I have been working as a journalist for over 20 years. It wasn’t something that I set out to become but happened via a youthful involvement in political campaigning.

As a teenager in the 1980s I was a political activist, involved in – among other things – the anti-fascist movement. My first job was as an elected area convenor for the National Union of Students before I went on to work for the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight, where I trained as a journalist on their monthly magazine.

At Searchlight I was involved in many investigations into the far-right over the years and became editor of the magazine. I have had articles published in numerous publications, including the New York Times and London’s Time Out magazine. I have worked as a researcher on several television and radio documentaries.

I have been a member of the National Union of Journalists since 1989.

I have spoken at countless meetings across Britain and also in Europe and the United States on the topics of racism, fascism and antisemitism. I have also given written and oral evidence to two Parliamentary inquiries into racism and antisemitism. The most recent was the 2006 All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism in the UK.

In total I spent nearly 20 years involved in one way or another with Searchlight. Since 2007 I have been working as a freelance journalist in the voluntary sector. Among other things I have worked for the trade union journal RMT News, and as a website editor for the sports charity StreetGames.

You can visit my website and blog at www.stevesilver.org.uk