty to witness tampering for his efforts to coach Friedman and Sager on what to say about their work for him and Yanukovych. In Manafort's statement of the offense, Friedman is identified as "Person D1".

He hosted the Alan Friedman Show, a peak talk show on the Sky TG24 news channel in Italy. It was dedicated to national and international economics and politics. From 1994 to 2003 Friedman was global economics correspondent of the IHT.

He was recognized as the journalist who led the report on the Iraqgate scandal in 1991 that connected the CIA with the supply of non-U.S. origin weapons to Saddam Hussein.

Friedman's television career began in the early 1980s with regular appearances on BBC Newsnight. In 1991 he participated, with Ted Koppel of the ABC Nightline programme, in the production of a series of broadcasts by ABC/Financial Times on the scandal of the weapons sale to Iraq.

From 1979 to 1993 he worked for the Financial Times of London, as a columnist on bonds, a banking correspondent and a foreign correspondent in Italy and the United States. His professional relationship with the International Herald Tribune and RAI made way, in 1999, to a joint venture for the co-production of the weekly programmes World Business/Pianeta Economia (Planet Economy), produced by FBC.

Alan Friedman (/ˈ f r iː d m ə n / ; born April 30, 1956) is an American journalist, author and former media and public relations executive.