Atkins began his career in South Africa where he researched crime prevention and human rights for the Centre for Policy Studies. He also wrote for the Sunday Independent in South Africa and worked as a DJ in Johannesburg and at the Oppikoppi festival. On returning to the UK, Atkins became editor of timeout.com. He also contributed to British Airways in-flight radio. Atkins continued to DJ, setting up a night called Sharp in Brixton, south London, and appearing at WOMAD and Fruitstock.
In 2001, Atkins joined the BBC as a news producer on the Simon Mayo programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. He also presented on Up All Night while at Radio 5 Live. Atkins then joined the BBC World Service. He presented The World Today and The Ticket before joining World Have Your Say in 2005. While Atkins was the presenter, World Have Your Say won a Sony Gold Award for Listener Participation in 2008 and a Sony Bronze Award for 'Best Speech Programme' in 2012. The Sony Awards have been described as the Oscars of the UK radio industry. Atkins has hosted coverage of many major stories around the world for BBC News, including both of Barack Obama's election victories and his first inauguration, the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, the football World Cups in Germany and South Africa, the Charles Taylor verdict, the London Olympic Games and Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. He was also a lead presenter for the BBC World Service coverage of the death of Nelson Mandela that won a Radio Academy Gold Award in 2014. Atkins has hosted television broadcasts including editions of World Have Your Say in Cairo, Boston and Berlin. Atkins also hosted live audience radio programmes for BBC World Service in many places including Cleveland, Austin, Los Angeles, Windhoek, Delhi, Mumbai, Kampala, Nairobi, Accra, Abuja, Berlin, Brussels, Tel Aviv, Jakarta, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Cardiff, Glasgow and many more. In 2009, Atkins wrote about how he and colleagues became 'social pariahs' after reporting on the swine flu outbreak in Mexico City.
Documentaries
Atkins has made several documentaries. 'Living With Tourists' explored the impact tourism has had in the three places he grew up.'Sharing It All' examined why people are so willing to share very personal experiences online and also on programmes such as World Have Your Say. 'All That Stands in the Way' looked at the root causes of gender inequality through the lives of four teenage girls from Iceland, Jordan, the UK and Lesotho. It was a TV documentary, and a separate radio documentary. Three follow-up programmes were made – 'All That Stands in the Way: The Girl', 'All That Stands in the Way: The Parents' and 'All That Stands in the Way: The Debate', which were made when the girls and their parents were brought together in New York. In March 2019 Atkins presented a six-part podcast for the BBC exploring his unconventional friendship with American broadcaster Keith Olbermann.
Other
Atkins hosted cable TV conference EuroSummit in 2014. He also moderated at Media360 in Hong Kong in 2015. He is also a mentor with the John Schofield Trust.
