THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB OF AMERICA, NEW YORK, NY • November 2015 Author of ‘Forgotten’ Addresses Capacity Crowd EVENT RECAP a top editor at , moderated the discussion. By Chad Bouchard He asked Hervieux why this Author and freelance journalist unit of black soldiers had Linda Hervieux drew a record-break- been picked for this danger- ing crowd of more than 100 attend- ous assignment. ees at Club Quarters on Nov. 4 for Hervieux said some an OPC Book Night to launch For- people theorized that it was gotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s meant to be a suicide mis- Black Heroes, at Home and at War. sion, but she thinks the deci- Carrie Crow Hervieux told the standing-room sion to send them had more -only crowd that when she started re- to do with growing pres- Linda Hervieux, right, points to a barrage bal- loon as moderator Mark Whitaker looks on. searching the men of the 320th Bar- sure from groups like the rage Balloon Battalion – the only unit NAACP and possibly even serve Germans. of African American combat soldiers from Eleanor Roosevelt, who had In Virginia, a black man could still to land on D-Day – a central question advocated for better treatment of be charged with rape for making eye emerged. black soldiers, to provide more in- contact with a white woman. “I wanted to know why I didn’t teresting and important assignments When en route from Tennessee to know this history,” she said. for them. New York, black soldiers in segre- The Barrage Balloon Battalion Black soldiers not only faced the gated cars drew the curtains because deployed balloons on tethers to tan- horrors of war – they also experi- “Dixie whites often fired at train cars gle low-flying aircraft and prevent enced apalling racism on the home- carrying black men.” strafing attacks during the D-Day in- front. “The men of this generation re- vasion of Normandy. At their segregated training camp ally minimized how bad things were She tracked down the men and in Paris, Tennessee, African Ameri- to their own children, because they talked to their families, discovering cans from the north were shocked didn’t want them to be burdened with that many of the veterans were speak- to find segregated rail cars and few Jim Crow,” Hervieux said. ing about their experiences in depth places off base for the men to go be- Once they landed in England and for the first time since the war. Mark cause they were not welcome in town. Wales, however, the treatment was Whitaker, former managing editor of In Memphis, German prisoners of starkly different. There were no seg- CNN Worldwide and a reporter and war enjoyed much greater freedom regated train cars. Women gave them than the black soldiers, who were flowers and embraced them. They Inside. . . banned from restaurants that would were greeted as celebrities. Google News Lab Date & Location...... 2 OPC Press ID Card Deadline...... 2 Special Rockwell Viewing for OPC Members Marcus Mabry: Changing Jobs...... 3 to OPC members from the National Panel Preview: Journalist Safety...... 3 EVENT PREVIEW: Nov. 17 Press Club Journalism Institute. HEFAT Training.for Freelancers...... 4 OPC members are invited to a spe- The evening will begin with a lec- Scholar Dispatch: Makini Brice...... 4 cial viewing of Norman Rockwell’s ture from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., fol- lowed by cocktails from 6:30 p.m. to People Column...... 5-7 famous work, Norman Rockwell Visits 8:00 p.m. Memories of George Burns...... 8 a Country Editor, at Christie’s on Tues- Press Freedom Update...... 9-10 The event will be held at Christie’s, day, Nov. 17 before the piece goes up 20 Rockefeller Plaza. Q&A: Elena Becatoros...... 11 for auction. RSVP by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, New Books...... 12 This opportunity is made available Nov. 16 to: [email protected]. NEW DATE AND VENUE: OPC GOVERNOR DANIEL SIEBERG EXPLAINS GOOGLE NEWS LAB The OPC will host a discussion with OPC Gover- nor Daniel Sieberg on Thursday, Dec. 10 in room 308 of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism at 219 West 40th Street. Please take note of the new date and location of this event. Sieberg, the head of media outreach at Google, Working Press Members: Apply will discuss Google News Lab’s collaboration with Now for an OPC ID Card or Badge journalists and entrepreneurs. Time is running out for working press members to Find out about newsroom training, Google Trends get an OPC photo ID badge. data, tools for election coverage, new multimedia The OPC is offering two ID options. If you have re- storytelling platforms and more. newed your club membership and are working as an ac- The event starts at 6:30 p.m. tive member of the press, we will provide free of charge To RSVP, call 212-626-9220 or send an email to a durable, double-sided hard plastic ID card, similar in [email protected]. size to a credit card. The second option is a government or press-pass style ID that can be hung around the neck, and includes HANDS TO GATHER ON holograms for extra security. This ID type must be cus- DECEMBER 8 tom printed, and will only be available to members in Anyone who worked as a correspondent in Hong batch orders of 50 or more, at a cost of $50 each. Kong is invited to meet at 115 East 54th Street on If you are interested in the badge IDs, call the OPC at 212 626-9220 by Dec. 15. We will take credit card Tuesday, Dec. 8 to swap stories over wine, dim information for the $50 cost, but will not charge your sum and jazz. All attendees must RSVP. credit card until the requisite 50 people sign up. High- To RSVP, call 212-626-9220 or send an email to resolution jpeg photos should be emailed immediately to [email protected]. [email protected]. OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB OF AMERICA • BOARD OF GOVERNORS PRESIDENT ACTIVE BOARD Scott Gilmore Paul Moakley ASSOCIATE BOARD PAST PRESIDENTS Marcus Mabry Jacqueline Albert- International Columnist Deputy Director ­MEMBERS EX-OFFICIO U.S. Lead Simon Maclean’s Magazine Photography and Brian I. Byrd Michael Serrill U.S. Bureau Chief Visual Enterprise Twitter Moments Time magazine Program Officer David A. Andelman Politique Internationale Peter S. Goodman NYS Health John Corporon Editor-in-Chief FIRST VICE PRESIDENT Hannah Allam Robert Nickelsberg Foundation Allan Dodds Frank Calvin Sims International Freelance Alexis Gelber Foreign Affairs Business Times President and CEO Correspondent Photojournalist Bill Collins William J. Holstein Director, Public & Marshall Loeb International House McClatchy Mary Rajkumar Newspapers Charles Graeber Business Affairs Larry Martz Freelance Journalist International Enterprise SECOND VICE PRESIDENT Editor Ford Motor Company Roy Rowan Deborah Amos and Author The Associated Press Larry Smith Abigail Pesta Correspondent Freelance Journalist Emma Daly Richard B. Stolley NPR Steve Herman Lara Setrakian Communications Bureau Chief Co-Founder & CEO Director Molly Bingham Southest Asia News Deeply EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THIRD VICE PRESIDENT Patricia Kranz Pancho Bernasconi Freelance Journalist Voice of America Vice President/News Martin Smith Rukmini Callimachi President Daniel Sieberg OFFICE MANAGER Getty Images Anjali Kamat Rain Media Foreign Correspondent Global Head Boots R. Duque Correspondent Fault Lines of Media Outreach TREASURER Liam Stack Al-Jazeera Breaking News Google EDITOR Tim Ferguson Chad Bouchard Anupreeta Das Reporter Editor Azmat Khan The New York Times Minky Worden Forbes Asia Reporter Wall Street Journal Investigative Reporter Director of Global Charles Wallace Initiatives OPC BuzzFeed News Financial Writer SECRETARY Chris Dickey Human Rights Watch ISSN-0738-7202 Deidre Depke Foreign Editor Dan Klaidman Vivienne Walt ­Copyright © 2015 New York Bureau Chief , Deputy Editor Correspondent Over­seas Press Club Marketplace Paris Yahoo News Time and Fortune of America 40 West 45 Street, New York, NY 10036 USA • Phone: (212) 626-9220 • Fax: (212) 626-9210 • Website: opcofamerica.org OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 2 Marcus Mabry: Moving From The Times to Twitter By Marcus Mabry men, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. When I decided to leave The New York Times, I braced And the young people who led those revolutions myself for a slew of questions and skepticism. “What?” used Twitter to organize and mobilize and fight back. “Leave The New York Times?” “Are you crazy?” Some had long had private Facebook pages where they When I came to the Times from Newsweek more than congregated away from the eyes of the regimes. That is eight years ago, friends and family had, literally, said harder today as the regimes have grown up in places like to me, “Wow. Now you’re at a real news organization.” Egypt have insinuated themselves into these networks And even among journalists, especially our tribe of and/or monitor them, so they are never surprised again. foreign correspondents, editors and global news junkies, Twitter Moments is meant to be a way to get all the there are few institutions as highly regarded as The New regular folks who don’t use Twitter to use it. We make York Times. The Times stands for something superlative stories just like a newspaper and we look a lot more like in our business – and rightly so. a website or a news app on your phone. We are definitely So when I made the decision to leave my editor job not aimed at the current heavy users of Twitter – namely there for a post at Twitter, the social media company, I journalists! We are intended for folks who are not famil- was expecting a lot of push back. The biggest surprise? iar with it. Hardly any came. But I think a lot of journalists will find us useful in From the highest levels of the Times, where my boss- the way they have always found Twitter useful: when es and the publisher were classy as hell! to my literary they need news in real time from sources on the ground, agent – literary! – not one person in publishing didn’t whether reporters, citizen journalists or just refugees liv- understand why I was making the change. ing the news. My new job at Twitter, to be fair, would have been And, again, I ask, what editor could resist that hard for anyone interested in the future of journalism opportunity? to turn down. We are trying something totally new, developing an entirely new form of storytelling, tak- Protecting Journalists Overseas ing the now ubiquitous building block of Twitter – the 140-character tweet – and using it to construct stories. EVENT PREVIEW: Dec. 16 Some news, some feature. With a whole bunch of video and photography mixed in. The OPC, Bloomberg LLP and the Ford Motor Com- This has never been done before. pany are co-sponsoring a reception and panel on journal- What editor could turn down such a challenge? ist safety at Bloomberg midtown headquarters on Dec. 16. I couldn’t. Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Twitter Moments, which I now edit, launched a few Journalists, and other experts will discuss how the media weeks before I arrived. A team of curators – in the old industry, governments, and journalists themselves can bet- days we could as them to re-write – scan the Twitter- ter protect the safety of those who cover global hot spots. sphere and the Internet for developing news stories and Other panelists include independent journalists Gregory compelling feature stories. D. Johnsen and Anna Therese Day. Both were Fulbright For the uninitiated, the Twittersphere is the whole scholars. Johnsen recently left Istanbul, where he was writ- messaging system where anyone in the world can send er-at-large for BuzzFeed News, and was nearly kidnapped a message to anyone else in the world. There are 500 in Yemen. In 2006 he was awarded the David R. Schweis- million tweets on average every day. Journalists and berg Memorial Scholarship from the Overseas Press Club celebrities use Twitter – a lot. For the former, it is an Foundation. extraordinary way to stay up on the news and to share Day, a founding board member of the Frontline Free- stories. For the latter, there is no more powerful tool for lance Register, has written from numerous countries in the staying in contact with fans. Middle East and elsewhere for CNN, Al Jazeera English, The power of Twitter – and all social media – to and CBS. She was named one of Google Zeitgeist’s top 30 connect everyday people was never on greater dis- Greatest Minds of Our Time in 2011. play than during what was known as The Arab Spring Also invited is Raimonda Murmokaite, Lithuania’s per- of The Awakening. Although the historical events sur- manent representative to the UN. Lithuania was the main rounding the pro-democracy uprisings in 2010 and 2011 force behind a May UN Security Council resolution to have turned dark in many parts of North Africa and the scale up efforts to protect journalists in conflict zones. Middle East, it was initially an exuberant embodiment The evening will begin with a reception sponsored by of people power that forced sclerotic, despotic regimes Bloomberg at 5:30 p.m. The program will begin at 6:30 to change, or die. p.m. The Arab Spring originated in Tunisia in December To RSVP, please call the OPC at 212-626-9220 or send 2010 and quickly took hold in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Ye- an email to [email protected].

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 3 Groups Provide HEFAT Training for Freelance Reporters By Jane Reilly , the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation The Overseas Press Club Foundation is among a and 2LIVES: Steven Joel Sotloff Memorial Foundation number of organizations that have stepped up to help provided the funds. implement a core element of the Global Principles and The 14 freelance journalists represent a wide variety Practices task force: hazardous environment training of experience and backgrounds. Those requesting travel for freelance journalists. With close to 80 signatories assistance are from Bulgaria, Belarus, Pakistan, Gaza now supporting the list of principles that require such Strip, Nairobi, Iraq, and a Polish-American based in training, the task force recognized the need to make the Turkey. The remainder are from the United States, Ger- sometimes prohibitively expensive training accessible to many, Spain, Ireland, Denmark and the UK. They are those who need it most. At its meeting in early October print and radio reporters, photojournalists and filmmak- at the Dart Center of the Graduate ers who work for local and international media organi- School of Journalism, Reuters investigative reporter Da- zations. Because many have already worked in conflict vid Rohde, a co-chair of the task force, announced that zones, they know of the critical need for journalists to Thomson Reuters would cover the costs of 14 freelance have basic survivor skills. One wrote how his profes- journalists to attend a five-day Hostile Environment sional background had given him critical hands-on ex- and Emergency First Aid (HEFAT) training course run perience in different facets of war photojournalism start- by Hawthorne Proactive from Nov. 22 to 27 in Belfast, ing with covering hot spot news (airstrikes and violent Northern Ireland. demonstrations) and ending with the ongoing invasions/ While Thomson Reuters was covering the bulk of wars, but the only safety training he had received was the costs, applicants were responsible for their own theoretical lectures in college. travel to and from Belfast. More than 200 freelancers An Iraqi journalist requested the training so he can applied for the training course. The Pulitzer Center on “obtain the skills necessary to make doing my job safer. Crisis Reporting, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit In the course of my work there is a threat of kidnapping group that provides reporting grants to freelancers, se- and death. There are many gangs, militias and armed in- lected the winners. Half requested financial assistance to surgents who target reporters and journalists who work cover their travel to Belfast. The OPC Foundation, the (Continued on Page 8) OPC Scholar Covers West Africa for Reuters From Dakar By Makini Brice ernment had planned to dismantle. Makini Brice won this year’s OPC Fears of a civil war were happily Foundation’s Flora Lewis fellowship, averted when coup leader Gilbert which has been extended in the Re- Diendere returned power to the in- uters bureau in Dakar. She has also terim president and – to my surprise received a Reuters-National Associa- – apologized for the putsch. tion of Black Journalists fellowship I’ve been at Reuters’ Dakar bu- which will continue her stay for up to reau since the beginning of June and an additional nine months. I’ve learned a lot so far: the depth Courtesy of Makini Brice It was around 4:00 p.m. on an of the conflict in northern Mali; the Makini Brice in a suburb of Dakar. otherwise uneventful day when the number of coups in Guinea-Bis- bureau chief strolled from his desk sau; and the meaning of the word ping foot in Dakar was mainly com- to inform the Reuters newsroom “putsch.” The bureau here covers 23 prised of research papers written by about a rumor circulating that the countries in western and central Af- historians and sociologists and what- army was holding the president and rica, stretching from Mauritania to ever information about sub-Saharan government ministers hostage in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Africa that filtered through to New Burkina Faso. It’s not uncommon to start a day in York. Despite my best preparations As we’d come to find out, it Conakry and end it 2,200 miles away before my departure, I certainly wasn’t just a rumor. For about a in Brazzaville, especially during the could not tell you much about coun- week, the citizens of Burkina Faso recent unrest surrounding elections. tries like São Tomé and Príncipe and took to the streets to protest a coup Before coming to the region, I Togo. And although I had freelanced d’état orchestrated by members of had studied Journalism and French throughout school and used the Re- an elite army unit with close ties to Studies, with an interest in Fran- uters wire at the newsroom where the former president, Blaise Com- cophone Africa. Of course, all my I worked before graduate school, I paore, which the transitional gov- knowledge of the region before step- (Continued on Page 8)

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 4 PEOPLE... By Trish Anderton

OPC SCHOLARS 2009 Emanuel R. Freedman ration team. Twitter describes the Congratulations to 2015 Flora Scholarship winner Simon Akam new handpicked Moments feature Lewis Fellowship winner Makini is a visiting fellow at the Oxford as “the best of what’s happening on Brice, who not only had her OPC University Changing Character of Twitter in an instant.” Foundation fellowship extended in War program. He Mabry announced the news, ap- the Reuters bureau in Dakar, but will use his time to propriately, on Twitter. He had been has received a Reuters-National work on his book Editor at large at the Times. Association of Black Journalists The Changing of fellowship as well. The NABJ pro- the Guard, an ex- OPC Secretary Deidre Depke gram recognizes “rising reporters, amination of the has joined American Public Me- recent graduates or business pro- recent evolution of dia’s “Marketplace.” She will serve fessionals who demonstrate a clear the British Army, Akam as New York Bureau Chief for the commitment to a career in journal- to be published by Penguin Random popular public radio offering. Depke ism and an ability to generate story House imprint William Heinemann. previously managed a small con- ideas relevant for a Reuters audi- Simon spent his OPC fellowship in sultancy working with new media ence, with a focus on multimedia, the Reuters bureau in Istanbul. He startups and is a former editor of the using text, video and/or graphics.” worked at The New York Times and Daily Beast. It will extend her stay for up to an subsequently spent several years in additional nine months. West Africa as a correspondent for After seven years, former OPC Reuters and the Economist before President David Andelman is step- joining Newsweek in the UK. Devon Haynie, who won the ping down as Editor of World Policy Flora Lewis Fellowship in 2008, Journal. Andelman will become the is now News Editor, International AWARDS Journal’s Editor Emeritus and will OPC member Marcus Bleasdale focus on book projects as well as ex- for U.S. News and is a co-winner of the W. Eugene panding his speaking engagements. World Report. The Smith Memorial Fund Fellowship. He will also continue in his role on magazine is creat- He was honored for “Financing the the Board of Contributors of USA ing a new global Failure of a State,” which document- Today. team focused on ed the turmoil in the Central African news features and Republic and how it is affecting citi- Longtime OPC member Micah magazine-style Haynie zens. He shares the award with fel- Garen and documentary filmmaker journalism. In her low photographer Mary F. Calvert. Marie-Helene Carleton have fin- new role, she’ll be covering inter- ished work on a way for festivals and national news stories and editing International columnist Mona competitions to use a cloud-based content from freelancers and oth- Eltahawy, who lit the Press Free- video platform, ScreeningRoom, ers on staff. Devon spent her OPC dom Candle at the 2011 OPC Awards to host, share and comment on vid- Foundation fellow in the Johan- Dinner, was honored at the Women’s eos during the submission process. nesburg bureau of the Associated Media Awards on Nov. 5. Eltahawy, ScreeningRoom launched in April Press. a freelance writer and commentator this year at the Hot Docs Interna- on the Middle East, women’s issues tional Documentary Festival in To- 2013 Walter and Betsy Cronkite and other topics, won the Speaking ronto. The company’s mission is to Scholarship winner Frederick Ber- Truth to Power Award. PBS News- help build sustainability in the film nas recently co-bylined a story in hour co-anchors Gwen Ifill and Judy and journalism community. Future The New York Times about a fictional Woodruff received the Pat Mitchell plans include more web-based ap- candidate who has touched off a de- Lifetime Achievement Award. plications, including community fun- bate over race and politics in Argen- draising and micro-payment digital tina. “Omar Obaca” was invented by UPDATES distribution. an advertising company as a satirical NEW YORK OPC President figure, and has become wildly popu- Marcus Mabry has left The New Abigail Pesta, Second Vice Pres- lar. Bernas is working as a freelancer York Times to lead Twitter’s curated ident of the OPC’s Board of Gover- journalist, filmmaker and photogra- trending news feature, Twitter Mo- nors, has inked a deal with Harp- pher in Latin America. ments. He will oversee the U.S. cu- (Continued on Page 6)

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 5 erCollins imprint Katherine Tegen TheMediaBriefing.com, and a U.S. CBS News correspondent Lara Books to tell the extraordinary life TV network plus a dozen European Logan drew a standing room only story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana. As ones, CNBC reports. crowd for her featured address at the a child in Africa, Uwiringiyimana Radio Show in Atlanta on Sept. 30. survived a machete massacre. She VICE has hired OPC member Logan recently signed a new two- later came to America and began Alberto Riva to be its U.S. Man- year deal with CBS News, accord- photographing her fellow survivors. aging Editor. He will be based in ing to the New York Post. She is still Now in college in New York, she Brooklyn. Riva had previously been battling to recover from injuries she is becoming a voice for forgotten senior world news suffered in a sexual assault while people around the world. Pesta says editor at Interna- covering the Tahrir Square uprisings “We’ll tell her story in a young adult tional Business in Egypt in 2011, and was hospital- book that we will aim to get into Times, where he ized earlier this year. Logan and her schools across the country.” supervised report- crew won the 2006 David Kaplan ers and freelancers Award for their reporting from Ra- New York Times publisher Ar- around the globe Riva madi, Iraq. thur Sulzberger Jr. has outlined and helped coordi- plans for his succession. Sulzberg- nate content between the IBT and er, 64, told the paper’s employees BERLIN: Berlinica Publish- Newsweek after the latter’s purchase ing, founded by OPC member Eva during his an- in 2013. nual “State of The Schweitzer, is bringing out a new title in December. Leipzig! One Times” speech that Time magazine has promoted a deputy publisher Thousand Years of OPC member Bryan Walsh from German History would be named foreign editor to international editor. within two years. celebrates the “city Walsh told Politico he was focus- Sulzberger under- of books and mu- Sulzberger ing on “trying to integrate the inter- lined that his family sic,” where Martin national edition with the brand as a is “deeply committed to The Times Luther debated the whole” and “trying to figure out how for the long term,” according to future of Christian- we can best grow our audience glob- CNN Money. New York Magazine ity and J.S. Bach ally.” He added that the magazine is reported in August that there were composed cantatas. The author is expanding its bureau in India to pro- three contenders for the job: Sulz- Leipzig novelist and tour guide Se- duce content for the large numbers berger’s son Arthur Gregg “A.G.” bastian Ringel. Sulzberger; his nephew David Per- of English speakers there. pich, 38; and Sam Dolnick, 34, the OPC member Anders Melin’s son of Sulzberger’s cousin. BOSTON: OPC member Aaron Schachter, who shared the 2014 recent Bloomberg story on the $32 Lowell Thomas Award with Ma- million pension payout that is likely VICE News has launched its coming to Martin Winterkorn, the fourth European website. VICE rine Olivesi, is leaving Public Radio International’s “The World” for a disgraced former head of Volkswa- News Italy joins the company’s ex- gen, was widely cited by other me- isting operations in the U.K., France post at the network’s parent com- dia outlets. Winterkorn, Germany’s and Spain. Editor-in-Chief Jason pany, WGBH Boston. Schachter second-highest paid CEO, stepped Mojica tells that fur- will serve as executive producer and down in September after the stun- ther expansions are planned in the editor in WGBH Radio’s expanding Netherlands, Germany, Brazil and newsroom. ning revelation that the company Australia before the end of the year. had outfitted millions of its diesel “These aren’t outposts for American ATLANTA: OPC member Lyn- cars with software designed to fool journalists to go work out of,” Mo- sey Addario gave a sold-out talk at emissions tests. jica adds. “They are local teams who the Fernbank Museum of Natural know the lay of the land and are sur- History in late October, where some OPC member Gail Edmondson facing true enterprise journalism and of her photos are also on display began a new job Oct. 1 as global stories that are generally unreported in the “Women of Vision: National editor at the management consulting in mainstream media.” Things are Geographic Photographers on As- firm Bain & Company. The position busy at VICE: it’s launching four signment” exhibit. The talk was part is based in Berlin. Edmondson was new verticals in 2016 – health, mon- of the Atlanta Celebrates Photogra- formerly a foreign correspondent at ey, travel and gaming – according to phy festival. BusinessWeek.

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 6 LISBON, PORTUGAL: Den- his father’s death TEL ALO, SYRIA: OPC mem- nis Redmont, an OPC member, at home in Califor- ber Roy Gutman probed a new set has succeeded in declassifying the nia. The photos ran of U.S. allies in Syria and found their Political Police dossier compiled on the Al Jazeera loyalties mixed and their priorities on him when he was an AP foreign America website often poorly aligned with the Obama correspondent under the dictator- along with Nickels- administration’s goals. The adminis- ship of Portugal’s Antonio Salazar. berg’s comments tration has recruited a local tribal mi- Nickelsberg He wrote about his file, and the anti- and those of his fa- litia and a Kurdish force to help roust government activists he covered in ther’s hospice nurses. Nickelsberg Islamic State from its home base in those years, in a story for Politico. expresses admiration for the hos- Raqqa, Syria. Gutman found the com. “The Portuguese have not for- pice workers, noting how well they groups downplayed the importance gotten about their past,” Salazar work as a team and quoting their of Raqqa and wanted to pursue their writes. “They endlessly debate the insights on death and dying. own agendas, including fighting Wa- dark days of the Salazar “Estado habi Islam and capturing an unrelated Novo” in their now uncensored WASHINGTON, DC: The Na- stretch of land that is strategically media – like the mournful national tional Journal will cut 25% of staff important to the Kurds. The differ- Fado music that echoes in the coun- and reorganize into a paid subscrip- ences in goals, Gutman writes, “are try’s heart.” tion service, Atlantic Media has an- the latest sign that Obama adminis- nounced. Some of the departing staff- tration decisions to fix one problem : Francesco Guer- ers will go to The Atlantic, which is could have long-term and unintended rera, former global finance editor expanding and absorbing some of the implications.” at , will join Journal’s functions. The company Politico Europe as associate editor had already gone digital-only with PEOPLE REMEMBERED and chief financial correspondent. the 46-year-old magazine earlier this Susan Topping, daughter of long- Politico launched its European arm year, cancelling its print edition. time OPC member Seymour Topping, last spring, and plans to roll out a fi- has died of cancer at age 64. An actor nancial services news product early OPC member Sandy Ciric sat and dancer, Topping performed in next year to tie together coverage of on the judging panel for the 2015 Joseph Papp’s theater company and EU politics and regulatory policy Women Photographers of Washing- other companies in New York and with the world of finance. ton exhibit, which debuted at D.C.’s Los Angeles. She was also a light- FotoWeek in early November. The ing designer, choreographer, director SACRAMENTO, CALIFOR- show, which features 26 images on and writer, and was well known for NIA: The McClatchy newspaper company is closing its remaining women’s issues, will later make the her animal rescue work. “She was a foreign bureaus in Beijing, Mexico rounds of universities and galleries very special person and a real fight- City, Istanbul and Berlin, and re- across the United States. er,” Seymour told TheMountainMall. organizing its Washington, DC bu- com. reau, it announced on Oct. 12. “Our BEKAA VALLEY, LEBANON: foreign correspondents, many of OPC member Alessandria Masi BBC and ITN reporter Sue Lloyd- our most veteran reporters, will re- of the International Business Times Roberts died Oct. 13 at age 64. turn to the U.S. to play prominent wrote an interesting story in early Lloyd-Roberts was known for going roles at home,” the company said November about Hezbollah’s non- undercover in dangerous locations. in a memo. The Washington opera- denominational military unit. The According to the Guardian, she was tion will “place most of its empha- Saraya al-Muqawama, or Resistance the first journalist into Homs, Syria sis on regional stories and political Brigades, gives Sunnis and Chris- in 2011, having herself smuggled in coverage.” tians a way to fight alongside Hezbol- under a false ID and pretending to lah’s Shiites. “Lebanon is my country be deaf and mute. She continued to SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, ... I am patriotic. I wanted to join the report from China after being given CALIFORNIA: Robert Nickels- resistance and Hezbollah came by a seven-year sentence in absentia for berg, an OPC Board of Governors and they offered the ideology of re- a story she did on the human organ member, is known for his photo- sistance,” explains one brigade mem- trade in 1994. “She went to danger- graphs of conflicts in places like ber. A Hezbollah recruiter says en- ous places to give a voice to people Kashmir, Iraq, Sri Lanka, India and rollments are rising due to concerns who otherwise would not be heard,” Afghanistan. But recently he docu- about the strength of Islamic State in BBC director general Tony Hall told mented a more intimate struggle: the region. the paper.

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 7 OPC Members Remember ‘Stalwart’ George Burns By Chad Bouchard Longtime OPC member George Burns died in Sep- tember at age 86. He served as treasurer of the OPC for many years and was a self-appointed club historian. Members remembered Burns affectionately as a “quiet pillar” of the OPC and a fixture at club functions. “George Burns was the embodiment of what I consid- er a stalwart to be,” said Allan Dodds Frank, who served as OPC president from 2008 to 2010. “He was always calm, a sly wit and one who tended to looking over the OPC finances with a rational mind. His presence was calming to all of us and his willingness to work without ever seeking glory was remarkable. We miss him and his gallant demeanor.” Jane Reilly, OPC Foundation executive director, re- membered Burns for his “smile, his love of a good story William J. Holstein, left, visits with George Burns in 2013. – and he had many, and the way he brightened every room he entered.” She added that he was a generous friend, as “It was a tough meeting. But toward the end, George, dis- evidenced by his support for the foundation’s Theo Wil- playing his best Irish charm, began talking to the printer son scholarship. about how he might be able to work something out after Longtime member and OPC Governor Jacqueline Al- the meeting. A few days later, George called me to say bert-Simon described him as a “courtly” gentleman who that the printer, miraculously, had settled for an amount seemed to have stepped out from a different time, with a of cash that we actually could pay.” Burns had talked the “quick and dry wit” that was thoroughly modern. man into accepting $5,000. To Bill Holstein, Overseas Press Club Foundation “George and I retold that story to each other for the president, Burns was “The man who saved the OPC.” In a following 20 years. It was one of our finest moments.” 2013 story for the Bulletin, Holstein wrote about meeting Born in Scranton, Penn., Burns began his career as with a printer in 1995, when the organization was crip- a public information officer in the U.S. Air Force. After pled with debt. The printer’s bill exceeded $20,000, and leaving the military, he ran the Pismo Beach Times in the OPC didn’t have it. California and then tackled communications roles at PAN “The news was dire, I told the printer,” Holstein wrote. AM, TWA and Citibank.

(‘HEFAT’ - Continued From Page 4) Finally, a photojournalist wrote four to five days and can cost up to how he wanted the training not $3,000 per person. The Global Prin- for foreign media institutions, espe- just for the insurance but because ciples and Practices task force will cially American and British ones.” he knows it save lives. Wanting to continue to work with major me- Another wrote, “My recent report- be better prepared, he added, “The dia organizations and non-profits, ing from Cizre and Diyarbakir, the Hostile Environment training will like the UK-based Rory Peck Trust nodes of the PKK’s urban insurgen- give me knowledge which I need to and International Media Support cy, and from Adiyaman, a petri dish be ready as a professional for assign- in Denmark, to make such training for ISIS suicide bombers, has con- ments in hostile environment places available for freelance reporters, es- vinced me I cannot afford to post- like Eastern Ukraine.” pecially those working in dangerous pone a HEFAT course any longer.” Typically HEFAT training lasts conditions and conflict zones.

(‘Dakar’ - Continued From Page 4) the time, I resented the implication that I had so little certainly wasn’t a master of Reuters style. control over my own destiny. By November, after hav- ing waited for hours for the beginnings of press confer- Perhaps the greatest lesson that Dakar has taught me ences and interviews (once for a full day), begged taxi though has been one about patience. As someone who drivers to drive to the suburbs for accompanying photos had never lived in a majority-Muslim nation before, and waded through urban floods, I have come to accept when I first arrived, I was slightly thrown by -the fre that sometimes fate does not reside in my hands. quent inshallahs (“God willing”) that peppered people’s Tomorrow I’ll have something new to learn, I’m conversations: “I will see you tomorrow, inshallah”. At sure. Inshallah.

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 8 PRESS FREEDOM UPDATE... v The U.N. marked its third annual The European Parliament has who lives in self-imposed exile, de- International Day to End Impunity awarded its Sakharov human rights nies those charges. for Crimes against Journalists on prize to Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, Nov. 2 with events around the world. whose sentence of 1000 lashes for The U.N. condemned the killings of “insulting Islam” has caused an in- 680 journalists between 2006 and ternational outcry. Parliament Presi- 2014. Of those, it says 94 percent dent Martin Schulz is calling on the were local and 6 percent were for- kingdom to pardon Badawi and re- eign correspondents. Ninety-four lease him so that he can accept the percent of those killed were male. award. Badawi runs the website Less than 6 percent of the cases have Free Saudi Liberals, which has been been resolved. critical of the Saudi religious estab- CPJ and VICE News have lishment. He was arrested in 2012, launched a petition on Chage.org The Committee to Protect Jour- and last year he was sentenced to 10 calling for the release of Iraqi jour- nalists has released its 2015 Global years in prison and 1000 lashes. He nalist Imel Rasool, who was arrest- ed along with two British journal- Impunity Index, which calculates the received the first 50 lashes in January ists while he was working as a fixer number of unsolved journalist mur- but the punishment was suspended for Vice News in Turkey in August. ders as a percentage of each coun- due to his health, and after intense “Western newsrooms increasingly try’s population. For the first time international criticism. The Sakharov rely on local journalists as foreign since the report’s inception in 2008, prize is given to “individuals who bureaus shut down and reporting Iraq is not at the top of the list. It’s have made an exceptional contri- from conflict areas grows more dan- been edged out by Somalia, which bution to the fight for human rights across the globe.” gerous,” the organizations wrote on has 30 unsolved cases in a popula- the campaign’s web page. “Without tion of 10.5 million. Syria, the Phil- The pressure on journalists in Tur- journalists like Rasool, international ippines and South Sudan round out key “severely escalated” in the run- correspondents would struggle to the top five. Colombia is a bright up to that country’s elections on Nov. navigate foreign terrain, and world spot on the list. The CPJ says it has 1, according to members of a joint news would have little local con- lowered its number of open cases international emergency press free- text.” due to “a decrease nationwide in po- dom mission to the nation in mid-Oc- litical violence and to a government tober. They added that this pressure Journalists in Kenya could face protection program for journalists.” “significantly impacted journalists’ two years in prison or fines of up to ability to report on matters of public nearly $5,000 if convicted of defam- Members of Jacky Sutton’s interest freely and independently.” ing the country’s parliament under a family say they believe there was The mission included representatives bill approved by lawmakers on Oct. no foul play involved in the former from the International Press Institute, 15. The measure still needs approval BBC journalist’s death. Sutton was Reporters Without Borders, the Com- from the senate and president. One found dead in a restroom at Istan- mittee to Project Journalists, and oth- member of parliament said the bill bul’s Ataturk Airport on the night of er organizations. The party of Presi- would defend lawmakers against Oct. 17. Her family and the Institute dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan gained a “mob justice.” But Kenyan newspa- for War and Peace Reporting issued decisive majority in the election. pers have condemned the proposal a joint statement on Oct. 21 saying Just days before the Nov. 1 elec- in “front page editorials under ban- they had “reached the preliminary tion, police in Istanbul broke into ner headlines,” according to Reuters. conclusion that no other parties were the offices of Koza İpek Group, involved in her death.” Sutton was shut down live television broadcasts A Taliban website has declared IWPR’s acting Iraq country director and used teargas and water cannons employees of two Afghan TV net- at the time of her death. The state- against protesters outside the facility. works “enemy personnel.” The state- ment said her family and employer The government has alleged ties be- ment by the “military commission would get an independent assess- tween Koza İpek Group and a gov- of the Islamic Emirate of Afghani- ment of the Turkish investigation ernment critic accused of leading an stan” accuses ToloTV and 1TV of once it is complete, and they re- illegal opposition movement. Turkish spreading propaganda and exposing mained open to new information. media reports that Fethullah Gülen, children to “dangerous substances

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 9 (Continued From Page 9) Batam on May 28. According to the near his home in Chandauli district. such as irreligiousness, immorality, Guardian, they were shooting a film The Committee to Protect Journalists violence, gambling, intermixing and with funding from National Geo- said it was unclear whether the shoot- profanity and … propaganda filled graphic TV. Under Indonesian law, ing was connected to Yadav’s occu- with hate and open enmity against foreign journalists must apply for a pation. It was the second killing of a Jihad and Mujahideen.” An editor at special visa to report in the country journalist in Uttar Pradesh this year. ToloTV told the Guardian the net- – a process that can be lengthy and is work would not change its coverage. not always successful. ● Syrian citizen-journalist Ibra- him Abd al-Qader was killed in the An influential Iranian lawmaker Thai authorities briefly detained southeastern city of Sanliurfa, Tur- is hurling new accusations at impris- an editorial cartoonist and warned key, where he had lived as a refugee oned Washington Post correspon- him he could be prosecuted for his for the past year, according to Report- dent Jason Rezaian. The New York work in the future, according to the ers Without Borders. The 20-year-old Times reports that Javad Karimi- Committee to Project Journalists. contributed to the “Raqqa is Being Qoddusi, a member of Parliament’s Sakda Sae Iao told reporters he was Slaughtered Silently” (RBSS) infor- National Security and Foreign Pol- questioned for about 90 minutes at mation network and the website Ayn icy Committee, alleged Rezaian had Royal Thai Army headquarters and al-Watan. He and a friend were found frequently shared information with was told that some of his cartoons decapitated. Al-Qader received an the U.S. government and had culti- are not accurate. They reportedly International Press Freedom Award vated contacts with enemies of Iran. told him he could face prosecution from the Committee to Protect Jour- Douglas Jehl, ’s if future drawings are found to be nalists this year for coverage of foreign editor, called the allegations incorrect. Islamic State atrocities in Raqqa, “false and ridiculous.” On Oct. 11 northern Syria. an Iranian Judiciary spokesman said Rezaian had been convicted, but ● Syrian journalist Salih neither charges nor a sentence have Mahmud Leyla was killed in a been released. Rezaian has been de- car bomb on Oct. 8, the Associated tained for over a year. Press reports. Leyla, 27, worked for Turkey’s state-run news agency, An- About 1,000 runners and walkers adolu, which said the attackers were participated in the first annual - me Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images thought to be Islamic State militants. morial 5K race in Rochester, New Tatsuya Kato appears at the Seoul Hampshire for reporter James Fol- Central District Court in January. ● Cameraman Christophe Nkez- ey. Some 700 more took part in the abahizi was shot dead on Oct. 13 in Oct. 17 event remotely from other Prosecutors in South Korea are Bujumbura, Burundi along with his locations around the world. Foley seeking 18 months in jail for Tat- wife and two of their children. Wit- was executed by Islamic State in suya Kato, formerly of the Sankei nesses told the BBC that police en- Syria in August 2014. “The turnout Shimbun newspaper. According to tered the compound where the fam- here is overwhelming and we are the International Press Institute, Kato ily lived in an effort to rescue some incredibly grateful,” Foley’s mother published an article suggesting South kidnapped officers and were shooting Diane told local news site Fosters. Korean President Park Geun-hye was indiscriminately. However, UNHCR com. The race raised money for the not available to respond to the disas- spokesman Rupert Colville told The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. trous sinking of a ferry in April of last Guardian (Nigeria) that the family Six days earlier, hundreds of people year because she was having a secret had been rounded up and shot in cold attended a mass of remembrance for dalliance with a male former aide. blood. Foley at Marquette University, his Park was strongly criticized last year alma mater. for her response to the disaster, which ● A reporter and columnist was claimed more than 300 lives. shot dead in greater Manila on Oct. Prosecutors in Indonesia are de- 31. Jose Bernardo was a Radio manding a five-month sentence for MURDERS dwIZ correspondent and a columnist British journalists Neil Bonner and ● TV reporter Hemant Yadav for Bandera Pilipino, according to Becky Prosser, who were allegedly was shot to death on Oct. 3 in Uttar The Philippine Star. He was shot out- caught working on a documentary Pradesh, northern India, The Express side a fast food restaurant in Quezon while holding only tourist visas. The Tribune reports. Yadav worked for City. A restaurant worker was injured two were arrested on the island of news channel TV 24 and was shot in the attack.

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 10 Meet the OPC Members: Q&A With Elena Becatoros

By Trish Anderton

Elena Becatoros has worked as the Southeast Europe bureau chief for the Associated Press, based in Athens, since mid-2007 after stints in London and New York. She has focused on covering the Greek financial crisis for the last five years, with assignments further afield when time permits. Becatoros began her foreign re- porting career as an intern at the AP’s Athens bureau in 1997.

Hometown: London and Athens (I grew up in both, and both are equally home). Courtesy of Elena Becatoros Education: I have an MA in literature, University of Elena Becatoros reporting near the Swat Valley London. in Pakistan. Hardest story: All told, probably the Greek crisis. It’s Languages: I am trilingual in English, Greek and been fascinating but relentless and frequently dispirit- French. Get by in Spanish. Struggling to learn Arabic. ing, and there is no end in sight. First job in journalism: The English-language section Journalism heroes: The local journalists who report on of a local news agency in Athens, and freelancing for a conflict and crisis in their home countries. Few things UK weekly athletics magazine. are harder to do when every event you cover affects you and the lives of your family and friends. There’s Countries reported from: Greece, Iraq, Afghanistan, no end to the assignment for them, they don’t get to go Pakistan, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Ser- home somewhere where they don’t risk imprisonment bia, Bosnia (but after the war), Belgium, China, Turkey, or death. Cyprus, Russia, Israel, U.K., U.S., Italy, Germany and Advice for journalists who want to work overseas: France. Don’t be discouraged by those who say you won’t make it. But equally, don’t try to be a hero and go run- Year you joined the OPC: 2003. ning into a place like, say, Syria, without any backup What drew you to international reporting?: I always or plan thinking you’ll make a name for yourself. You get restless after spending a while in one place, and might, but it’s unlikely to be for the right reasons and the chances of you not returning in one piece are high. knew as soon as I became a reporter that it was the in- ternational side of things I was drawn to. I was hired by Dream job: Roving correspondent. AP after spending a couple of months as an intern and Favorite quote: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. was sent to Albania almost immediately. I was hooked from day one. Place you’re most eager to visit: Peru, Bolivia and Cambodia. Major challenge as a journalist: Knowing that you’re only ever as good as your last byline. Most over-the-top assignment: The coverage of an underwater dance performance while scuba diving Best journalism advice received: Be where others are off Cape Sounio in Greece. Definitely one of the most not. And always be prepared for equipment failures. amusing assignments.

Worst experience as a journalist: Losing friends. Country you most want to return to: Pakistan.

When traveling, you like to … read. I rarely seem to Twitter handle: @ElenaBec have time to read any more unless I’m on a plane, train Want to add to the OPC’s collection of Q&As with or ferry. members? Please contact [email protected].

OPC Bulletin • November 2015 • Page 11 New Books volved into horrific violence. “[W]hile the world is increasing- HISTORY Hajari lays a portion of the blame ly interlinked as a system, our lives EVENTY YEARS ON, THE squarely at the feet of Muhammad remain fragmented,” Tett writes. S hostility between India and Ali Jinnah, the father of Pakistan, “Many large organizations are di- Pakistan may feel like a historical in- and India’s Jawaharlal Ne- vided, and then subdivided evitability. But it is not, argues OPC hru. The two men “would into numerous different member Nisid Hajari in Midnight’s play a central role in cre- departments, which often Furies: The Deadly Legacy of In- ating the rift between their fail to talk to each other – dia’s Partition [Houghton Mifflin nations,” Hajari writes. let alone collaborate.” Harcourt, June]. “And it must be said, they Siloing isn’t always Hajari, the Asia editor for Bloom- did so for the worst rea- bad, of course: it’s a way berg View, details the chaos of the sons: inexperience and to handle the vast amounts 1947 partition and the forces that fu- ineptness, vanity, intellec- of data that people and eled it. tual arrogance, unspoken companies have to cope “At birth India and Pakistan prejudice, and plain, petty with in the Information would have more in common with dislike of one another.” Age. But it can “create tunnel vision, or mental blindness, each other – politically, The rift that began which causes people to do stupid culturally, economically, then lives on for a vari- things.” and strategically – than ety of reasons, including Tett examines some examples, with any other nation on the dispute over Kashmir. including the financial meltdown of the planet,” he writes. Hajari argues that both 2008. She also explores companies “Cold War strategists countries would benefit from a rapprochement, that are fighting the tendency to Bal- imagined Indian and Pak- kanize. Facebook, for instance, puts istani battalions standing and that it would be pos- sible with “a dose of real- new hires through a six-week boot shoulder to shoulder to camp to create cross-departmen- defend the subcontinent ism and political courage – both of which have been tal connections. Ohio’s illustrious against Soviet invasion.” Cleveland Clinic reorganized to de- Instead, a rushed parti- sorely lacking, in both capitals, since 1947.” emphasize traditional medical spe- tion process – sped up by cialties in favor of “institutes” fo- the British, who “had no interest in Meanwhile, the situation only grows more dangerous, as militant groups cused on different parts of the body, refereeing a civil war” – quick- encouraging, say, psychologists and ly de- flourish and both countries add to their nuclear stockpiles. neurologists to work together. — By Trish Anderton Upcoming Events ORGANIZATIONS N THE LATE 1990s, SONY WELCOME TO OUR Special Viewing I had the drop on Apple when it NEW MEMBERS ‘Rockwell Visits came to portable digital music play- a Country Editor’ ers. Sony had invented the Walkman Ken Aragaki 5:30 p.m., Nov. 17 cassette player in the late 1970s. CUNY Journalism School It brought three digital devices to Student OPC Mixer market before Apple launched the At the Half King iPod in 2001. But Sony’s players Steven Beardsley 6:00 p.m., Dec. 2 bombed, whereas the iPod…well, Reporter we all know what happened to the Stars and Stripes - Europe OPC Governor iPod. Active Overseas Daniel Sieberg Explains The problem with Sony, (Under 35 years old) Google News Lab Gillian Tett, an OPC mem- 6:30 p.m., Dec. 10 ber, argues in The Silo Effect: Mazin Sidahmed The Peril of Expertise and the Columbia School of Journalism Promise of Breaking Down Under Fire: Protecting Student Those Who Cover Barriers [Simon & Schuster, Global News September], is that the compa- ny was siloed; its departments Deborah Wong 5:30 p.m. Reception were too busy protecting their Columbia School of Journalism 6:30 p.m. Program Student Dec. 16 own turf to work together on a new generation of products.

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