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Home , Christiane Amanpour, Evan Osnos, Mei Fong, Simon Cumbers

THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB OF AMERICA, NEW YORK, NY • January 2016 Kathy Gannon to Give Keynote at Scholars Luncheon By Jane Reilly fornia. “We’ve been doing Kathy Gannon, senior correspon- this now for more than 20 dent for and years,” said Bill Holstein, for the , will be president of the OPC Foun- the keynote speaker at the annual dation, “and it’s clear that OPC Foundation Scholar Awards we have created a whole Luncheon on Friday, Feb. 26, at the new generation of foreign Yale Club. The recipient of several correspondents who are press awards, including the Burton based all over the world for Benjamin Memorial Award from the

many top publications. But Michael Danes Committee to Protect Journalists for we need to keep expand- Kathy Gannon lights a ceremonial candle in a lifetime of distinguished achieve- ing what we do to address honor of journalists killed, imprisoned or missing ment in the cause of press freedom, the many unmet needs that at last year’s OPC Awards Dinner. Gannon has covered South Central young journalists, in particular, face. Niedringhaus, a German photogra- Asia and elsewhere for the AP as The industry’s economic shift to- pher, when a police officer walked a correspondent and bureau chief ward greater reliance on freelancers up to their car, said “Allahu Akbar,” since 1988. and the perilous climate in which and opened fire on them. Niedring- At the luncheon, the Foundation they ply their trade shows no sign of haus was killed in the attack, and will award a combination of scholar- abating.” Gannon was seriously wounded. ships and fellowships to 15 graduate Given the dangers many journal- In presenting the CPJ award and undergraduate college students ists face, Holstein described Gan- to Gannon, Christiane , aspiring to become foreign corre- non’s selection as keynote speaker chief international correspondent spondents. The winning recipients as the perfect choice. “She did ev- for CNN, said Gannon’s long years are from City University of New erything right that day, and yet trag- York; ; New of experience based in Islamabad edy struck,” he said, alluding to York University; University of Cali- gave her “unbelievable insight into April 4, 2014, the day before nation- fornia, Berkeley; University of Chi- an often impenetrable region” and wide elections in Afghanistan. Gan- cago; University of Montana-Mis- that Gannon always followed her non was at a police compound with soula; University of North Carolina; vision of journalism. “Be fair, be her friend and AP colleague Anja (Continued on Page 4) and the University of Southern Cali- Inside. . . Rod Nordland to Discuss ‘The Lovers’ Preview: Encryption for Journalists....2 tween 40th and 41st Streets). EVENT PREVIEW: Jan. 27 Preview: Book Night for ‘One Child’....3 Nordland, an OPC member since Preview: Remembering Castro...... 3 The OPC and The New York 1985, is currently correspondent-at- Azmat Khan on Al Jazeera America.3 Times’ Asian Heritage Network are large and bureau chief in Kabul for . He won the OPC’s Ed Cun- President’s Award...... 3 hosting a Book Night with author and OPC award winner Rod Nordland to ningham Award for best magazine History: Castro and the OPC...... 3 writing from abroad in 1999 while discuss The Lovers: Afghanistan’s Preview: Russia Hands Reunion...... 4 working for . Romeo and Juliet, The True Story of People Column...... 6-8 To reserve a spot, please register Holiday Party Photos...... 8 How They Defied Their Families and on the RSVP link included in OPC Press Freedom Update...... 9-10 Survived an Honor Killing Program. email event reminders and event The event will begin at 6:30 Q&A: Anita Snow...... 11 listings on our website at www.op- p.m. at build- New Books...... 12 cofamerica.org or call the office at ing, 620 Eighth Avenue (be- 212 626-9220. Protect Yourself and Your Sources Book Night to Discuss ‘One Child’ EVENT PREVIEW: Feb. 2 EVENT PREVIEW: Feb. 9 Encryption is just as important as a flak jacket in to- Bring a prospective OPC member to enjoy Chinese day’s dangerous reporting environment. Learn about treats and seasonal cocktails at this one-of-a-kind book when and how to use encryption from Ryan Tate and Er- night/Chinese New Year gathering at the home of OPC Governor Minky Worden in . The person inn Clark of The Intercept, published by First Look Me- who signs up the most new members will receive a free dia. Founders of The Intercept include Glenn Greenwald copy of One Child: The Story of ’s Most Radical and Laura Poitras, who helped Edward Snowden leak a Experiment. massive trove of National Security Agency documents. Mei Fong was a The event is co-sponsored by the OPC and New York longtime China cor- University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and respondent for , will be held at the Carter Institute. and shared a Pulitzer The event begins at 6:00 p.m. Prize for her China To make a reservation, please register on the RSVP coverage. Part anal- C-SPAN2 link included in OPC email event reminders and event ysis, part journal- OPC member in- terviews Mei Fong on C-SPAN’s listings on our website at www.opcofamerica.org or call istic memoir, Fong After Words. the office at 212 626-9220. weaves in her own struggles with infertility with stories from people liv- ing with the consequences of China’s rigid fertility controls, taking the reader from the wreckage of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to a Kunming hospice and the IVF clinics of and California. Andy Jacobs, a longtime China correspondent for The New York Times, will moderate. To reserve a spot, please use the RSVP link included in OPC email event reminders, call the office at 212- 626-9220 or send an email to [email protected]. Read more about One Child in this month’s book Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images review section on page 12. 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 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 Human Rights Watch 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 The New York Times 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 The Daily Beast, 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 • January 2016 • Page 2 ANALYSIS: Why Al Jazeera America Didn’t Last By Azmat Khan too serious, or too toxic a work environment to ever re- When Al Jazeera announced ally succeed, and that oil prices and a litany of lawsuits it would be launching an Ameri- made it financially unviable. But from my experience can news network in early 2013, working there, it was digital naïveté that doomed it more many journalists believed it than anything else. could be a game changer – my- Take a moment and imagine what AJAM could self included. have been if Al Jazeera had spent $2.5 billion on an ex- During the Arab Spring, its perimental digital media enterprise – not a cable news English channel’s live stream channel. had drawn millions of first-time Azmat Khan Now consider what it actually did: Al Jazeera bought viewers in the United States. To those watching, the (Continued on Page 5) coverage was refreshingly bold, the reporters fierce, and the mission – to give voice to the voiceless – ex- FEB. 3: OPC LUNCH hilarating. Even after ’s protests ended, Americans REMEMBERING CASTRO continued to watch and read Al Jazeera online. The fact On Feb. 3, the OPC is hosting a lunch at the that it had attracted a growing digital audience seemed Club Quarters dining room to share stories with to challenge prevailing beliefs about journalism, par- two journalists who interviewed Fidel Castro and ticularly the idea that there’s little American appetite for Che Guevara in their early years. international reporting, let alone international reporting Karl Meyer, who served on the editorial boards that isn’t dumbed down. For many Americans, not just of The New York Times and The Washington journalists, Al Jazeera was a hopeful path for the future Post, was one of the first American journalists to of news. spend time with Castro in the mountains of the Only three years later, hardly anyone is surprised that Sierra Maestra two-thirds of a century ago. Al Jazeera America will be closing shop in April, least of all its original fan base. Henry Raymont accompanied Vice-President People have argued that AJAM was too “foreign,” Richard M. Nixon on a month-long trip to Cuba, Mexico and Central America in 1955 for United Press and interviewed Castro eight times over Castro Has a History With the OPC the course of his career. David Andelman, for- By Chad Bouchard merly of The New York Times and World Policy Just two months after Fidel Castro was sworn in as Journal, will moderate. prime minister of Cuba in February 1959, the country’s new leader addressed 1,800 OPC members and guests in DAVID FANNING TO RECEIVE the packed grand ballroom of the Hotel Astor. PRESIDENT’S AWARD An article in the May 1959 Bulletin said 125 reporters, The OPC will honor David Fanning, founder and photojournalists and television networks covered the executive producer at large of PBS Frontline, April 23 event. The luncheon drew the largest attendance with the President’s Award at this year’s Annual in the club’s history at the time. Awards Dinner on April 28. The article quoted Castro as saying the U.S. had In offering the award to Fanning, OPC President given him “more honor than I deserve,” and that he Marcus Mabry said that he “could not imagine would return to Cuba from his visit as a “man of more a more worthy recipient than you and the team faith” in the bond of friendship between his country and at Frontline, given your extraordinary, defining, the U.S. work lasting more than three decades.” A week before his OPC appearance, Castro met with then-Vice President Richard Nixon as part of a post- the eponymous OPC award for best interpretation of revolution charm offensive spanning many countries. international affairs) and Herbert L. Matthews of The The tone of his speech was warm. It was only months New York Times, who won the 1958 OPC George Polk later that relations between the two countries would Memorial Award for his interview with Castro in his begin to sour. jungle hideout in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in “All the glories of war could be kept in a grain of February 1957. Matthews’ story had given the world corn,” he said at the luncheon. “We are only human and a rare sign that the rebel leader was not only alive but human beings can do only a few things.” “fighting hard and successfully.” Also attending the event was baseball legend Jackie Castro amused the crowd with a story about Robinson, journalist Bob Considine (namesake of (Continued on Page 10)

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 3 Russia Hands to Gather for Reunion EVENT PREVIEW: Feb. 24

By Patricia Kranz The OPC and Columbia University’s Harriman Insti- tute are co-hosting a gathering on Feb. 24 in New York of journalists who covered Russia and the USSR. Diplomats, academics, spouses and other professionals who worked in the region are also welcome. Please help spread word of this event to your colleagues and friends.

OPC Governor Charles Wallace and Harriman Insti- Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images tute director Alexander Cooley will make opening re- mer correspondent and editor for The New York Times; and marks to kick off the event at 4:00 p.m. Carol Williams, longtime correspondent. Two panels will follow. Speakers include Ann Cooper, Other speakers will be announced. The event will conclude NPR’s first Moscow bureau chief; Timothy Frye, Harriman with a reception from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. To reserve Institute; David Hoffman, ; Tom Kent, a spot, please register on the RSVP link included in OPC Associated Press/Harriman Institute; Vladimir Lenski, RTVI email event reminders and event listings on our website at (Russian TV International) anchor; Seymour Topping, for- www.opcofamerica.org or call the office at 212 626-9220.

(‘OPC Foundation’ - Continued From Page 1) to make sure our winners engage in the world’s stories honest and above all, be right. Stick to the facts.” While in ways that keep them safe. We are proud of the work based primarily in Islamabad, Gannon reported on the that key board members are doing to improve safety and withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Afghanistan, the security conditions for journalists around the globe,” assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the bitter Afghan civil Holstein said. war between Islamic factions and the rise and fall of the Up to 12 of this year’s winners will receive fellow- . She was the only Western journalist allowed in ships to work in the foreign bureaus of the Founda- Kabul by the Taliban in the weeks preceding the 2001 tion’s media partners, including the Associated Press, U.S.-British offensive in Afghanistan. She also covered Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, GroundTruth Project and Forbes. The fellowships will ensure that the award- the , including the 2006 Israeli war against ees gain valuable experience and insight working with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and war in northern veteran editors and reporters. In 2015, the Foundation . funded fellowships in bureaus across Europe, Asia, Af- Events for the 2016 winners will last three days. rica, the Americas and the Middle East. The Foundation On Thursday afternoon Holstein will emcee a panel at picks up the cost of the airfare and one to two months of Reuters for those award winners interested in business living expenses for the winners. journalism. That evening, Reuters editor-in-chief Ste- Holstein is grateful to Bloomberg which again hosted phen Adler will host the traditional reception for cur- the judging in December and to the dedicated panel of rent and past winners of OPC Foundation awards at the judges who chose the 2016 recipients: Ethan Bronner, global news organization’s Times Square headquarters. Bloomberg; Eddie Evans, Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP; On Friday, besides addressing a distinguished audience Joe Flint, The Wall Street Journal; Allan Dodds Frank; of more than 200 luncheon guests at the Yale Club, the Sharon Gamsin; Holstein; Michelle LaRoche, The Wall award winners will meet with Holstein and veteran in- Street Journal; Felice Levin; Jeremy Main; Marcy Mc- ternational journalists in a pre-luncheon breakfast and Ginnis; Kate McLeod; Ellen Nimmons, AP; David Ro- with several foreign editors following the luncheon. For hde, Reuters; Charlie Sennott, GroundTruth Project; Mi- many, says Holstein, the opportunity to meet and ob- chael Serrill; Bob Sullivan; Steve Swanson, Bronx Botan- serve prominent journalists in action is as valuable as ical Garden; Karen Toulon, Bloomberg; and Abi Wright, any monetary award. DuPont Awards. For the second year in a row, the OPC Foundation Luncheon tickets are $75 for OPC members and $150 will offer a day of risk assessment and situational train- for non-members. The Foundation encourages media and ing at the Associated Press headquarters on Saturday. corporate support at its three levels of giving: Benefac- Frank Smyth, president and founder of Global Journal- tors, $9,000; Patrons, $6,000; and Friends, $3,000. Tables ist Security, a hostile environment training firm based seat 10. The reception is at 11:30 a.m.; the luncheon ends in Washington DC, will again lead the program. Those promptly at 2:00 p.m. All proceeds benefit the OPC Foun- who participated last year called the experience invalu- dation. For further information, contact Jane Reilly at able. “We are cognizant that we have a responsibility 201 493-9087 or [email protected].

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 4 (‘AJAM’ - Continued From Page 3) Dedicating reporters to tribal reservations across the Al Gore’s already struggling Current TV for half a bil- country, AJAM covered Native American issues better lion dollars, and then spent an estimated 2 billion more than any other news organization. It delved deeply into running it and trying to keep cable affiliates from drop- the hard realities of Americans living in poverty, new ping it. The latter cost more than money. It required frontiers in LGBTQ rights, andthe lives of people with AJAM to compromise its brand: scaling back global re- disabilities. Its coverage found few viewers on TV, but porting in favor of domestic coverage and consenting to its multimedia and long form thrived online, in spite of the draconian online restrictions of cable affiliates. Wary digital restrictions. of free content, affiliates like Time Warner refused to It would be a mistake to think the lesson in AJAM’s carry the new network unless Al Jazeera slashed its most end is that serious, smart coverage like this, or a brand ambitious and innovative digital offerings, including the associated with Al Jazeera, could never find an audience global live stream that made Al Jazeera’s name in Amer- in America. Its most promising audience always lay in the digital sphere. ica. Stunningly, every single AJAM video published on- As an example, consider the success of AJ+, Al line had to be taken down within a week, disappearing Jazeera’s San Francisco-based experiment in digital vid- from the internet as though it never existed. But the re- eo. It differs vastly from AJAM in form and innovation, strictions did more than limit access; they stifled innova- but shares its “foreignness” and probing style. And yet tion. Amid the resurgence of podcasts, most audio was a AJ+ videos have been wildly popular on the platform no-go, as was video animation. Despite immense outcry where more Americans get their news than any other: from its own staff, Al Jazeera caved time and again. Facebook. Rather than dedicating the brunt of its resources to A lean San Francisco-based staff of 70 experiment figuring out a new model in journalism’s changing land- with distributed content: material it only publishes on scape, it sunk most of its money, reputation, and staff social platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and into an old one. For a news organization that made its Instagram. Tailored to how people consume news on name in America streaming innovative global coverage, their phones, its videos are often snappy and can be it was a stunning miscalculation – one rooted in AJAM’s watched without sound. Within a year of launching, AJ+ original conception as a cable channel and then exacer- videos were the second most watched of any news pub- bated by other blunders. lisher on Facebook and generated 2.2 billion views there Most news organizations build their base first, test- in 2015 alone. ing models before growing rapidly, but AJAM did the Early on, AJ+ videos were primarily explainers, but reverse. Scaling up rapidly – hiring more than 700 staff over time, they broke into original foreign reporting. Its mere months ahead of its expected launch – led to chaos, staff traveled to Europe to journey alongside migrants poor management, and some bad hires. The company’s seeking refuge, and to the forests of Guerrero state in CEO was widely reviled by staff as a bully with poor Mexico, where 43 students disappeared in 2014. vision. Before it even launched, the channel was the But AJ+ isn’t perfect or a miraculous solution to target of sustained bigotry and anti-Muslim sentiment. journalism’s crises. Sometimes its experiments have felt It launched to disappointing ratings that improved only cheesy or partisan. And like other media organizations little over time. Across AJAM, morale was low, and is- producing distributed content, it doesn’t offer a very vi- sues of workplace harassment, sexism, and racism that able profit model – yet. But it’s prioritizing what media in my experience are pervasive across most media orga- organizations that want to succeed need to: experimen- nizations quickly bubbled to the surface in the form of tation and innovation. lawsuits. AJAM’s closure shouldn’t dissuade the media and its Against these extraordinary restraints, AJAM’s tal- consumers of their hopes for the future of journalism; it ented broadcast and digital journalists managed to pro- should better inform their attempts create the one they duce impressive award-winning work that often epito- want. mized its “voice of the voiceless” mission. AJAM won two OPC awards last year: theDavid Kaplan Award for Azmat Khan was a digital reporter at Al Jazeera a report on Gaza and the Joe and Laurie Dine Award for America in 2013 and 2014. She is now an investigative work that detailed the exploitation of contract workers reporter for BuzzFeed News. She is a member of the on U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. OPC’s board of governors.

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 5 PEOPLE... By Trish Anderton

OPC SCHOLARS OPC member David Hume tion into 2013 sarin gas attacks that 2014 H.L. Stephenson Fellow- Kennerly has been honored with killed 1500 people in Damascus, ship winner Caelainn Hogan had a the Lucie Award for Achievement . Multiple OPC Award-winner story in in Decem- in Photojournalism. Kennerly “is David Fanning of PBS’ Frontline ber about why a move away from considered a master storyteller by his took home multiple duPont-Colum- using Arabic script colleagues,” the Lucie Foundation bia Awards – one for Ebola coverage on Nigerian cur- wrote, “and has been shooting and another for a documentary about rency has proven on the front lines of history for transgender children. controversial. As an decades.” The awards, established OPC fellow, Hogan in 2003, recognize “the greatest UPDATES was based in Lagos, achievements in photography.” NEW YORK: OPC member Nigeria with the As- Michael Danes Kennerly has photographed more Anupreeta Das is joining a new sociated Press. She Hogan than 50 major magazine covers over financial enterprise team headed went on to do a global health fellow- the course of his career. Hired as a by David Enrich at The Wall Street ship with the GroundTruth Project, contributing editor by in Journal. Das has founded by OPC member Charles 2015, he is now producing photo recently been cov- Sennott. Hogan is currently free- essays about the 2016 presidential ering Warren Buf- lancing with a focus on migration, election. fett and Berkshire rights and religion. Hathaway for the Associated Press Mexico City Journal. She’ll con- Fatima Bhojani, OPC Founda- bureau chief Katherine Corcoran tinue in that role, tion’s 2015 Theo Wilson winner, re- has won an Alicia Patterson while also covering Das cently got a cover story in Newsweek Foundation fellowship. Corcoran, Wall Street and the presidential race. Middle East. “Cry, For My Son, For who was named the Josephine Das previously wrote about technol- His Freedom” tells Patterson Albright fellow, will ogy, media and the telecommunica- the story of a Paki- examine press freedom in Mexico. tions industry for Reuters. stani immigrant to The awards “provide support for the U.S. whose son journalists engaged in rigorous, Former OPC Governor Howard was sentenced to 30 probing, spirited, independent and Chua-Eoan has been given edito- years in prison after skeptical work that will benefit the rial authority over the front-of-the- being drawn into a Michael Danes public.” Corcoran has been with the book news sections at Bloomberg terrorism plot by an Bhojani AP since 2008. She has also worked Businessweek, where he is deputy FBI informant. Bhojani received a at the San Jose Mercury News, the managing editor. Chua-Eoan is a masters degree at Columbia Univer- Denver Post and the San Francisco former news director at Time maga- sity’s Stabile Center for Investigative Chronicle. zine and author of several books; he Journalism in 2015 and is now writing has served as Press Freedom chair at about national security, criminal jus- Josh Fine and David Scott, who the OPC. tice and foreign policy. won the 2014 David A. Andelman and Pamela Title Award for their OPC Governor Lara Setrakian AWARDS HBO Real Sports feature on labor has launched her latest immersive Former OPC President Richard abuses in the run-up to the 2022 news project. Arctic Deeply covers B. Stolley was inducted into the World Cup, have nabbed an Alfred I. the impact of climate change on the New York Journalism Hall of Fame duPont-Columbia University Award polar ice caps, and how the changing before a sold-out crowd at Sardi’s in for the same story. The judges said polar environment affects the rest of November. The Hall is maintained the “extensive investigation into Qa- the world. It is produced in partnership by The Deadline Club, which is the tar’s plan to achieve international with Canada’s Centre for International chapter of the Society recognition through sport exposed Governance. Setrakian founded the of Professional Journalists. Stolley the price it has exacted in fair play, media startup News Deeply in 2012 was honored for his six decades at human rights, and even human to provide sustained, in-depth report- Time, Inc., where he served as the lives.” Three-time OPC Award-win- ing on critical issues. The company’s company’s editorial director and ner Scott Pelley was also awarded a other topical deep-dives include Syria was the founding editor of People. duPont for his investiga- Deeply and Water Deeply.

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 6 The New York Times will still must safeguard its image as “a neu- have a print edition in 10 years – but tral force of moderation.” it may not be like today’s paper, says CEO Mark Thompson. “I think the Harper’s Magazine has issued print product will evolve,” Thompson the first retraction in its 165-year told OPC member and Harvard Busi- history. In December the magazine ness Review editor-in-chief Adi Ig- announced that “at least 5,647 of natius. He said the paper is focusing the 7,902 words” in its 1998 story on “what’s the right way of thinking Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images “Prophets and Losses” were based about your print platform in a smart- Al Jazeera America will close on fabrications. The story about phone world.” Thompson also said he its doors at the end of April, a move telephone psychics was authored by feels the Times is “successfully mon- CEO Al Anstey says was “driven Stephen Glass, who was fired byThe etizing our audiences for news better by the fact that our business model New Republic that same year when it than any other newspaper-based com- is simply not sustainable in light of emerged that many of his stories had pany in the world,” adding that “I’m the economic challenges in the U.S. been invented. “Prophets and Loss- not saying our model’s right for every- media marketplace.” Meanwhile, es” came under suspicion at the time one, but for us we think it’s the right AJAM’s global parent company but Harper’s was unable to confirm model.” Ignatius interviewed Thomp- will expand its digital operations its truth or falsity; “We can’t re- son as part of Business Insider’s IGNI- in the U.S. OPC Governor and for- tract the story without being able to TION 2015 conference. mer AJAM employee Azmat Khan confirm that it was false,” Harper’s writes that the effort was doomed to president and publisher – and OPC Jim Rutenberg, chief politi- failure because “Rather than dedi- member – John R. MacArthur told cal correspondent for The New York cating the brunt of its resources to The New York Times in 1998. Glass Times Magazine, will be the news- figuring out a new model in journal- recently sent the magazine a letter paper’s next media columnist – tak- ism’s changing landscape, it sunk admitting that the story was fiction- ing over a post that has stood empty most of its money, reputation, and al, perhaps as part of his ongoing ef- since the death of industry icon Da- staff into an old one.” You can read fort to get a California law license. vid Carr nearly a year ago. Rutenberg more of her analysis on page 3. An 2015 OPC Presi- started his Times career as a media anonymous AJAM staffer told the CHICAGO: dent’s Award recipient David Ro- reporter in 2000. “Jim brings to the Huffington Post that the company hde features prominently in Epi- job a passion for the story, a track “can unilaterally decide what to offer” hundreds of non-unionized sode 4 of the hit podcast Serial. The record in covering the industry and employees, but will have to negoti- show is exploring the case of Bowe the experienced eye of an astute ob- ate termination with some 50 union Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier who de- server,” wrote executive editor and members. serted his post in Afghanistan and OPC member , along was captured and held for five years, with business editor Dean Murphy, in The U.S. must be careful to avoid and who now faces court-martial. a memo to NYT staffers. the appearance of picking sides in Host Sarah Koenig interviews Ro- the Sunni-Shiite divide, OPC past hde about his captivity in 2008 and The New Republic is up for sale President David A. Andelman 2009 in the hands of the Haqqani again, as Facebook co-founder Chris writes in USA Today. While sig- network, a group aligned with the Hughes appears to have given up his nificant segments Taliban – and the same group that effort to transform the magazine into of popular Arab held Bergdahl. Rohde escaped just a digital powerhouse. “I underesti- and Iranian opin- ten days before Bergdahl’s capture; mated the difficulty of transitioning ion have long seen he says he worried that his escape an old and traditional institution into America as tied to might have caused the Haqqani to a digital media company in today’s the Sunnis, he ex- treat Bergdahl more harshly. quickly evolving climate,” Hughes plains, “the efforts wrote to employees; he went on to Andelman to bring to an LOS ANGELES: Don Bartlet- promise that “our staff will remain agreement on a nuclear weapons ti, part of the Los Angeles Times in place and fully supported over the moratorium and to the fight against team that won last year’s Robert coming weeks.” Hughes’ tenure has the Islamic State terrorist group Spiers Benjamin Award, has retired been bumpy, including the resigna- have shifted perceptions.” In order after accepting a buyout. Voice of tion of most of the magazine’s writers to bring together a coalition against San Diego published a lengthy inter- and editors in 2014 in protest over a ISIS, Andelman warns, America view with the Pulitzer-prize winning planned reorganization. (Continued on Page 8)

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 7 (Continued From Page 7) attempts to capture “spiking, trend- di Arabia which saw women vote and photojournalist in late December. ing searches,” not overall search be elected to office for the first time. Barletti told the website that “as a volume over the course of the year, journalist, I’m not namby-pamby. OPC Associate Board Member – and PEOPLE REMEMBERED I’m not in the middle. I’m not afraid Google global head of media out- Renowned cinematographer and to show the harshest of both sides – reach – Daniel Sieberg explained documentarian Haskell Wexler because my job as a photojournalist in an appearance on CBS News in died on Dec. 27 at age 93. Haskell is to give YOU a choice.” He also December. won multiple awards for his work said the OPC award is the one he on such influential films as “Who’s cherishes the most. RIYADH, : Young Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” and “In Saudi women are increasingly test- the Heat of the Night.” As a docu- MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.: ing the boundaries of their country’s mentarian, he exposed the torture The terror attacks in Paris were strict social codes, writes OPC Gover- of political prisoners in Brazil, in- the world’s biggest trending news nor Deborah Amos in a recent story terviewed American veterans of the event on Google in 2015, accord- for NPR. They call the phenomenon My Lai massacre, and in 1974 trav- ing to Google Trends. The attacks “pushing normal,” and it could in- eled throughout Vietnam filming prompted nearly 900 million search- volve anything from mingling in a ordinary citizens talking about the es. Other stories that made the list mixed-gender crowd at an art show to impact of the war. “An amazing life include the migrant crisis in Europe riding a bicycle by oneself – very early has ended,” his son Jeff wrote, “but (23 million), the Nepal earthquake in the morning, and disguised as a boy. his lifelong commitment to fight the (85 million), and Greece’s economic Amos, NPR correspondent, recently good fight, for peace, for all human- woes (35 million). Google Trends covered historic local elections in Sau- ity, will carry on.”

OPC Kicks Off New Year With Annual Holiday Party Photos this page: Chad Bouchard OPC President Marcus Mabry Left to right: Lindsay Krasnoff , Gary Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria addresses partygoers Weiss, Jacqueline Albert-Simon and on Jan. 6 Allan Dodds Frank.

Left to right: Melissa Ng, Pete Engardio, Left to right: Micah Garen, Robert Sullivan, Tim Ferguson and David Fondiller. Sandy Coliver and Spencer Platt.

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 8 PRESS FREEDOM UPDATE... v Washington Post corre- port. The number of journalists im- charges against one of his defenders, spondent Jason Rezaian was freed prisoned worldwide dropped to 199, noted author Arundhati Roy. Saib- from jail in a prisoner swap on Janu- from 221 the previous year. A full aba was arrested by Maharashtra po- ary 16, bringing to a close his 544 quarter of them were held in China. lice in May 2014 for alleged Mao- days in captivity in Iraq. Rezaian Meanwhile, arrests fell in Iran, Viet- ist links. He was released on bail immediately flew to the United nam, and Ethiopia. The CPJ says 14 months later after his health de- States with his wife, Yeganeh Sale- 28 percent of jailed members of the teriorated in prison. Saibaba uses a hi. “Friends and colleagues at The media are freelancers; that percent- wheelchair due to a bout of polio as Washington Post are elated by the age has steadily dropped since 2011. a child. Roy wrote a sharp-tongued wonderful news,” said Post publish- The majority of prisoners – 109 – article for Outlook last year er Frederick J. Ryan Jr., who thanked worked online, while 83 worked in criticizing Saibaba’s detention and “the many government leaders, print. India’s anti-Maoist campaign. journalists, human rights advocates and others around the world who In a move to offer greater privacy Two Sudanese newspaper edi- have spoken out on Jason’s behalf.” to its readers, ProPublica has be- tors could face the death penalty for Rezaian was convicted and sen- come the first news organization to writing columns critical of the gov- tenced last year in Iran’s secretive launch a major news site in the “dark ernment. Ahmed Yousef El Tay and Revolutionary Courts but the charg- web.” According to Wired Maga- Osman Mirghani were arrested in es and punishment were never made zine, the site runs as a “hidden ser- mid-December, according to The public. The Post has strongly denied vice” on the Tor network, the ano- Guardian. They are charged with any wrongdoing on his part. nymity system that powers the thou- abusing their positions as journal- sands of untraceable websites that ists, publishing false news and un- The numbers and definitions vary, are sometimes known as the darknet dermining the constitutional system but press freedom groups agree on or dark web. This ensures that that a – the latter of which is punishable one thing: 2015 was a deadly year user who visited the site will remain by death. Marghani edits Al-Tayar for the news media. The Committee hidden from prying eyes. ProPublica while Al-Tay is the editor of Al- to Protect Journalists says 71 jour- says it hopes the site will serve as a Saiha. Journalist and activist Faisal nalists were killed “in direct relation model for other media organizations. Mohammed Salih told the Guard- to their work,” making it the fourth ian the criminal code was in conflict deadliest year since 1992.” The In- Senior members of the Society with the constitution. “The govern- ternational Press Institute counts for Professional Journalists met ment is facing a genuine challenge “98 journalists believed to have died with White House press secretary this time, and we will see whether as a direct result of their job and 35 Josh Earnest in December to plead they will respect their own laws and more killed under circumstances that for more openness from the Obama constitution, or not,” he added. remain murky,” resulting in “one of administration. SPJ President Paul the deadliest years on record.” The Fletcher said in a statement that the One of the 47 people executed by International Federation of Jour- organization asked for Obama to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 2 was Adel al- nalists reports “at least 112 journal- “renew his commitment to transpar- Dhubaiti, who was convicted of mur- ists and media staff killed in targeted ency in government” and to make dering cameraman Simon Cumbers killings, bomb attacks and cross-fire a “clear statement that government and injuring reporter Frank Gard- incidents.” Reporters Without Bor- employees are free to speak without ner, both of the BBC. The Telegraph ders lists 110 “professional journal- interference to members of the press writes that al-Dhubaiti ambushed ists killed.” Another thing the groups and public.” Press freedom groups the two journalists while they were agree on is that 2015 saw an increase have long criticized this White House shooting a story about al-Qaeda in a in targeted killings, especially by ex- for prosecuting journalists, leakers town near Riyadh in 2004. The at- tremist groups such as Islamic State. and whistleblowers and keeping too tack left Gardner paralyzed; he has much information under wraps. since battled back from his injuries China jailed a record number of and resumed reporting. Al-Dhubaiti, journalists in 2015, and arrests also Academics and activists gathered a convicted terrorist, was sentenced increased sharply in Egypt and Tur- in New Delhi to protest the re-arrest to die in 2014. key, The Committee to Protect of English professor G. N. Saibaba Journalists wrote in a year-end re- and the issuance of contempt of court (Continued on Page 10)

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 9 (Continued From Page 9) Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) reports by Islamic State militants because of that one of its members, MURDERS Ahmad Mo- his work with the organization. Jerf ● Two Iraqi journalists were shot hamed Almossa, was killed on Dec. helped produce a documentary about dead while en route to Baquba with 16. According to a tweet from on the RBSS. a senior security officer on Jan. 12, RBSS account, Almossa was “Assas- reports. Reporter Saif sinated in #Idlib #Syria by Unknown ● Ruqia Hassan, who used Face- Tallal and cameraman Hassan al- Masked group.” The anonymous col- book to document life under Islamic Anbaki of Al-Shar- lective is known for the risks it faces State rule in Raqqa, has been execut- by secretly filming and reporting qiya TV station were trailing behind ed by the militant group. The Guard- within the Islamic State stronghold of a convoy led by Lieutenant General ian reports that she was killed in Sep- Mizher al-Azzawi, the provincial Raqqa in northern Syria. tember after being detained in July. security head, when their car was The 30-year-old Kurdish philosophy stopped in a village by masked men. ● Syrian documentarian and jour- The TV channel, which is owned by nalist Naji Jerf was killed in Turkey graduate was known for her dark Sunnis, blamed Shiite militants for on Dec. 27. The Telegraph (UK) humor – “No one has shown us any the killings. reported that Jerf was shot in broad compassion except the graveyards,” daylight in the border city of Gazian- she once wrote – as well as her vivid ● The award-winning Syrian citi- tep. A spokesman for RBSS told the portraits of daily life and her boldness zen journalist group Raqqa is Being paper that he believed Jerf was killed in posting her observations publicly.

(‘History’ Continued From Page 3)

Matthews’ reporting. “We had eighteen men he thought Bulletin we were a patrol, but that was our entire army,” he said. “He didn’t ask how many men I had, because he thought it wasn’t right. And I didn’t tell him.” Since the event, many OPC members and award winners have crossed paths with the Cuban leader. Longtime United Press correspondent Henry

Raymont, who interviewed Castro eight times during May 1959 Ann Meuer, Photos: his career, will speak at the OPC’s Remembering Castro OPC President Thomas P. Whitney enjoys Castro’s story panel on Feb. 3, about his meeting with Herbert L. Mattews. Interpreter is to the left. In an email to the OPC, he recalled talking to Castro in Washington for the United Press soon after the revolution. Castro asked to speak with someone knowledgeable about affairs in Latin America because he wanted to catch up on news since he had been “out of touch” while leading the rebellion in the mountains. “We met for five hours – I talked for three and he for only two,” Raymont wrote. “And I had the chutzpah to tell him that, as far as I was concerned, his revolution could not have come at a worse moment for a ‘dawning awareness’ of Latin American politics.” The dais included OPC officers and officials from the Longtime club member Seymour Topping Cuban government. New York City police stand in the interviewed Castro in November 1983 while working as background. managing editor for The New York Times. Castro told Georgie Ann Geyer of the Chicago Daily News won him that the U.S. had turned its back on him after the the 1966 Ed Stout Award for reporting on Communist revolution, and that the Soviet Union offered support guerrillas in Guatemala and her “exclusive, wide-rang- and subsidies. ing” interviews with Castro that were “frank and often “But he insisted that while he was taking advice from heated.” the Russians, that at no point were they in control of Laura Bergquist of Look magazine won the 1967 Ed Cuba or determining what policy would be,” he said Stout Award for a series on Cuba that judges said in- during an OPC video memoir interview. cluded “penetrating impressions of Cuba playing host to Two OPC award winners received accolades for a world gathering of revolutionaries, and her own face- work involving coverage of Castro. to-face confrontation with Castro.”

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 10 Meet the OPC Members: Q&A With Anita Snow

By Trish Anderton Anita Snow is a veteran international journalist who specializes in the Americas. She currently is based in Mexico City as an editor on the AP regional desk for Latin America and the Caribbean. Previously, she was a UN correspondent for the AP and a 2010 Nieman fellow at . She reopened the AP’s Havana office in 1999 and went on to serve as bureau chief for a decade.

Hometown: Born in Norfolk, Virginia, but grew up mostly in Southern California.

Education: BA in Communications/Journalism from

California State University, Fullerton; MA in Latin Anita Snow Adalberto Roque, courtesy of American and Caribbean Studies from New York Uni- Then-Cuban President Fidel Castro chats with Anita Snow versity; MFA in Creative Nonfiction writing from in September 1999 after he appeared on state television Goucher College in Baltimore. to defend high jump champion Javier Sotomayor, who had tested positive for doping. Castro suggested that the Languages: Native-level Spanish. athlete’s urine sample had been tampered with.

First job in journalism: Police reporter at The Orange case the hotel has a pool and some good walking shoes County Register in Santa Ana, California. in case there’s time to explore.

Countries reported from: United States, Mexico, Ni- Hardest story I’ve done: Interviewing parents about caragua, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Cuba, their children who were killed in the 1994 Zapatista Haiti and the Dominican Republic. rebel uprising in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. When did you join the OPC? January 2000. Journalism heroes: Bob Woodward and How did you first become interested in Latin Amer- of The Washington Post, whose stories about the Water- ica and the Caribbean? When I was working for The gate investigation inspired me to become a reporter. , I began covering the Mexican and Salvadoran immigrant communities in Southern Advice for journalists who want to work overseas: California and I soon wanted to learn about the countries These days, you need to learn how to do everything: they had come from south of the border. Write well, take photos and shoot video. How do you feel about the ongoing changes in US re- Favorite quote: “You own everything that happened lations with Cuba? I find the changes fascinating, and saw that Cuba was already starting to change when I vis- to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write ited the island on a work trip in early 2015. But truly big warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” changes probably won’t occur unless the US Congress – Anne Lamont. votes to eliminate the longstanding embargo against the island. Most over-the-top assignment: A story idea I came up with to spend a month living on a diet similar to the Cu- Major challenge as a journalist: Reopening AP’s ban government food ration and writing about it. Havana bureau after the new agency’s nearly 30-year absence. Country I most want to return to: Peru for the food Best journalism advice received: “Just keep fighting.” and culture, Cuba for the people. – Eloy O. Aguilar, the now late former AP bureau chief for Mexico and Central America, when I felt like giving Twitter handle: @asnowreports up while trying to set up the Havana bureau. Want to add to the OPC’s collection of Q&As with When traveling, I like to always: Bring a swimsuit in members? Please contact [email protected].

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 11 New Books their resources and prestige during of humanitarian workers – and how, in CHINA the Cultural Revolution. Thus, it a broader sense, the West keeps “get- HINA HAS BEGUN REVERS- took a mechanistic approach that ting Africa wrong.” C ing its one-child policy, announc- failed to consider the devastating The reasons he identifies for the ing in October that it will allow two human impacts of forced abortion catastrophe in are depressing- children per family. But it will take and involuntary sterilization, and ly familiar. First, the emergency food the wider socioeconomic distribution network failed to get food more than one announce- distortions that would to people who needed it, partly due to ment – and one genera- ripple through the security issues. In addition, the U.S. tion – for the country to population. blocked food distribution to South recover from the damage Fong, a former China Somalia because it was controlled inflicted by the popula- correspondent for The by an al Qaeda-allied guerilla group. tion-control experiment, Wall Street Journal This stance was abetted by the So- Mei Fong argues in her who is now a fellow at mali government and by the extrem- new book. New America, travels to ists themselves, who barred foreign The campaign to “bachelor villages” where aid organizations from their territory. limit births, she writes there are no women of The Obama administration eventually in One Child: The Story marrying age. She tracks relaxed its strictures, but too late to of China’s Most Radical down a former family- change the course of the famine. Experiment [Houghton Mifflin planning official who authorized There are also larger failures un- Harcourt, January], “irrevocably hundreds of forced late-term derlying African hunger, Perry says shaped the face of modern China abortions, and spends time with – failures that illustrate how the West and set in motion a host of social and families who lost their only children discounts Africans’ competence and economic problems that will endure in the devastating 2008 Sichuan promotes their dependence. For ex- for decades.” earthquake. She examines China’s ample, he argues that decades of for- The campaign was the brainchild troubled economic future as millions eign food aid in Ethiopia “killed the of rocket scientists, Fong notes, prepare to retire on the market for Africa’s com- and not social scientists – many backs of a comparatively mercial farmers, who lost of whom had lost tiny workforce. any incentive to farm. No “Fong’s fine book is farming then created more Upcoming Events a moving and at times hungry people the next year. harrowing account of the In that sense, food aid was

Book Night: significance of decisions addictive.” - taken by a small coterie of In The Rift, Perry draws The Lovers: Afghani men (no women) with too on nearly a decade of trav- stan’s Romeo and Juliet much faith in science and els around Africa to argue 6:30 p.m., Jan. 27 ideology, and too little in that the world must come humanity,” writes The Guardian, to terms with a resurgent Africa – one Using Encryption to while The Washington Post calls with healthy economic growth and Protect Yourself it a “moving testimony to the ideas that can transform the conti- and Your Sources suffering and forbearance of its nent. Africa, he writes, must resist the 6:00 p.m., Feb. 2 victims.” temptations of aid groups, extremists and dictators in order to write its own OPC Lunch: AFRICA future. Kirkus Reviews calls the book Remembering Castro “ ATURE CREATES an “epic, rich, endlessly surprising 12:00 p.m., Feb. 3 N drought but only man narrative of a fast-changing Africa by makes a famine,” writes OPC one of the few Western journalists to member Alex Perry in the open- have spent enough time there to un- Book Night: One Child ing words of The Rift: A New Af- 6:00 p.m., Feb. 9 derstand it.” rica Breaks Free [Little, Brown — By Trish Anderton and Company, November Russia Hands Reunion 2015]. This haunting phrase is WELCOME TO OUR 4:00 p.m., Feb. 24 the launching point for Perry’s NEW MEMBER exploration of just how a fam- OPC Foundation ine killed 260,000 people in Nicholas Phillips Scholarship Luncheon Somalia between 2010 and Freelance 11:30 a.m., Feb. 26 2012 despite the best efforts Active Overseas

OPC Bulletin • January 2016 • Page 12