Steffan Powell
British journalist and broadcaster
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Background
Powell was raised for at least part of his childhood in the Amman Valley[2] in south Wales. He was a keen reader during his childhood, and says that his extensive reading as a child has helped him be a better journalist.[3] He attended Amman Valley Comprehensive School.[4] Powell studied Law and Politics at Cardiff University, graduating with an LLB (Hons) in 2008. He then studied a postgraduate diploma in journalism studies at the same university, graduating with the diploma in 2009.[5]
Career
Powell's first job in the media was as a broadcast journalist at BBC Radio Cymru.[6] Powell co-founded a blog about Welsh politics in 2009 or 2010, and as of 2010 he worked at Tinopolis.[7]
In 2017, Powell was named by the Institute of Welsh Affairs on a list of 30 people working to improve Wales over the next 30 years. As of 2017, Powell was a broadcast journalist at Newsbeat;[4] he remains a broadcast journalist at Newsbeat.[8] In the late 2010s, Powell co-presented a debate programme on BBC One Wales which was broadcast monthly.[9] He also presented BBC Radio 1's Gaming Show in the 2010s.[10]
As of 2020, Powell reported for[11] the BBC Wales television consumer programme[12] X-Ray.[11] In 2021, Powell began being the BBC's first Gaming Correspondent, a role in which he examined the impact of gaming on culture and society.[3][8] In 2023, it was announced that Powell would present Doctor Who: Unleashed, a documentary series going behind-the-scenes of Doctor Who.[13] In 2024, Powell presented a series on S4C about climate change issues affecting Wales;[14] the series is one of several on S4C that Powell either has presented or presents.[15] In 2025, Powell presented a BBC documentary on BBC One Wales that exposed the mass-buying of thousands of tickets for pop concerts by ticket touts.[16] The same year, he presented Boom Town: How Merthyr Made the World, a documentary about the industrial history of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.[17]
Powell remains a journalist at Newsbeat,[8] whose debate specials on the BBC News channel he has also presented,[18] and remains presenter of the podcast Doctor Who Unleashed; he also continues to broadcast on S4C output.[8]
Powell regularly sits in for other presenters on BBC radio; for example, he sits in on BBC Radio 5 Live's Drive programme[19] and for Owain Wyn Evans on BBC Radio 2.[20]
Personal life
In 2018, Powell married Emma Jones.[21]
Notable achievements
In 2011, Powell completed the arcade game Time Crisis II on Aberystwyth Pier for a total cost of one pound.[22]