MONTHLY NEWSLETTER I November-December 2017

Dan Eldon Biopic Offers Key Lessons on Inspiration and Risk by chad bouchard feature film celebrating INSIDE the life of photojournal- Ripples from Aist Dan Eldon and shining Dan Eldon’s Journal 2 light on his tragic death in 1993 Digital Journalists also serves as a sobering reminder Unionize 3 of persistent threats against journal- ists today. That was a key takeaway Hal Boyle’s Legacy 4 from the Q&A following a special screening of The Journey is the Call for Entries 4

Destination on Oct. 30. People Column 5-7 The film’s New York premiere, CHAD BOUCHARD co-sponsored by the OPC, Creative Left to right: Dan Thomas, John Daniszewski and Kathy Eldon. Press Freedom Visions and Extraordinary Journeys Update 8-9 Inc, was an emotionally charged to work on the frontlines for , “I look at you people, and I think New Books 10 gathering for many who knew Dan had embarked with a group of friends about how you are the ones, you are or his family personally. on an epic aid mission and road trip the power of media, you are the power Q&A: Dan was killed by an angry mob across Africa. Much of the film cen- of storytelling, the ones who can Borzou Daragahi 11 in while he and other ters on this journey as well as his ro- guide us to the light,” she said. “You journalists were covering the after- mantic struggle along the way. can choose stories that are solutions- math of a United Nations bombing After the screening, Kathy Eldon, oriented. You can choose heroes that raid against a clan leader. Eldon Dan’s mother and the film’s producer Click here and three of his colleagues were as well as the founder of Creative are positive figures. You can tell us to watch things that will make us believe that video clips beaten to death. Visions, made an appeal to attendees from the Q&A. Before his death Dan, who was to use the film and Dan’s story as a there is the possibility of light some- the youngest photo journalist ever springboard for change. Continued on Page 2

You are Invited: the OPC Holiday Party Come celebrate the season with colleagues on Wednesday, Jan. 10, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Club Quarters. The event will be held in the dining room. The party features an open bar with wine and beer, hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, broiled salmon filet, Asian marinated flank steak, a host of veggie sides as well as dessert and coffee. The cost is $50 per person. Advance reservations are essential. Please click on this image to RSVP and select a payment option, or send a check to the OPC at: 40 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036.

1 1 ‘Dan Eldon’ Continued From Page 1 where out there at the end of this tortuous tunnel.” The Q&A included OPC member John Daniszewski, who serves as editor-at-large for standards for The . He directed AP news coverage of 11 countries in southern Africa when Dan Eldon was there, and his friend Hansi Krauss was killed in the same incident as Dan. Daniszewski said there had been a slow shift in the culture CHAD BOUCHARD Left to right: Ella Purnell, the actor who played Dan’s sister in the film; Kathy of journalism since Dan’s death, in part spurred by the incident in Eldon; and Amy Eldon, Dan’s sister. Mogadishu as well as other violent deaths of journalists in Bosnia in the early 90s, toward improving safety and reducing risk in re- “I feel that so many of these films about journalism are a bit hokey porting on conflict. and a bit Hollywood-y, this is to my mind was a very realistic portrayal “It’s much more safety oriented now, for better or worse,” he said. of what the trade is,” he said. “News organizations tend to invest a lot more trying to protect journal- Kathy Eldon added that journalists also face other more recent ists, and there’s also a movement afoot to create safer conditions for threats, such as being discredited and falsely accused of being “fake freelancers who often don’t have the financial resources for things like news.” hostile environment training and armored cars and insurance for them.” Daniszewski said there needs to be a change in consumer attitudes Also speaking at the Q&A was Dan Thomas, special adviser for about journalism and what it’s worth to readers. “Independent journal- advocacy and communications at UNICEF, who worked at the Reuters ism needs to be supported,” he said. “If you value the information, if you Bureau in in the 90’s. Thomas underscored the importance of value the reporting that we do, then you need to support that by contrib- showing audiences the real threats that journalist face, and not romanti- uting, by paying for it, in the internet age, increasingly people are going cizing the role of conflict reporters. to have to pay for what they value.” v Ripples from Dan Eldon’s Footsteps by chad bouchard it spoke to me. It encouraged me to look for ing from disaster or war. The stories are rich On Christmas Day, 1997, my mother gave new ways to tell the story. I would ultimately in that territory. Those dual messages stayed me a copy of Dan Eldon’s recently published find the right balance in journalism; permis- with me the whole time. Calculated risk. Wild journal. The book had a profound effect on my sion to focus on someone else’s story was expression and vigilance. Trust, but verify. It’s life path. freeing. a razor’s edge. Still looking for a way across A few years before that, in 1993, I had My mother’s present contained a very im- it, Dan. But you were so right. It does seem wrapped up a year abroad with some hard portant two-pronged message. It was indeed a worth the journey. travel in Algeria. At the time, the country welcome nod of approval for restless curios- was still embroiled in a civil war. It was my ity. But it also served as a cautionary tale. Dan Dan Eldon's journal inspired a generation of first experience in a developing country, and Eldon’s death tinged his work with tragedy. journalists and creators when it was published certainly the closest I’d been to a conflict Even in my more risk-thirsty days, this gentle in 1997 and has sold more than 120,000 cop- zone. I hitchhiked into and out of the Sahara, warning followed me: The people who care ies. Two other books of his journals have since avoiding Algiers, where there had been bomb- most – they want to hear what you saw out been published, Dan Eldon: Safari as a Way of ings of tourist buses and gunfire in the streets. there in the world. But to do that, you have to Life and Dan Eldon: The Art of Life. v I had no idea what I was doing. But people come back safely. Got it? in the desert were very kind to me. I passed I met Kathy Eldon the year after I got the through many armed checkpoints on both book. I was working as a volunteer at the sides of the conflict and never experienced Double Take Film Festival in Durham, North a word of harassment – just genuine human Carolina (for legal reasons the name has since curiosity and even warmth. I wanted other been changed to Full Frame). The festival people to know what a surprise it was to see happened to be hosting an early screening humanity in places where headlines seem so of a documentary about Dan’s life, Dying to hostile. Tell the Story, with Kathy Eldon presenting. I When I came home, I had so many stories approached Kathy afterward and thanked her to tell. But I struggled to tell them. Some for publishing the journal. I don’t remember people were unnerved. Some did not know what I said, but I’m sure it was awkward and I how to react. Now I know how common it is know she was gracious. for returning correspondents and expats to feel Curiosity took me to interesting places. a mix of familiar and alien at the same time. Jakarta, Myanmar, China, and most recently Dan’s journal, with its psychedelic collage of in 2013 Sinjar, Iraq. Dan’s journal helped photographs and scraps and strange materials, me to create my own risk governor. I found I looked like the inside of a restless mind. And prefer to show up in places that are recover- November-December 2017 2 Unions Make Inroads in Digital Media, Sparking a Backlash by amy russo hen billionaire TD Ameri- trade founder Joe Ricketts on WNov. 1 shut down DNAinfo and Gothamist, two digital news opera- tions for hyperlocal New York report- ing, many in the media industry were dismayed. Claiming the motives were financial and that he was unable to turn a profit, Ricketts abruptly closed the two companies – which had been set to merge – just a week after employees had voted to join a union. While salaries at many digital news or- ganizations are low and benefits minimal, unionization has been seen as a potential remedy. In September, a number of Vice employees successfully unionized with- out any reports of retaliation, presenting a stark contrast to the apparent backlash faced by members of DNAinfo and Go- thamist.

About 300 of Vice’s content creators IMAGES SPENCER PLATT/GETTY and post-production specialists joined the Letitia ‘Tish’ James, Public Advocate for the City of New York, speaks to dozens of journalists and Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG) DNAinfo and Gothamist employees during an afternoon rally on Nov. 6 at City Hall Park to support and the Writers Guild of America East the journalists and other staff members who lost their jobs at the publications after they voted to (WGAE), which already had roughly 100 form a union. members who are Vice employees. “Unionization will give these content creators a real voice in decisions that af- the business because they can’t grow or and how they’re supposed to be treated, fect their work lives,” said Lowell Peter- prosper.” and, you know, in the event that things go son, WGAE’s executive director, speaking The same lack of protections was felt south...if there are layoffs and things like about the movement at Vice. “Instead of at Vice, where attention was drawn to a that, the union can negotiate on our behalf being set unilaterally, wages and benefits lack of labor rights following a Columbia for better payouts and things like that.” will be negotiated, and will be protected Journalism Review exposé in 2016. Honan, who wasn’t subject to a non- by an enforceable collective bargaining “There’s been countless labor viola- disparagement agreement, was able to agreement.” He added that “freelance tions with freelancers...from awful pay speak in detail about her experience with employees are included in the bargaining to sexism and terrible exploitative labor DNAinfo. Months after the merger of unit.” practices,” said Anna Therese Day, a the two sites, a joint meeting was held While unionizing gave Vice’s workers board member of the Frontline Freelance where Honan felt adequate answers on a voice, the same action cost 115 employ- Register who said she and her colleagues how the sites would collaborate were not ees their jobs at DNAinfo and Gothamist. have been mistreated by Vice. “Consis- provided by management. “The report- “We were subjected to a union-busting tently, there’s issues with not just fair pay ers and editors had ideas on how things meeting before we even announced,” said but timely pay.” could work, like collaborating on projects, Katie Honan, a former DNAinfo reporter. Vice did not respond to requests for but management’s focus was on trying to “We were warned that our owner Joe comment for this story. break the union,” Honan said. It was after Ricketts could just shut the whole thing Noah Kulwin, Vice’s technology edi- this that workers voted to unionize with down if we joined a union. But we stuck tor, helped to organize workers and said WGAE, the same operation that Vice’s with it because we believed it was what his salary has already jumped five percent. employees had successfully joined. digital media needs. So much of it is built He noted that while contracts from Vice’s Scott Heins, a photojournalist formerly from low-paid workers who are sub- most recent unionization push are far employed by Gothamist, also cited the jected to the whims of management, who from being finalized, previously union- merger as one of the causes for unioniza- change their minds on what they think ized employees have benefited. According tion because the companies would need might work. There are few protections in to Kulwin, “there are mandated salary in- to hammer out the details of their joint place for us. And so many people leave creases every year and there are some pro- operations. Heins contended that financial visions about...what rights workers have Continued on Page 7 November-December 2017 3 Associated Press writer Hal Boyle (left) with Ernie Remembering OPC Award Namesakes: Hal Boyle Pyle, at the Grand Hotel in Paris in September 1944. by amy russo Boyle died of a heart attack in 1974 at age 63 in . He had been diagnosed with “Lou s the OPC’s award submission season Gehrig’s Disease” just months before his death, and kicks off, we are taking a moment to con- wrote his own obituary, which was published on the Asider the careers and legacies of namesakes front page of the Bulletin before his death. He wrote behind some of the 22 awards. Each year since lightheartedly of his diagnosis, saying he was the 1978, the OPC has honored journalists with the Hal “the first kid on my block to get amytrophic lateral Boyle Award to recognize the best newspaper, news sclerosis.” A memorial service drew a crowd of service or digital reporting from abroad. nearly 300 people. [The wording of the description has In 1978, the OPC gave the first Hal Boyle Award changed over the years along with the to Robert C. Toth of the Los Angeles Times for his evolution of the industry.] coverage of the Soviet Union. Toth had reported Hal Boyle himself was a legendary from Moscow from 1974 until he was expelled in who won a Pulitzer 1977 on charges of “collection of information of a Prize in 1945 for his coverage of World secret character,” according to the 1978 Dateline. War II for The Associated Press. Boyle Judges said Toth was honored in particular for his was only 17 years old when he joined the coverage of “dissidence in the Sovient Union and AP in 1928 as a copy boy at the organi- the illuminating series he wrote on the U.S.S.R af- zation’s Kansas City bureau. He gradu- ter his return to the .” ated from the University of Missouri in Over the years since its inauguration, the Hal 1932. Boyle Award has honored reporters working at a We invite you to submit entries for international cov- He was known for taking risks and range of media companies, including The New York erage in Newspapers, News Services, Digital, Maga- worked on the front lines of both the Times, The Washington Post, United Press Inter- zines, Radio, Podcasts, Television, Video, Cartoons, European and Pacific theaters. He wrote national and most recently the news organization Books and Photography. Visit the OPC website for more than 7,600 columns over the course where Boyle himself carved out his legacy, the AP. more information. of his career, which were published in 700 newspapers across the U.S. This is the first in a periodic series of stories ENTRY DEADLINE In 1951, the Veterans of Foreign Wars about the journalists who have had OPC awards 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on January 31, named in their honor. v 2018 awarded him the Omar Bradley Award for his coverage of the Korean War. AWARDS DINNER Early in his career, Boyle nicknamed April 26, 2018 at Cipriani 25 Broadway himself “the poor man’s Ernie Pyle,” a joke he’d made while working with CORNELIUS RYAN AWARD DEADLINE January 10, 2018 Pyle, who had already received acco- lades for his work, including a Pulitzer Prize, at a time when Boyle was a rela- tive unknown. Boyle went on to win a Pulitzer in 1944. A book of Boyle’s columns was published in 1969, entitled Help, Help! Another Day!: The World of Hal Boyle. According to a remembrance by George E. Burns in the October 1995 issue of the Bulletin, Boyle was “a delight in conversation, a raconteur, unpredictable, thoughtful, witty, and loved listening A page from the 1978 issue of Dateline with details of the to stories.” first Hal Boyle Award recipient, Robert C. Toth. November-December 2017 4 PEOPLE By Amy Russo WELCOME OPC SCHOLARS and reporting advice N E W 2015 H.L. Stevenson winner J.p. with young and MEMBERS Lawrence is joining Stars and emerging journalists. Stripes as a downrange reporter During the Pulitzer Louise Boyle covering Afghanistan. Most recently, Center on Crisis Senior Reporter Reporting’s annual Daily Mail he was a reporter for The San New York Antonio Express-News focusing Washington Week- Active Resident, Young on defense, the trauma of war and end for its student (29 and under) veteran stories. Lawrence previously fellowship winners, Nazish Dholakia worked at The Albany Times Union Politzer was featured Media Desk Officer covering the crime beat and received in an Oct. 21 panel Human Rights Watch an OPC Foundation fellowship with discussion on pitch- Hong Kong The Associated Press in Uganda. ing global stories. Associate Overseas, Young Denton Ponomarev (29 and under) She shared tips on Congratulations to Michael E. Denton’s work told ways for freelancers Roopa Gogineni Freelance Miller, 2009 Swinton winner, and the story of Taiwan’s diminishing to network, form key relationships military might, which has continued Nairobi, his colleagues at The Washington in the media industry and select the Active Overseas, Young Post for winning the 2017 Feddie to pale in comparison to China’s right moment to pitch their ideas. (29 and under) Award from the National Press modernizing forces backed by big On Oct. 30, Politzer appeared at the Jacob Kushner Foundation for their reporting on budgets. His shots of the massive College of William & Mary to speak Freelance MS-13. The award recognizes Hai Pao, a WWII submarine, and about the international economic Berlin outstanding reporting on the impact Chiayi Air Force Base appeared in a ramifications of the refugee crisis, Active Overseas, Young of federal laws and regulations Nov. 4 article. Denton also contrib- drawing from her own experience as (29 and under) on local communities. The Post’s uted photography to another Nov. 4 a migration reporter. Myra Lu story documented the lapses in the piece by East Africa reporter Jeffrey Director of Press Division federal program that tracks young Gettleman on the global ape trade, This year’s Thomas Nast awardee Taipei Economic and in which his photos of bonobos Cultural Office immigrants detained at the border. Steve Sack was featured in a New York The reporting also revealed the were featured. Ponomarev’s work Nov. 8 Washington Post article Associate Resident continues to appear in reports on the showcasing the response of cartoon- complexity of immigration issues, Sharma Meara illustrating how some youth arrive ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis. ists to the recent Sutherland Springs Freelance with gang ties, while others who are His images have portrayed families church shooting in Texas. Sack, who Oxford, England trying to escape poverty and violence traveling into Bangladesh as well as contributes to The Minneapolis Star Active Overseas, Young find themselves vulnerable to gang conditions of refugee camps in which Tribune, drew a cartoon depicting a (29 and under) recruitment. Miller had an OPC those fleeing their homes are forced Capitol Hill lawmaker responding to Neeta Satam Foundation fellowship with the AP to stay and work. a group of reporters asking about gun University of Missouri – Columbia bureau in Mexico City. reform with the words, “Too soon! An OPC award-winning photo by University City, MO We still haven’t finished not doing Student WINNERS Chris Hondros of Getty Images anything after the last massacre!” OPC Treasurer Abigail Pesta won was featured in a New York Times ar- Lisa Thomson ticle in October about former fighter This year’s Olivier Rebbot winner Associate Producer two Front Page Awards this month, English garnering the essay writing cat- Joseph Duo’s political campaign in Daniel Berehulak had his work Washington, DC egory along with Sandy Phillips for a Liberia. Hondros won the OPC’s shown in the 2017 World Press Photo Active Resident, Young Mother Jones piece on Sandy’s battle 2003 John Faber Award for an iconic Exhibition in Bangkok in early No- (29 and under) with a gun dealer who sold 4,000 picture of Duo as a fierce armed vember. Berehulak’s photo series, Nadia Tronick rounds of ammunition to the man fighter storming a bridge. That pic- which earned him first place in the USAID who killed her daughter in the “Bat- ture is in the Times article. Hondros general news category of the World New York died from wounds in an attack in Press Photo competition, showed Associate Resident, Young man” shooting in Colorado. Pesta (29 and under) also won in the feature writing cat- Misurata, , in 2011 along with the ravages of Duterte’s drug war in egory along with Carrie Arnold for a photojournalist Tim Hetherington. the Philippines. His images reveal series on sexual assault in Women’s Hondros met with Duo a few years the death and incarceration brought Health magazine. Her story was after the bridge photo was published, to the country by the president’s so- about doctors who sexually abuse and Hondros helped to pay for Duo’s called anti-drug campaign which has their patients. Pesta and Arnold also high school tuition. The article is led to thousands of killings. won a Folio: Eddie Award for the titled “He Was the Face of Liberia’s Continued on Page 6 same series. Endless War. Now He Wants to Gov- ern.” Robert Capa Gold Medal award- ees Bryan Denton and Sergey Malia Politzer, the current winner Ponomarev had their photos fea- of Best Digital Reporting on Inter- tured in several recent international national Affairs, spoke in October at stories for . two events, sharing her experience November-December 2017 5

Continued From Page 5 WELCOME N E W Masha Gessen, the OPC’s winner PBS has decided to feature longtime The following is a first-person ac- of the Best Commentary award in OPC member Christiane Aman- count from longtime OPC member MEMBERS any medium on international news, pour to fill a blank in the schedule Jonathan Kapstein, who sent this The OPC thanks Calvin has been recognized as a National as Charlie Rose goes off the air. dispatch to the Bulletin about his in- Sims, OPC second vice Book Award finalist in the nonfiction Amanpour’s eponymous show on terview with Robert Mugabe shortly president and president category for her book, The Future CNN International will broadcast on after he took power in Zimbabwe of International House, for Is History: How Totalitarianism PBS on an interim basis while the almost four decades ago. sponsoring the member- Reclaimed Russia. Gessen’s book, network sorts out the next phase for ship of these International “Business Week headed the interview House residents: which has received widespread that time slot. At least eight women, praise, explores how old Soviet at- all employees or those who wanted as “A Marxist who encourages pri- Madeleine Ayer titudes continue in Putin’s Russia. to work for him, allege that Rose vate business.” It was early 1980, Martin Cassidy Gessen’s work focuses heavily on sexually harassed them. Amanpour’s and I was BW’s regional bureau chief Hope Claydon Russian history and politics, and her on-hour show features “conversa- when I interviewed Robert Mugabe. Keith Cousins writing has appeared in The New tions with global leaders and deci- He had just emerged from years of Marie Gentric Yorker, The New York Times, The sion makers.” CBS This Morning imprisonment to lead Rhodesia into Eileen Grench New York Review of Books, Vanity is also seeking someone to replace independence as Zimbabwe. With Haneya Hasan Fair and other publications. Rose as host. the aid of Andrew Meldrum, then Aisha Hassan a freelancer and now with the AP, I Christopher Hickey UPDATES OPC member Deborah Amos was had one of the few interviews he ever Bridget Hickey NEW YORK: The OPC is honoring honored in October by the Interna- gave. He insisted he was trying to Angelica Hill member Kim Wall with an award tional Women’s Media Foundation strike a balance of redirecting nation- Noor Ibrahim in her name. The Kim Wall Best (IWMF) at their Courage in Journal- al income, redressing land ownership Katherine Irwin Digital Reporting Award is for ism Awards ceremony. Amos has issues while at the same time encour- Soo Min Kang the best story or series of stories on long been covering the aging private enterprise and the en- Fatoumata Keita international affairs using creative for NPR, working in reporting tirely white business establishment to Shiyun Lin and dynamic digital storytelling tech- on the country’s decline as well as remain in a now multi-racial society. Husain Marhoon niques. Previously it was called the visiting , Iraq and Pakistan An impressive personality, he jolted David Mutua Best Digital Reporting Award. Wall throughout her career. She also sur- me with the opening observation that Taryana Odayar had worked around the globe cover- vived a kidnapping during her time the magazine had too many ads for in . Speaking to IWMF, the size of the news hole. I decided Edwin Okoth ing issues including politics, human Amos recalled her experience start- then and there not to underestimate Kavya Ram Mohan rights and the environment and ing out and learning how to stay safe him, and indeed for most of the 37 Isabella Rolz appearing in The New York Times, while also reaching the heart of the years that he held Zimbabwe in an Lara Nina Shabb Harpers, The Atlantic, TIME and story. iron grip he outfoxed any opposition Kaylah Simmons many other publications. She was at the cost of oppressing the country Ali Tehrani murdered on assignment in Denmark while after boarding a submarine to and destroying the economy. – Jona- Tsering Wangmo interview Peter Madsen, its engineer, than Kapstein” Faith Woodard who has been charged with her kill- ing.

OPC Governor Azmat Khan and members Christiane Amanpour and Judith Matloff were featured in a short film by The Dart Center on the treatment of women in the media industry. Amid a flurry of accounts of sexual harassment and assault within newsrooms, women spoke on camera for The Dart Center on their experi- ences in the workplace and the field where they’ve been faced with sexist and threatening behaviors. “We just have to remind ourselves that we have a right to be really, really asser- tive,” Matloff said.

Robert Mugabe, left, with Jonathan Kapstein.

November-December 2017 6 7 ISIS, Joya took her four sons and es- decades, during which he worked caped the marriage, as told by Pesta with photographers covering some of in her story. history’s most critical moments from WWII to the Vietnam War. Morris Club member and former OPC Gov- was famously responsible for ensur- ernor Daniel Sieberg is leaving ing the front-page publication of his post at Google News Lab to em- Eddie Adams’ photo of the execution brace a new project, Civil, an online of an alleged Vietcong insurgent dur- news-making platform which he co- ing Morris’ work with The Times. He founded. The site will launch in 2018 also pushed for front-page placement and has branded itself as a place for of Huynh Cong Ut’s (also known decentralized journalism, where writ- as Nick Ut) image of a Vietnamese ers, editors and photographers can child fleeing a Napalm attack. He join forces to create stories of their was additionally responsible for choosing, being paid in bitcoin-style editing the work of Robert Capa, currency called CVL tokens, which Lluberes who captured stills of the D-Day MICHAEL DAMES MICHAEL will be backed by blockchain tech- invasion in Normandy. Morris died nology. The initiative aims to create at age 100 in a hospital near his Paris a space for media professionals and Andrew Lluberes sent a pointed residence.v news consumers to develop and pro- letter to The New York Times in Oc- mote their reporting in an uncensored tober taking exception to an article environment where accuracy and by reporter Rapahel Minder about accountability are key. Civil has al- the conflict over Catalonia’s indepen- ready received $5 million in funding dence. Lluberes, a longtime member ‘Unions’ from decentralized app builder Con- who retired and spends much of Continued From Page 3 Sensys, and Sieberg says he’s excited his time in Barcelona, defended the to begin the new project. actions of Spanish Prime Minister matters were not behind the Ricketts’ decision to close the doors. “Reporters who took other jobs were replaced by new hires,” Heins Mariano Rajoy for invoking an PARIS: OPC Governor Vivienne said. “An entirely new position – City Editor – was created for article of the constitution and initiat- Walt’s exclusive interview with Chris Robbins when he was hired on in June. If our profitless site ing direct rule of the region from French President Emmanuel Macron really is teetering on the edge of financial oblivion, then why the Madrid. Minder called the move was featured on the Nov. 13 cover staffing up?” Heins believes that even if news operations “had been “unexpectedly forceful” and said of TIME. In this inside look at the in the black, we still would have been hit with a shutdown.” the government had “stripped the 39-year-old president’s plans, Ma- For Heins, the difference between the reactions of Vice’s man- autonomy” of the Catalonian region. cron expresses how he sees his place agement and Ricketts was based on ideology and pressure. “Other Lluberes called the report “inaccu- within French politics and the world, union campaigns like Vice and Thrillist were able to apply public rate” and “biased,” and told the times touching on views about climate pressure on ostensibly progressive executives who, in the end, had that Minder “went to grave lengths change, foreign relations and rela- no choice but to voluntarily recognize those unions,” he said. “But to quote secessionist and opposition tions with President Trump. As 100 when it came to Ricketts, his conservatism made any kind of public politicians and pundits, but none leaders are invited to the Dec. 12 shaming campaign, even one co-signed by elected officials like of Rajoy’s coalition partners or the Paris climate change summit, Trump Mayor de Blasio, pretty much moot.” many political analysts and spokes- has been left off the list unless he As the place of unions within the newsroom still remains un- men who said Rajoy took the actions agrees to support the Paris Agree- certain, Day claims labor violations are pervasive throughout many needed to preserve Spain’s hard-won ment from which he has removed the media organizations. “We have huge labor issues that we all face democracy and the rule of law.” U.S. Macron maintained during the right now and it’s not just Vice; there are countless newsrooms that interview that this decision would Abigail Pesta’s work was featured have similarly created really difficult working environments for remain until Trump decides to get in the November issue of the Texas professional journalists so any organizing by journalists right now I back on board. Only six months Monthly for which she covered the think is tremendously important,” she said. ago, Macron won the French elec- story of one woman’s marriage to a To be sure, layoffs at digital media organizations are becoming tion earlier this year on a platform to jihadist. Tania Joya, a Muslim and depressingly frequent. Buzzfeed has indicated it will let go about overhaul the country’s economy and a daughter of Bangladeshi parents, 100 people on its business team after missing revenue targets, and its labor laws. grew up in a suburb of , and The New York Post reported that Mashable is laying off 50 people eventually met a Texan convert to PEOPLE REMEMBERED after selling itself to Ziff Davis on December 5 for a fraction of its Islam named John, whom she en- A memorial gathering was held on valuation in 2016. v countered online. As Joya became Dec. 7 at the American Cathedral more distant from her family, she and in Paris to honor the 101st birthday John eventually married, relocating of John G. Morris who died on to Syria where John showed signs of July 28. Morris, a legendary picture radicalization and Joya’s concerns editor, joined the OPC in 1954 grew. After discovering he had joined and had a storied career spanning November-December 2017 7 7 PRESS FREEDOM UPDATE...

Houthi rebels attacked the Yemen Al The CPJ honored imprisoned jour- Ugandan police on Nov. 22 arrested Youm TV channel in Sanaa on Dec. nalists from Cameroon, Mexico, three editors, the chief executive 2 and held more than 40 journalists Thailand, and Yemen during its officer, and four senior managers hostage. They remain captive as the annual International Press from the newspaper Red Pepper Bulletin goes to press. The station Freedom Awards on Nov. 16. The after a raid and accusations that the is affiliated with the party of former evening was hosted by Christiane paper published a story that would President , who Amanpour, chief international cor- “likely disrupt public order and was killed on Dec. 4. The rebels de- respondent for CNN who is also an security.” A story in the paper had manded that the journalists give them OPC member. She told attendees that reported that Uganda’s president, access codes so they could broadcast the U.S. should stand as an example Yoweri Museveni, was planning to messages including a speech by their for those fighting for press freedom overthrow Rwanda’s president, Paul leader. At least 13 other media work- around the world. “We need the Kagame. There have been no formal ers are being held in Yemen by armed U.S. to be a beacon – a defender, charges. The arrested are editors groups. not a destroyer, of First Amendment Ben Byarabaha, Richard Kintu, and values everywhere. The brave jour- Tumusiime Francis Tinywana. Em- Russian’s Justice Ministry announced nalists we honor tonight certainly ployees phones and computers were on Dec. 5 that nine media outlets think so. They have paid dearly, confiscated, according to theDaily funded by the U.S. government would some with their lives or liberty, to Monitor newspaper. Reuters reported that police also searched newspaper staff members’ private homes.

Guatemalan police arrested Xitu- mul, a reporter with the independent digital media outlet Prensa Comuni- taria, on Nov. 11. The journalist had been covering the protests of a group of fishermen against the Guatemalan Nickel Company since early this year. A court charged Xitumul with incitement to commit crimes, threats, and illegal detention related to his alleged participation in protests on May 4, the CPJ cited online news site El Periodico as reporting.

Dilshan Ibash, a Kurdish reporter working for the Hawar News Agen- cy, was killed in Syria in the eastern village of Abu Fas on Oct. 12 in a

KEVIN HAGEN/GETTY IMAGES FOR CPJ FOR IMAGES HAGEN/GETTY KEVIN suicide car bomb attack. According Left to right: Meryl Streep, Christiane Amanpour and Joel Simon. to the Syrian Journalist Association and Hawar News, Ibash died at the scene from her injuries. The attack be designated as “foreign agents.” report the news,” she said. Honorees occurred on a road between the cities The outlets include U.S. Congress- included Pravit Rojanaphruk, a Thai of Al-Hasaka and Deier Ezzo. Two funded Radio Free Europe/Ra- reporter faces sedition charges for of Ibash’s colleagues, Rizgar Deniz dio Liberty and seven of its affili- his work; Ahmed Abba, a Cameroon and Hawker Faisal Mohammed, also ates, as well as Voice of America. correspondent for Radio France In- suffered injuries. Mohammed later The move follows a newly expanded ternationale; Patricia Mayorga, a cor- died in a hospital from serious head law that requires designated media to respondent for Mexico’s Proseco and trauma. He was covering the ongoing disclose to Russian authorities details founder of the Free Journalism Net- conflict between the Syrian Demo- of their funding, editorial policy, work; and Afrah Nasser, an indepen- cratic Forces and ISIS troops and financial activities and management. dent Yemeni blogger living in exile had only worked for Hawar News for The new designation comes after the in Sweden. Academy Award-winning two months. The suicide bomber was U.S Department of Justice demanded actor Meryl Streep presented the targeting a large gathering, reported that Russian government-funded RT, award to Mayorga. Judy Woodruff, Hassan Ramo, the editor-in-chief of formerly Russia Today, register under managing editor of “PBS News- the news organization. the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Hour,” received the inaugural Gwen Act, a move that the Committee to Ifill Press Freedom Award for her An Ecuadorian journalist has been Protect Journalists condemned as “ill- work in advancing press freedom. the target of death threats, most re- advised.” cently via social media on Oct. 15. A November-December 2017 8 9 Twitter user under the handle Russian radio journalist Tatiana to a hospital and treated for head @alerta_911 wrote that he wanted Felgenhauer was attacked in Mos- injuries. Noorani is a journalist for to shoot TV reporter Janet Hi- cow when a man broke into her radio The News, a widely-read Pakistani nostroza, to “clean up the dirty and station office and stabbed her in the paper, and has openly criticized the corrupt press.” The tweet was sent in throat. According to investigators, country’s intelligence agency and its response to an exchange between the the alleged assailant, Boris Grits, military, The New York Times said. reporter and Roberto Wohlegemuth, 48, may have been mentally ill, but This is only one of several October a former employee of CORDICOM, speculation of political motivations attacks against media organizations a media regulatory organization run has arisen, BBC reported. Felgen- and their employees, with additional by the state. Hinostroza works with gauer is the deputy editor-in-chief at cases occurring in the province of the news station Teleamazonas and Ekho Moskvy, as well as an anchor Balochistan. has been targeted for years, even re- at the station. She was hospitalized ceiving an explosive in the mail ear- after the attack but has since returned According to an Oct. 31 CPJ report lier this year. The CPJ has called for to reporting on the air. Felgengauer on the group’s 2017 Global Impunity the country to protect Hinostroza. has increased her personal security Index, Somalia remains the worst and said she will not be leaving Rus- nation in the world for unsolved Maltese journalist Caruana Galiz- sia. One of Ekho Moskvy’s reporters, murders of journalists. The index ia was murdered on Oct. 16 after her Yulia Latynina, previously fled the tracks the murder of reporters around car exploded while she was driving country after being threatened and the world and keeps statistics on in Bidnija near her home. She had re- attacked. whether the culprits are arrested and ported on human rights, crime, poli- prosecuted. This is the third year in a tics and government corruption. She Chinese authorities barred five news row that Somalia has topped the list. was part of the team that worked on outlets from an Oct. 25 press confer- Syria came in second, having wors- the Panama Papers, which won the ence during which new leaders of the ened since its third-place ranking last OPC’s Malcolm Forbes Award this country’s Communist party were in- year. Following behind is Iraq, where year. In the days leading up to her troduced, according to a tweet from ISIS and other violent groups contin- killing, she warned police she had the Foreign Correspondents Club of ue to attack journalists. CPJ stressed been getting death threats. Galizia’s China and other reports. Among the that impunity thrives in places where personal blog featured her reporting excluded organizations were The Fi- leaders use intimidation to stifle and political commentary. and was nancial Times, The Economist, the media and where rule of law is one of the most popular websites The New York Times, the BBC weak. While targeted attacks have among Maltese news readers. A and The Guardian. The ban was worsened in some areas, Afghanistan forensic expert reported that initial likely a government’s retaliatory re- did not make the list for the first time investigation of her death suggested sponse to reporting by the outlets, the since 2008 when the index began. that a remote control device may FCCC said. While certain journal- However, targeted attacks on larger have been used to detonate the bomb, ists were shut out of the conference, groups have been responsible for and that it was unlikely the explosive President Xi Jinping said he encour- scores of casualties.v was located in the car’s interior. The aged reporters to continue their work FBI plans to assist local police with in China. Steven Butler of the CPJ the investigation. said in a statement that “it’s patently absurd for the Chinese president to Chadian police arrested publisher call for more coverage of the coun- Juda Allahondoum on Oct. 17 try by foreign correspondents while after he ran a controversial article excluding them from his press con- in Le Visionnaire, a weekly paper. ference. We call on the authorities Allahondoum’s lawyer, Francis Lok- to allow all journalists, foreign and ouldé, said the piece accused local domestic, to report freely on China.” airline Air Inter 1 of illegally flying arms to Syria. The CPJ made repeated Several attacks were made on jour- attempts to contact the airline, but nalists in Pakistan over the last two the calls went unanswered. On Oct. months. The CPJ said with constant 23, Allahondoum was taken to a threats from militant groups, the jail in N’Djamena and charged with country has no safe havens left “usurping the title and function” of a for the media. Reporter Ahmed reporter, CPJ said, after speaking with Noorani was attacked on Oct. 27 Lokouldé. CPJ is demanding Allahon- by six motorcyclists in Islamabad. doum’s release, calling the arrest “an The attackers dragged him and his unacceptable abuse of power, and a driver, Mumtaz, from their car before blatant effort to intimidate the press.” assaulting them with iron bars and knives. Both victims were brought

November-December 2017 9 9 NEW BOOKS By Amy Russo

access to pornography via the world wide web. JAPAN Friend proposes that the “Trump Teens,” what he calls the current presidency and its accompanying n March 11, 2011, a 9.1 magnitude issues, is rooted in attitudes that emerged during the earthquake struck Japan – the largest in nineties. Growing exposure to open sexuality and its history – and triggered a tsunami that O scandal had a normalizing effect that made Trump’s tossed waves 30 feet high onto the country’s shores. own scandals easier to accept by the time he made Nearly 20,000 people lost their lives and hundreds his play for the White House. In a different era, of thousands or buildings were damaged, including Trump’s behavior might have ended his campaign the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where and tarnished his image as a leader. damage caused a cooling system to fail. Now, six Friend argues that changing attitudes during the year later, Richard Lloyd Parry, who reported from nineties blurred the distinction between the country as Tokyo bureau chief for The Times of public and private life, with the rise London, returned to the Tohoku region to explore the of reality television and a growing aftermath in Ghosts of the Tsunami [MCD/Farrar, hunger for tabloid journalism. He notes Straus and Giroux, August 2017]. that on the cusp of the nineties Rush Parry’s book explores lasting wounds of the Limbaugh’s popularity began to grow tsunami in Tohoku, delving under surface narratives and Roger Ailes became a prominent TV of resilience and reconstruction to the psychological personality following the launch of Fox scars of a community reeling from a death toll not News in 1996. During the same era, the seen since the bombing of Nagasaki. U.S. watched extensive coverage of the Soon after the disaster, Tohoku developed a rash O.J. Simpson trial, adding to America’s of ghost sightings from residents claiming to see desensitization to crime and scandal. apparitions of deceased loved ones. Spiritual leaders The Naughty Nineties examines how of all denominations faced constant requests for help a decade of excess and sensationalism built a foundation for a Trump from people suffering from disturbances. Altars and presidency and an accepting public. photographs honoring ancestors were destroyed, He covers a broad range of events and phenomena erasing an important cultural tool used for grounding including the rise of fertility drugs, third-wave and coping with grief and stability. Academics began feminism, gay marriage equality, plastic surgery to record accounts of these ghosts, a phenomenon and shock-jockey entertainment like the Howard that inspired the book’s title. Stern Show. With scandal and sexuality dominating Parry also writes about failures in the delivery of headlines and becoming part of the background local and central government relief. In one example, noise, Friend believes the current political climate he investigates a high death toll at a primary school was inevitable.v in Okawa, where 74 children and 10 teachers died inside the building despite many evacuation warnings before the tsunami struck land. He reports that the lack of significant investigation into failures in the disaster response system has left parents angry and prolonged their grief. Michael Schaub of NPR noted that “any writer could compile a laundry list of the horrors that come in the wake of a disaster; Lloyd Parry’s book is not that.” Ghosts of the Tsunami not only chronicles ongoing effects of disaster and mass grief, it takes an intimate and empathic look at the indelible mark of Japan’s worst natural disaster in living memory. v

THE NINETIES

hile President Donald Trump’s elec- tion might have caught many in the media David Friend Wby surprise, conditions that led to his rise to power have been brewing for quite some time, according to OPC member and Vanity Fair editor David Friend. Friend’s latest book, The Naughty Nineties [Twelve, September 2017], takes a close look at a decade marked by sex scandals in Bill Clin- ton’s presidency, the launch of Viagra, and growing November-December 2017 10 Borzou Daragahi

lumbia and a veteran of the Los Angeles Times, once advised us to “stay the hell away from photographer and war freaks” in conflict zones. That’s good advice.

Worst experience as a journalist: At the time, I thought the many weeks I spent literally trapped in the Rixos Hotel in Libya’s capital during the first weeks of the NATO-backed uprising against the regime of Muammer Gaddafi in 2011 were the worst and most frustrating of my career, but in retrospect they were kind of interesting. I think waiting for officials to speak at press conferences is intolerable, especially any kind of press event having to do with the Arab League.

Meet the OPC Members: Hardest story: I once did a story about abortion in the . As a male, Q&A With Borzou Daragahi that was a particular difficult story to do, and one no one else had really touched by amy russo Countries reported from: Almost every before. Serving as Baghdad bureau chief country in the Middle East and North Af- of the Los Angeles Times during the peak orzou Daragahi covers the rica, as well as Afghanistan, Turkey, India, of Iraq’s civil war was the hardest job Middle East, including Turkey Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. I ever had and likely will have – being Band , for BuzzFeed News. He responsible for the lives of dozens of formerly served as correspondent for the Year you joined the OPC: 2017. people employed by the newspaper. Financial Times in Cairo and as Baghdad bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times. How did you become interested in Journalism heroes: Deborah Amos of He is a graduate of the Eugene Lang reporting on the Middle East? NPR and Chris Chivers of The New York College of the New School for Social As someone of Iranian descent, I have a Times. Research and the Columbia University personal connection to the region. After Graduate School of Journalism. Daragahi the events of Sept. 11, 2001, I decided Advice for journalists who want to was a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his that I would move to the Middle East and work overseas: Master a language or a coverage of Iraq and was a part of a Los attempt to eke it out as a freelancer. It topical niche that you can develop and Angeles Times team that 2007 Pulitzer worked out pretty well. deepen and use to distinguish yourselves Prize finalists. He was also named a from others. Take language classes, teach 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage Major challenge as a journalist: Right English, volunteer for cultural activi- of the election in Iran. now, my greatest challenge seems to be ties. Make it about the work itself and obtaining visas and credentials in both a living abroad not just a stepping stone to Hometown: I don’t have a hometown. region and a world increasingly hostile to something bigger and better. I was born in Tehran but my family honest journalism. So much of my time quickly left. I grew up in the Chicago now is spent wrestling with officials of var- Most common mistake you’ve seen: area and New York City. I consider ious government or private-sector organs The denigration of editing as an art form myself a New Yorker. who are trying to impede or complicate my by most print media is a tragedy. Editors efforts to get access to a story. Outside of a need to love and believe in the written Education: Eugene Lang College of few northern European countries, journal- word, and have an ear for language. the New School for Social Research and ists are increasingly seen as a menace to be Columbia University Graduate School of managed rather than a pillar of democracy Country you most want to return to: Journalism. and civil society Algeria. It has such a rich culture and so much history that has yet to be covered Languages you speak: English, fluent but Best journalism advice received: by the English-language press, especially flawed Persian, some German, practical For better or worse, I’ve never really in recent years. Arabic and Spanish, and minimal French had the benefit of a mentor who took me and Turkish. under his or her wing. I seem to have Twitter handle: @borzou v had to learn everything the hard way, First job in journalism: A small newspa- making mistakes and learning in a rather Want to add to the OPC’s collection of per in the Boston area. improvised fashion. Stanley Meisler, my Q&As with members? Please contact international journalism professor at Co- [email protected]. November-December 2017 11 40 West 45 Street New York, NY 10036 USA Phone 212.626.9220 Fax 212.626.9210 opcofamerica.org

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