Christina Lamb, Foreign Affairs Correspondent at The

Curiosity. Determination. Passion. Journalist CHRISTINA LAMB on what it takes to report on the developing world INTERVIEWED IN MAY 2019 Christina Lamb is an award-winning How important is journalism for journalist, bestselling author and chief highlighting the challenges of the foreign correspondent for the Sunday developing world? Times. Journalism can highlight the world’s hidden She has put her life on the line to tell injustices. It shines a light on places we would stories that the world needs to hear, otherwise simply not know about. narrowly escaping a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in 2007 In many places, people have a story to tell, but and, a year later, surviving the bombing they don’t have the means to tell it. A journalist of Benazir Bhutto’s bus in Pakistan. has the important job of being the voice of those people, of giving them a platform so that the Christina began covering Afghanistan world is informed about what’s happening. It and Pakistan early in her career. Since can be something terrible, like conflict, terror or then, she has continued to open the violence. But it can also be a story of courage or determination in the face of adversity. world’s eyes to stories of human suffering in war-torn countries and The information that journalists provide can conflict areas, from the mujahedeen also force those in power to bring about change. fighting Soviet troops in Pakistan, to the I remember once considering giving up on mass rape of teenage girls under the journalism after a year of narrow escapes. A Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean human rights lawyer made me reconsider when he asked me, ‘If people like you This June, Christina will moderate the don’t report on what people like me are doing, 2019 Lorenzo Natali Media Prize award then what’s the point of what we’re doing?’ ceremony. She shares her insights on what makes a great investigative How has the nature of your work journalist, and why we need journalists as a journalist changed over the to speak truth to power today more past years? Has it become easier to than ever. 1 enter conflict areas and to expose In the last few years I’ve seen more brutality injustices? against women than I’d ever seen in 30 years of reporting. People are increasingly using sexual violence as a weapon. And generally they’re not Technology, social media especially, has opened brought to justice for it. Just as with the killings a new window on areas of conflict. This is of journalists like Jamal Khashoggi, as long as making our work quicker and easier.Having said there is impunity, people will continue to do it. this, the recent crackdown on the free press is putting journalists at risk. The killings of What are the most important qualities journalists investigating corruption in Europe, such as Daphne Galizia in Malta and Ján Kuciak for an aspiring journalist wanting to in Slovakia, are worrying. When we talk about venture into areas of conflict? journalists risking their lives, we tend to think of war zones or conflict-ridden dictatorships, when The most important qualities for a journalist are in fact killings are happening in the European curiosity, determination and passion. Union. You must be curious, determined and passionate enough to go where you’re not wanted and to A prize can inspire tell the stories people don’t want you to tell. journalists to find What are the ingredients of a piece the courage and of ground-breaking journalism? determination to A great story has a real impact on the reader. It share stories with makes people care about the issue. It changes the world. the way they think. It’s important to bear in mind your audience and ask, why should they care? You helped pen Malala Yousafzai’s story in ‘I Am Malala’. How important The media is sometimes very good at piling in is it for female journalists to bring on a headline for a couple of weeks and then suddenly forgetting it, as was the case in the attention to gender equality issues in story of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls the developing world? by Boko Haram in Nigeria. Women and men report in very different ways, There are still more than a hundred girls missing. particularly in conflict zones. Women tend to Sometimes there’s a lot to be said for going back focus on the people behind the lines, who often and persevering in your investigation, and this is are women. I think it’s really important that that where the journalist’s determination comes in. side of the story be told. Those people to me are as much heroes as those who fight. 2 What story are you most proud of? There are few prizes that specifically reward this kind of journalism. Do you I am very proud of the happy stories I have think it’s important and do you think it written. I once wrote about a man who can help attract more talent? pioneered a ‘magic roundabout’ that used energy generated by children pushing a carousel It’s particularly worrying to me that journalism to power water pumps in African villages. This prizes, particularly on foreign reporting, tend brought amusement for the children and meant to reward journalists for putting themselves in women no longer had to walk for miles to get danger. I’m not sure that’s something we should clean water. encourage. Prizes very rarely reward quality writing on the issues that matter to people. The story moved one of our Sunday Times They’re often more about the reporters and less readers so much that she set up the Lawrence’s about the people whose stories they tell. Wells charity in memory of her young son, which has funded the instalment of these magic A prize does more than reward. It can also roundabouts in villages across southern Africa. inspire more journalists to find the courage and determination to share these stories with the world. ABOUT The Lorenzo Natali Prize was launched in 1992 to recognise and celebrate excellence in reporting on sustainable development issues. The Prize also gives a voice to those whose vital message is often overlooked or ignored. It was created by DG DEVCO, and named after Lorenzo Natali, a precursor of European development policy. Christina Lamb is one of Britain’s leading foreign correspondents. Educated at Oxford and Harvard, she is an expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan which she has reported on since 1987. Known for her passionate storytelling combined with depth of knowledge, she has won numerous awards including five times being named Foreign Correspondent of the Year and Europe’s top war reporting prize, the Prix Bayeux. She received an OBE in the 2013 Queen’s Honours List. Currently roving Foreign Affairs Correspondent for the Sunday Times of London, her portfolio stretches from Iran to Zimbabwe and she will be busy over the next year documenting the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the fallout in Pakistan. Her postings have included South Africa, Brazil and Washington and she is a frequent commentator on BBC, CNN and Sky News. She is the author of six books, including the bestselling I Am Malala with Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, and is a patron of Afghan Connection which builds schools in Afghanistan. DISCOVER THE #NATALIPRIZE COMMUNITY AT ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/lnp @europeaid 3.

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