Kidnapped girl becomes TV host

2007-12-06 07:27

Vienna - Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian teenager imprisoned in a cellar for eight years by a mentally disturbed man, is to become a TV presenter, a report said on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Kampusch is to host a programme called "Natascha Kampusch meets...", where she will interview an invited guest through "a very open discussion, touching on previously unknown aspects of my interviewee," she was quoted as saying by the Austrian news agency APA.

The programme will run on private channel Puls 4 from February next year.

"I have long wanted to leave behind being a passive object of media attention to be more actively involved in creating media programming," said Kampusch, whose own escape from the house of her captor, Wolfgang Priklopil, sparked headlines around the world.

Kidnapped on her way to school at the age of 10 in March 1998, Kampusch was held by Priklopil until her escape on August 23, 2006.

Priklopil committed suicide later the same day.

Kampusch has ever since been the subject of intensive psychotherapy, as well as an education programme to catch up on the schooling she missed. She is also the object of intense media fascination.

"We are conscious of our responsibilities," said the head of Puls 4, Martin Blank. The programmes will be made with "professionalism, seriousness and sensitivity," he added.

After her escape Kampusch made clear her desire to become a journalist, saying that her only contact with the outside world during her imprisonment came through newspapers and the radio.

The young woman, who has limited her media appearances over the past year, also launched her own website this week, where she will blog about her life and work.

- SAPA