MONTHLY NEWSLETTER I January 2019

Award-Winning Veteran Correspondent INSIDE to Deliver Keynote at OPC Scholar Luncheon Save the Date: Annual Awards Dinner by jane reilly Pyle, whose long and accomplished April 18 2

.J. Chivers, Pulitzer Associated Press career spanned the globe and a half-century of crisis, Farwell to Prize-winning correspondent The Half King 3 for , will war, catastrophe and indelible mo- C ments in news reporting, including Jaime FlorCruz be the keynote speaker at the annual the Cuban missile crisis, the resig- Exhibition 3 Overseas Press Club Foundation Scholar Awards Luncheon on Friday, nation of Richard Nixon, the 9-11 World Trade Center attacks and 2019 Hoilday Party Feb. 22, 2019, at the Yale Club. The Photos 4 event begins with a reception at Desert Storm. He will be remem- the club’s Rooftop Terrace at 11:30 bered most for his Return coverage over five critical years, the to Guatemala 5 a.m., followed by the luncheon in the Grand Ballroom which ends last half as chief of the news orga- nization’s Pulitzer Prize-winning People Column 6-7 promptly at 2:00 p.m. Bill Holstein, president of the Saigon bureau. Press Freedom OPC Foundation, said he was es- CHIVERS MICK Holstein noted, “I used to hang Update 8-9 for The New York Times Magazine pecially pleased to have Chivers out with Richard at the Foreign Cor- and the paper’s investigations desk. New Books 10 headline the Foundation’s signature respondents Club of Japan late in his He won the OPC’s 2011 Hal career and then again in New York event. “C.J. Chivers represents the Q&A: Boyle Award for conflict reporting very best values and work ethic in when he was transferred home. He Alice Driver 11 in Libya and , and the the business and he has the awards to was one of the all-time greats, spend- 2014 Best Investigative Reporting show it. He has long gone into very ing nearly half a century chronicling Award for his series “Secret Casual- difficult situations to get the story.” the world’s toughest stories. Unlike ties” on U.S. soldiers’ exposure to He added, “we don’t encourage our a lot of burned-out wire service cor- chemical weapons. His magazine young people to go anywhere near respondents I’ve known, he was easy story “The Fighter” won the 2017 combat, but they will be inspired by to approach and talk with. He was a Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing. Chris’ determination to be on the gentleman and I regarded him as a In 2009 he was part of a team that ground and tell stories in longform, a friend.” won the Pulitzer Prize for Interna- craft that was supposed to have dis- Holstein remains concerned with tional Reporting for coverage from appeared in the era of social media.” how the current economic model Afghanistan and Pakistan. Chivers Chivers spent the vast portion supporting international news will served as an infantry officer in the of his 20-year career at the Times affect this generation of young Marine Corps in the as a foreign correspondent focus- journalists. “We think we are wit- Persian and on peacekeep- ing on conflict, human rights and nessing a decline in the number of ing duty during the the arms trade on assignments in young Americans who believe that riots in 1992. Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinian ter- becoming a foreign correspondent The luncheon will also feature ritories, Chechnya, Libya, Syria and is a great and glorious cause. So we the presentation of a combination elsewhere. He also served as Mos- are increasingly playing the role of of scholarships and fellowships to cow correspondent from June 2004 an institution that encourages young 16 graduate and undergraduate col- through 2007 and was the paper’s people to see the act of covering in- lege students aspiring to become Moscow bureau chief in 2007 and ternational stories as something that foreign correspondents. Holstein is 2008. He is now a long-form writer is valuable to themselves and to our especially pleased to announce the and investigative reporter who works first award in the name of Richard Continued on Page 2

1 1 ‘OPC Foundation’ the ACOS Alliance, to see that jour- Continued From Page 1 nalists throughout the world have the training and support they need to democracy as a whole,” he said. do their jobs as well and as securely The 2019 winning recipients are as possible.” from Brown University, Columbia Up to 12 of this year’s winners University, Davidson College, Har- will receive fellowships to work in vard University, Tufts University, the foreign bureaus of the Founda- University of California-Berkeley, tion’s media partners, including the University of London, University AP, , Bloomberg, The Wall of Missouri, University of North Street Journal, GroundTruth Project Carolina-Chapel Hill and Yale Uni- and possibly the . versity. “These young people inspire The fellowships ensure that the me every year because they want awardees gain valuable experience to travel down what I regard as the and insight working with veteran sacred path of bearing witness. They editors and reporters. In 2018, the just want a chance. Our imperative Foundation funded fellowships in is to help train them and keep them bureaus across Europe, Asia, Africa, safe as they explore the world,” said the Americas and the Middle East. Holstein. The Foundation picks up the cost of Events for the 2018 winners will the airfare and one to two months last three days starting on Thursday living expenses for the winners. afternoon, when the Foundation will Holstein is grateful to Bloom- host two panels at Reuters for those berg which again hosted the judging award winners interested in either in December and to the dedicated business or television panel of judges who chose the 2019 news. That evening, Reuters will host recipients: Allen Alter; Tom Con- the traditional reception for current tiliano of Bloomberg; John Dan- and past winners of OPC Foundation iszewski of the AP; Bob Dowling; awards at the wire service’s Times Tim Ferguson; Joe Flint of The Wall Square headquarters. On Friday, Street Journal; Allan Dodds Frank; besides addressing a distinguished Holstein; Adam Horvath of The audience of more than 200 luncheon Wall Street Journal; Caitlin Hu of guests at the Yale Club, the award CNN; Larry Martz; Marcy McGin- winners will meet with Holstein and nis; Kate McLeod; Maria Mercader veteran international journalists in of CBS News; Russell Midori of a pre-luncheon breakfast and with CBS News; Ellen Nimmons of the several foreign editors following the AP; Jim Pensiero; Charlie Sennott luncheon. For many, said Holstein, of the GroundTruth Project; Mi- the opportunity to meet and observe chael Serrill; Steve Swanson of the prominent journalists in action is as Bronx Botanical Garden; Ed Tobin valuable as any monetary awards. of Reuters; and Karen Toulon of For the fifth year in a row, on Bloomberg. the Saturday after the luncheon, the Luncheon tickets are $85 for OPC Foundation will offer a full OPC members and $150 for non- day of risk assessment and situ- members. The Foundation encour- ational training for the winners at ages media and corporate support at the CUNY Graduate School of Jour- its three levels of giving: Benefac- nalism. Frank Smyth, president and tors, $9,000; Patrons, $6,000; and founder of Global Journalist Secu- Friends, $3,000. Tables seat 10. rity, a hostile environment training To purchase tickets, click on the image above or visit the The reception begins at 11:30 a.m. firm based in Washington DC, will OPC website at opcofamerica.org. on the Yale’s Club’s Roof Terrace again lead the program. Those who followed by luncheon in the Grand participated in the past called the Ballroom. The event ends promptly experience invaluable. “We have a at 2:00 p.m. All proceeds benefit responsibility to make sure our win- the OPC Foundation. For further ners engage in the world’s stories information, contact Jane Reilly, the in ways that keep them safe,” said OPC Foundation’s executive direc- Holstein. “We will continue to do tor, at 201 819-2639 or: what we can, as fiscal sponsors of [email protected]. v January 2019 2 The Half King: An OPC Favorite Closes by brian byrd fter 18 years in business, The Half King bar and restaurant in Chelsea closed its doors at the end of Janu- Aary 2019. Earlier that month, the owners held a farewell party, packed with longtime patrons. Among them were members of the Overseas Press Club. Since 2014, OPC hosted several monthly mixers in the bar’s private room. When Sebastian Junger, Scott Anderson and Nanette Burstein opened The Half King, I was living in Chelsea, which was still rough around the edges. At the time, I was covering the AIDS crisis in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. When I got home, I needed a place where I could sit, decompress and recharge myself. After a difficult assignment, you need a place to share your experiences with fellow journalists, photojournalists, or writers, knowing you never have to end the conversation with, “well, I guess you just had to be there.” More than a social outing, going to The Half King helped preserve my mental health. When you first walked in, The Half King had an English pub feel to it. The dark wood interior, salvaged from a 200-year-old OCHS CAITLIN barn, gave it an old-world atmosphere. The bar was named after the Left to right: David Andelman, Sebastian Junger, Brian Byrd, eighteenth-century Seneca chief known as the “Half King,” who in Robert Nickelsburg and Scott Anderson. 1754, became an ally of a young Lieutenant Colonel named George Washington. When asked how they came to name the bar after the what The Half King offered: a place to socialize, gossip, and work. chief, Junger said, “We were just intrigued by his story. He killed It was that rare establishment where the creative community could Jumonville (an Ensign in the French Army) because the French had share their work with the public, through readings, screenings and killed his father; that essentially triggered the French and Indian War; photo exhibits. and without the defeat of the French on the colonial frontier, the At the end of the farewell party, I was reminded of Ted Kenne- colonists never would have dared throw off the English. Plus, it’s just dy’s 1980 concession speech: “For all those whose cares have been a cool sounding name.” our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, Places like The Half King are increasingly rare. They serve as an- and the dream shall never die.” The Half King may have closed, but chors of a community – both physically and spiritually. “We wanted its dream will live on. v to create a place where people in the journalism and publishing pro- fessions could meet,” said Junger. And for nearly two decades, this is

Jaime FlorCruz Displays ‘China Junk’ in Exhibit by jaime florcruz not for monetary considerations. I did so t makes sense to declutter and down- perhaps because I am a China and history size, a la Marie Kondo. I’ve been trying buff and they appealed to me as study Ito do just that, with modest success. materials. As a writer and storyteller they This exhibit may be a step forward. appealed to me because I see stories in Of course, we must be smart about what them. Old pictures, carvings, clothes, hats we discard and what we keep. and fabrics, furniture, whatever, they tell I treat these things, stuff, not as mere stories to me. Many of them happen to be dusty collectibles but as living records and aesthetically attractive too. reminders of my past, of China’s as well, “Let the past serve the present, let the and of my 47-year journey in China. foreign serve China.” That’s a Mao quota- I believe in the need for introspection, tion that resonates. We can learn things soul searching if you will. It’s my way of from this old junk. taking stock of myself and, as I write try A section of the exhibit shows some FLORCRUZ ANA to write my memoir, to reminisce and to of my “maomorabilia”: Mao pins, banners, Jaime FlorCruz, left, speaks with guests at his exhibit discern. To me these objects show what is posters. Red Guard arm bands. in Intramuros, Manila. not seen. They tell us about life, culture and One of my favorites is a vintage poster values. We need to treasure them lest we fall which shows Mao inspecting a China-de- into the trap of historical amnesia. I acquired and have kept this China junk Continued on Page 9 January 2019 3 OPC Holiday Party Kicks Off 2019 Calendar Photos: John Naughton

Left to right: Linda Fasulo, Deidre Depke and Patricia Kranz.

Left to right: Andy Katell, Pete Engardio, left, and Bill Collins. Emma Daly and Evelyn Leopold.

Past and current OPC presidents, left to right: Michael Ser- rill, Bill Holstein, Pancho Bernasconi (current president), Eleanor Natili, left, and Farwa Zaidi Deidre Depke and Allan Dodds Frank.

January 2019 4 Robert Nickelsberg Returns to Guatemala After Three Decades

OPC member and former Governor Robert Nickelsberg has been awarded a fellowship at the Logan Nonfiction Program, which is part of the Carey Institute in Rensselaerville, New York. He plans to write about his return to Guatemala’s Ixil re- gion, where from 1981 to 1984 he worked on stories for TIME magazine on the massacres committed by the Guatemalan Army during its civil war. He returned this January to find survivors more than three decades later. The images on this page were shot on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5 this year. Nickelsberg wrote that “the first two frames [below] were Nickelsberg taken in Nebaj, Guatemala where I’d last been in May 1984 and the third photo in San Juan Cotzal, Guatemala where I’d been on January 20, 1982. Both Juana Cordova Marroquin, 56, holds a picture cities are in the Ixil region and were in the heart of guerrilla territory where civilians were of her and her sister-in-law taken by Nick- heavily massacred during the early 1980’s.” He was able to find half of the 14 people he elsberg on Jan. 20, 1982. Nickelsberg wrote: photographed in 1982 and 1984. On that date, a group of journalists were flown by helicopter into San Juan Cotzal, in the ethnic Mayan Ixil region of Guatemala. This was a day after a massive attack, Jan. 19, by the Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres, or EGP guerrillas, on a military base in San Juan Cotzal. The government publicly reported 12 soldiers were killed. We saw 5 to 6 dead soldiers being unloaded in Santa Cruz de Quiché earlier in the day – the attack was a significant one and General Benedicto Lucas Garcia, leading the military response, was fum- ing with anger. Jim Willwerth and I were there for TIME magazine. Pamela Yates and her film crew were along. Dial Torgerson from the Los Angeles Times was also present. The woman shown in the picture, 20 years old in 1982, was being interviewed by us while she collected water. The water spigot is no longer there. Fear Josefa Cedillo Marcos, 48, left, and her niece, Pedro Antonio Cedillo Marcos, 36, holds a was clearly on their faces. The local residents Juana Cedillo Perez, 40, hold a picture taken picture taken by Nickelsberg in May 1984 in knew a violent response by the military was by Nickelsberg for TIME magazine in May Nebaj, Guatemala on Jan. 5. Pedro, center in inevitable and were clearly anxious about their 1984 in Nebaj, Guatemala nearly 35 years later the black and white picture, was 2 years old in fate. True to form, 67 civilians were killed by on Jan. 5. Both survived the violent 36-year 1984. Pedro and his two sisters survived the the army in response to the attack. I went back civil war and numerous massacres perpetrated violent 36-year civil war and numerous mas- to Cotzal and found the woman who recalled in the ethnic Mayan Ixil region by the Gua- sacres perpetrated by the Guatemala Army in the event 37 years ago. She’d been hired to temala Army. They witnessed civilians being the ethnic Mayan region. Pedro is now a high work inside the military base for cooking and killed and still recall the trauma all of them school physics teacher. His two sisters are also doing laundry. She’d been asked not to come experienced. Over 200,000 civilians were mur- school teachers. to work on Jan. 20 as there was going to be dered, the majority by the Guatemalan Army, a birthday party for an army officer the night with 40,000 disappeared, many still unac- before. The EGP guerrillas were the uninvited counted for since peace was declared in 1996. guests that early morning. From questions I’d Josefa’s mother, on the right in the photo, had asked on my return, 37 army soldiers were re- passed away due to health reasons. portedly killed in the attack, far too many than what the military wanted to admit. The woman on the right is Juana’s sister-in-law, Manuella Cordova Ordoñez. v

January 2019 5 By Farwa Zaidi and Chad Bouchard WELCOME PEOPLE N E W OPC SCHOLARS to Michael J. Green for By MEMBERS Isabel DeBre, the 2018 Stan Swinton More Than Providence: winner, made the most of her OPC Grand Strategy and Donna Airoldi Foundation fellowship with The As- American Power in the Freelance sociated Press in Jerusalem. She was Asia Pacific Since 1783. New York Active Resident hired on as a reporter and will remain The award honors books in Jerusalem until the summer of 2019. that make an outstanding Jack Dodson Freelance In her application for the OPC Founda- contribution to the under- Haifa, Israel tion in 2017, DeBre wrote about an in- standing of foreign policy Active Overseas, Young fluential club at the American Univer- or international relations. (29 or under) sity in Beirut that became a formidable The prize is for non-fiction Sydney Low political force in Lebanon. works from the past year. Photographer In early December, Gessen DeBre Paul Asterisk Images Hiba Dlewati, the first Sally Jacob- received a Hitchens Prize Kew, ISIS resurgence. Taub’s piece, “Iraq’s for a body of work that ex- Active Overseas sen winner in 2018, has just been hired as a reporter for Al Jazeera English. Post-ISIS Campaign of Revenge,” pub- presses a commitment to “free expres- Christopher Miller lished in December, follows a brutal sion and inquiry.” Correspondent She is based in Doha, Qatar. Dlewati for Eastern Europe had an OPC Foundation fellowship campaign by Iraqi government forces Radio Free Europe/ in the AP bureau in Beirut. After her and Shiite militias that has resulted in Author and journalist Steve Coll’s Radio Liberty study of medicine in Damascus was hundreds of thousands of Sunni Mus- book Directorate S: The CIA and Amer- Kyiv, Ukraine cut short by the Syrian War, she moved lims are being detained, tortured and ica’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Active Overseas, Young executed or cast out of society because Pakistan was nominated for the “long- (30-34) to the U.S. and finished her bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan of suspected associations with ISIS. He list” for The National Book Award for Adoum Moussa in Flint. She has written extensively was interviewed on NPR’s “Fresh Air” Nonfiction. The book, published early Freelance Agadez, Niger about Syrian diaspora and the world of in December to talk about the article. last year, is a close look at secret securi- Active Overseas shady brokers who book boat passage ty agencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. for refugees traveling from Turkey to AWARDS The nonfiction award this year went to Sonali Prasad OPC member and freelancer Roopa Freelance Greece. Jeffrey C. Stewart for The New Negro: New Delhi, India Gogineni won the Rory Peck award The Life of Alain Locke, a biography of Active Overseas, Young After an award-winning stretch as an for News Feature in November. The the father of the Harlem Renaissance. (29 or under) investigative reporter for The Associat- Rory Peck awards honor the work Directorate S was also named as a final- ed Press, Jeff Horwitz, Fred Wiegold of freelancers covering global news. ist for the National Book Critics Circle winner in 2009, will be leaving Wash- Gogineni was recognized for her film Award on Jan. 22. Coll is the dean of ington, DC for San Francisco where he The Rebel Puppeteers of Sudan, which the Graduate School of Journalism at will be covering Facebook for The Wall focused on the creator of a satirical pup- Columbia University, and served as Street Journal. Most recently, Jeff was pet show to share the news of the ongo- president of the New America Founda- the 2018 recipient of the Knight Bage- ing conflict in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. tion, a public policy institute in Wash- hot Fellowship’s annual Christopher J. She filmed the piece in Sudan in 2016, ington D.C. His first book, Ghost Wars, Welles Memorial Prize, for his report- and it was later broadcast on The New won him a Pulitzer Prize. Last March, ing on the Paul Manafort saga. York Times website. Judges of the Rory Coll sat down with the OPC for a book Peck award acknowledged the risk night to discuss Directorate S. Katie Paul, the 2017 Irene Corbally Gogineni took by making the story with Kuhn winner, is leaving the Middle very little funding and little backing. Freelance reporter Asad Hashim was East after stints in Damascus, Beirut, Based in Nairobi, she has spent the last named as winner of the 2018 Agence Amman and most recently as a senior seven years covering the conflict in East France-Presse Kate Webb Prize on Jan. correspondent for Reuters in Dubai Africa. She has been an OPC member 13. He was recognized for his cover- and Riyadh. She will now be based in since 2017. age of the plight of ethnic Pashtuns and the Reuters bureau in San Francisco. blasphemy issues in his native Pakistan. Paul’s new beat is social media, cover- Masha Gessen, winner of the OPC’s The award, named after one of AFP’s ing Facebook, Twitter and other com- 2016 Best Commentary Award, was most celebrated correspondents who panies that are based in America but one of this year’s recipients of the CFR died in 2007 at the age of 64, recognizes responsible for the flow of information Arthur Ross Book Award in early De- journalism by locally hired reporters across the planet. Katie had an OPC cember. She won the bronze medal for in Asia operating in risky or difficult Foundation fellowship in the Reuters her book The Future is History: How conditions. bureau in Buenos Aires. Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. She and three other winners of the award UPDATES The New Yorker published a new long- participated in a discussion on Dec. It has been a tough month for many form piece from Ben Taub, the 2014 4. The Gold Medal went to Stephen journalists. BuzzFeed News told Emanuel R. Freedman winner, about Kotkin for Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, staff on Jan. 25 that 43 of the division’s Iraq’s treatment of suspected jihadis 1929–1941, and the Silver Medal went 250 journalists would be laid off. The and how it would set the stage for an January 2019 6 cut was just the first step in a planned living in China, who have been taken tory and economic damages and $1 15 percent reduction in staff overall from families and kept in “education billion in punitive damages. Rezaian’s at BuzzFeed. HuffPost announced 20 centers.” The piece, titled “Locked attorney argued that his client was held employees were cut on Jan. 24 as its away, Forgotten: Muslim Uighur as a bargaining chip in talks with Iran. parent company, Verizon Media, laid Wives of Pakistani Men,” includes Rezaian was the Post’s correspondent in off 7 percent of its staff. Overall, about interviews with families searching Tehran from 2012 to 2016 and is now a 800 employees across several brands, for mothers and wives who have dis- writer for its Global Opinions section. A including AOL and Yahoo. Cuts of appeared. Gannon lit the Candle of book about his experience in Iran, titled about 400 jobs were also announced at Remembrance during the 2015 Annual Prisoner, was released in January. In Gannett newsrooms across the U.S. Awards Dinner and was the keynote 2017, Rezaian lit the ceremonial Candle speaker at the OPC Foundation Scholar of Remembrance at the OPC Awards Award-winning journalist Susan Zi- Awards Luncheon in 2016. She sur- Dinner. rinsky, senior executive producer at vived a brutal shooting attack while CBS News, has been named president covering elections in Afghanistan in PEOPLE REMEMBERED and senior executive producer of CBS 2014. Kang is a video journalist based Desmond Boylan, a veteran News. Her new role was announced on in Beijing and contributed to the report. photojournalist for The Associated Jan. 6 by Joe Ianniello, president and Press, died suddenly while on acting CEO of CBS Corporation. Zirin- OPC member Jake Naughton assignment in Cuba on Dec. 29. at sky started working for CBS in the net- launched a Kickstarter for a book proj- the age of 54. Boylan was traveling work’s Washington bureau two weeks ect he and his partner Juan Sosa have to cover New Year’s festivities in after the Watergate break-in. Over the completed to chronicle their love story Central Havana for the AP when he next four decades, she produced mul- in photographs. The campaign raised reported feeling ill. He asked to rest tiple award-winning documentaries and more than $25,000 from a total of 278 on a local family’s couch and passed programs, covering a wide range of backers. The two have been working away there. Boylan began working as a stories including the Gulf War, the stu- the project together for five years, col- photographer for AP in Spain in 1989. dent uprising in Tiananmen Square, the lecting photos, designing and editing He later worked for Reuters, covering 9/11 attacks, the Paris terror attacks, the book. The book, titled When We the end of apartheid in South Africa, and the mass shooting at a school in Were Strangers, will be published by the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and war in Parkland, last year. Zirinsky is Red Hook Editions and is due out in the former Yugoslavia. Boylan traveled slated to begin her new role in March. the spring of this year. On the Kick- to Cuba in 1994, where he met his starter page, Naughton describes the wife Gloria Gonzalez. He worked from OPC Governor David Ariosto has book as a look at “the ups and downs, Madrid and India, covering conflict in moved from his post at Brut to a new the challenges and triumphs, the ev- Southeast Asia and Afghanistan, and gig as executive producer at GZERO eryday little wondrous moments” of then moved back to Cuba in 2009, Media at Eurasia Group. He previously being in love. A recent update indi- returning to the AP in 2014. worked as managing editor at Brut, and cated that the book is already being Peter Larkin, former foreign editor has also served as supervising producer printed, and the two creators will hold of CBS News, passed away early New of NPR’s “All Things Considered.” a book launch and exhibition opening Year’s Eve with his family around him. You can read about his new book This at United Photo Industries in Brook- He was 76 years old. His mission was Is Cuba on Page 10. lyn on Feb. 14. Naughton is a world to help Americans better understand recognized photographer who has events abroad and their impact on the Noticias announced in been awarded numerous times for his U.S. He worked at UPI and at CBS December that it will launch its first- photos. He has been an OPC member News as a in Viet- ever English-language daily newscast. since 2017. nam and during the Indo-Pakistani war. The video news updates will be dis- Life-threatening battlefield wounds he tributed exclusively via YouTube. The Jason Rezaian, journalist for The sustained while covering the Vietnam project won a Google News Innovation Washington Post who spent 18 months war left him with lifelong pain. Despite YouTube grant. This marks the first in an Iranian prison on bogus charges, this, Peter worked at CBS News for time a Noticias Telemundo produc- testified with his family in a $1 bil- more than 20 years. Peter rose from tion will be distributed outside of a lion federal lawsuit against the Iranian foreign correspondent to CBS News Telemundo-owned platform. government on Jan. 8. The lawsuit seeks damages for his 544-day ordeal, London Bureau Chief, and he became Foreign Editor of CBS News, working OPC member Kathy Gannon, se- in which he was taken hostage and closely with and Dan nior correspondent for Pakistan and psychologically tortured by the Iranian Rather. International news coverage di- Afghanistan for the Associated Press, government, as well as damages his rected by Peter won many awards and filed a story with help from2016 Fritz family suffered. Jason’s wife, Yeganeh accolades. He leaves a daughter, Brett Beebe win­ner Dake Kang that fol- Salehi, was also arrested and spent Elizabeth Larkin. Donations in his lows the plight of Muslim ethnic Ui- 72 days in solitary confinement. The memory can be made to the Overseas ghur women, spouses of Pakistani men lawsuit seeks $44 million in compensa- Press Club Foundation. v January 2019 7 PRESS FREEDOM UPDATE... By Farwa Zaidi Sudanese journalist Faisal independent media. The raid on 100% received threats last July. He received and Chad Bouchard Mohamed Salih, who was arrested Noticias was the second of its kind in first aid for minor injuries he sustained for expressing his support of anti- just over a week. in the fire. government protests, has been freed. Salih was taken from his office on Jan. Serbian reporter Milan Jovanovic Spanish police searched the newsroom 3 by agents of the country’s National was victim to an arson attack on of Europa Press in Palma de Intelligence and Security Service. his home on Dec. 12. Unknown Mallorca on Dec. 11. They seized Salih reported that he was taken for assailants threw a Molotov cocktail equipment and documentation from questioning over his views on the at his residence, leaving the entire the office as part of an investigation protests that have erupted across property ablaze. The attackers also into leaked police information. Europa Sudan in recent weeks. According to fired multiple shots at the front door Press said the police presented a court Salih, he had supported the protestors to keep the family from leaving the order demanding that the editor hand demonstrating peacefully, but was house while it burned. Jovanovic and over any documentation related to a not part of any group organizing the his wife escaped through a back door large-scale corruption case that the protests. Demonstrations have rocked and watched as their home, garage, news agency recently reported on. The several cities in Sudan since they first and car burned down. Jovanovic is editor, Antonia Lopez, told the police started in December over a government an investigative journalist who had that journalists had a right to protect decision to raise the price of bread. recently reported on the “suddenly their sources, and refused their request. At least 19 people have been killed in acquired property” of the head of the The police then seized a mobile phone, clashes during the protests. Salih was local Grocka municipality, as well as two company computers, and several the recipient of the 2013 Peter Mackler alleging corruption in the construction paper documents in order to determine Award for ethical and courageous of sewage systems. Local authorities the origin of the leak. journalism. He is known for defying had cut down his water supply after the Sudanese government and speaking this report. Jovanovic had complained out against human rights abuses. to police and to the president about being harassed for his work. He had Boubacar Yalcouye, editor of been beaten badly in October and had the Malian newspaper Le Pays, was sentenced to six months in prison on Dec. 27 on a charge of defaming Mali’s Netflix vs. Press Freedom supreme court’s judges. Before his arrest, he had recently reported that the Commentary by Farwa Zaidi judges had received a bribe with nearly 1.4 million euros to uphold the validity Netflix is one the biggest media providers in the world, with streaming of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s services available in 190 countries and to 130 million worldwide reelection this past August. His lawyers subscribers. So why does the website feel the need to comply with the told RSF that they would appeal his commands of Saudi dictator Mohammed bin Salman? Last fall, comedian conviction and sentence. In July of Hasan Minhaj started a weekly news affairs show on the platform, called 2000, Mali adopted a press law that Patriot Act. enables severe prison sentences and heavy fines. Defamation is punishable In the premiere episode, titled “Saudi Arabia,” he examines the killing of by between 11 days and 12 months in Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi officials. Minhaj prison. heavily criticized the Saudi royals, specifically Mohammed bin Salman, and highlighted the largely overlooked human-rights crisis and Saudi war Nicaraguan police entered the offices crimes in Yemen. of privately-owned cable and internet news station 100% Noticias on Dec. 21 and arrested channel director In January, news broke that Netflix had pulled the episode from its services Miguel Mora and news director Lucia in Saudi Arabia. The company said they did so to “comply with local law.” Pineda Ubau. In a court appearance The rule in question is Article 6 of the country’s cybercrime law, which bans the next day, Mora was charged with “production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging crimes including “inciting hate and on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the violence” and was not granted access information network or computers.” to a lawyer. According to his wife, police also confiscated broadcasting Despite Mohammed bin Salman being praised as a “reformer,” pulling an equipment from the station. episode that criticizes him shines a spotlight on his stance against press Nicaraguan authorities have, as of late, freedom. The crown prince is still under investigation for Jamal Khashoggi’s been cracking down on the country’s death, and his battle against Patriot Act only deepens his war on free press.

January 2019 8 9 Billy Six, a German freelance journalist, MURDERS Mexican journalist Alejandro Mar- has been detained in Venezuela since An ice box containing the head and quez Jimenez was shot and killed in Nov. 17 on charges of spying, rebellion, hands of an unidentified male were the city of Nayarit sometime between and “violating security zones” and has left outside the offices ofExpreso , a Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. His body was found not been allowed contact with anyone local Mexican newspaper, on Dec. 20. in a ditch near the city’s airport with outside prison besides his parents. Six The package was accompanied by a several bullet wounds. He had been last is facing up to twenty-eight years in threatening message directed at local seen alive the day before, when he an- prison on the charges, which have been journalists. A spokesperson for Expreso swered a phone call while eating with his brought before a military court. He was said that he was unaware of the identity family and then left his home. Marquez arrested by Venezuelan military counter- of the victim and that all staff were was the editor of the biweekly print and intelligence after entering the country accounted for. The written threat was online newsmagazine Orion Informativo, through the Colombian border. He was not aimed at any specific news outlet or which he founded two years ago. Prior transferred without an arrest warrant reporter and was not signed. An article to starting his magazine, he had spent to a military detention center. Only his published on Expreso the same day said eight years at a local newspaper called parents have spoken to him following his that forensic investigators were working Critica Diario. Marquez was politically arrest, as he has been denied contact with to establish the identity of the victim, but active and supported the ruling political anyone including the German embassy there have not yet been any updates. The party of president Andres Manuel Lopez or a lawyer. His family told RSF that last violent attack against the newspaper Obrador, who assumed office on the day some pictures he had taken during was in 2012, when unknown assailants Marquez’ body was found. His magazine Independence Day military parades in attacked the office with explosives. covered local politics in his region. v 2017 and 2018 are being cited as the reason for his arrest.

Continued From Page 3 signed Dongfeng-brand sedan, probably circa early 1960s. A beaming Chairman Mao inspects what looks like a prototype of a Dongfeng (East Wind) sedan, escorted probably by Chinese engineers who designed and produced it. It’s a curious scene be- cause Chairman Mao was known to preach “plain living and hard struggle.” In the 1970s and 1980s, there were very few cars on the road, even in Beijing. They were all government-owned and for official use only. Now there are over 5 million cars in the Chinese capital, mostly privately owned – and many more are planning to buy one. Dongfeng Motor Group, headquartered in central Wuhan City, was established in 1969. It now produces a fleet of sedan cars and trucks and in 2017 was No. 65 on the Fortune Global 500 list of We show an array of knickknacks – porcelain, wooden carvings, companies with estimated revenues of $93 billion and 180,000 Tibetan bangles, old scissors, measuring rulers, bells—so that employees. viewing them will be like peering into a kaleidoscope: you see a One section shows posters of Chinese women as depicted dur- medley of collectibles. ing the early years of my China exile in the 1970s. Women then I treasure many of these because they tell stories about their were shown strong and charming, sans cosmetics and elaborate creators. They tell us about China. hairdos, and doing jobs that men did. “Women prop up half the In spite of the disastrous Cultural Revolution, I am happy to sky,” Mao declared. note that the Chinese industry and creativity are very much alive. I juxtapose these with a few old calendars and ads, popular Even after retirement from the frontline of reporters’ trenches, in the 1930s and 40s, advertising cosmetics, beer, cigarettes I continue to serve as a “bridge” in my own limited ways by serv- and cosmetics featuring women in cheongsam dresses. This, I ing as a professor at Peking University’s School of Journalism thought, must be what Maoists had in mind when they ransacked and Communications, where I teach a course on media and news and burned “four olds.” Feminists today would surely see them as literacy. I frequently serve as a commentator in Chinese and for- examples of “objectification” of women. eign television programs and also give lectures in Philippine and Years after the Cultural Revolution, these political posters U.S. schools and universities. went out of fashion. As people started to discard them, many The exhibit opened on Jan. 19 in a museum in Intramuros, ended up in Beijing’s antique markets. That’s where I found these an old district of Manila. It was attended by over 200 invited posters. While most market-goers snubbed these old, fraying guests and featured a Q&A on stage between Jaime FlorCruz as posters. collectors and history-buffs like me vied for the best and interviewee and two local journalists. The exhibit will close on rarest of them. Feb. 17. v My collection is not limited to Cultural Revolution relics. January 2019 9 9 NEW BOOKS By Farwa Zaidi

CUBA the island’s future. Ariosto holds a Master of Public UPCOMING Policy degree from George Mason University and a n the summer of 2009, OPC Governor David Bachelor’s of History degree from the University of EVENTS Ariosto, now executive producer at GZERO Massachusetts-Amherst. He has worked for CNN, Media at Eurasia Group, embarked on a two-year National Geographic, Reuters, I and Brut. v reporting assignment as photojournalist in Havana. He arrived in Cuba at a time of drastic development, with growing access to information straining against MEDIA OPC Cold War restrictions. Ariosto’s new memoir, This is Cuba [St. Martin’s Press, December 2018] s a 30-year veteran of the news industry ANNUAL chronicles his experience as a correspondent as with 18 years on the media beat, Joe Strupp well as subsequent visits over a period of nine Ahas gotten a front-row seat to watch what he AWARDS DINNER years amid a shifting economy and big swings calls the “loss of true reporting and quality journal- in U.S. foreign policy. ism and the increase in hype, opinion and unbalanced 6:00 p.m. Ariosto wrote that he found Havana to be news.” Strupp’s new book, Killing Journalism: How Cipriani 25 Broadway an “intriguing new world” as he reported on Greed, Laziness (And Donald Trump) are Destroy- neighboring military coups, suspected honey ing News and How We Can Save It [Willow Street April 18 traps, salty spooks, desperate migrants and dis- Press, November 2018] explores how the chase for sidents. He set out to unravel some of the island clicks and ratings over the years has displaced depth, nation’s absurdities and mystique. The title, “This fairness and civics in journalism, and how Presi- is Cuba,” is a reference to the response he received dent Trump’s rise as a celebrity and politician have when grappling with absurd realities of life in the depended so dependent on the media he so readily country. In one scene, a Cuban press liaison says attacks. phrase this to him in answer to a question about why Strupp catalogues years of staff cutbacks, the government officials commandeered his bathroom increasing demand for around-the-clock coverage, sink, “like that was some sort of code to mean things declining ad revenue, flagging support for legal de- here were not only a little bit screwy, but that even fense of the press, and fewer in-house watchdogs to those who had grown up here— who had few sources keep the news fair and honest. He notes that six ma- for comparison—knew it.” He writes that the exam- jor companies own 90 percent of today’s news media ple of his missing sink had driven home an essential compared to 50 companies owning the same propor- truth about reporting abroad. “even something like a tion more than three decades ago. In more recent sink can have the feel of a broader politic. Cuba was years, Trump and his supporters have escalated at- not just a story to be covered. It tacks on the media, pushing consumers’ trust and the was to be lived.” industry’s power into sharp decline. The president has Behind the stereotypes of defended some of the most discredited news sources, classic cars, salsa, and cigars, while turning the public against newsrooms with there is a country where black traditional standards of ethics, Strupp writes. But he markets are rampant, free suggests that the false attacks on traditional press for speech is outlawed, privacy is liberal bias have hidden the nature of the industry’s rare, and sanctions wreak havoc key issues, “fewer journalists and greedy owners.” on the citizens and economy. He Strupp uses original research, including interviews describes the slow-moving so- several prominent media critics and other journalists, cialist bureaucracy that hampers to track the loss of news professionals. According to the economy’s growth. the Pew Research Center, there has been a 37 percent Despite these setbacks, the decrease in newspaper jobs in the past ten years. The country continues to develop. U.S. Labor Department estimates a loss of 14,000 Satellite dishes and internet journalism jobs over that time. hotspots are multiplying. Tourism is booming, with Joe Strupp is an award-winning reporter with many Americans eager to explore the country’s nearly thirty years of experience in newspapers, mag- beauty after the generations-old embargo lifted under azines, TV, radio, and the Internet. He has appeared the Obama administration in 2011. But Ariosto warns on numerous broadcast news outlets, including Fox that lasting change does not come quickly. Soldiers News and MSNBC. TV host Jim Lehrer said that the are still stationed on either side of the Florida Straits, book would appeal to “anyone who cares about the always poised for a return to the Cold War. He tracks past, present and future of a free press in our demo- aftermath of Fidel Castro’s death and the hand-over cratic society.” v of the presidency to Miguel Diaz-Canel, detailing the effects of change on the lives of Cubans.This is Cuba reveals clues that forecast a brewing crisis, that Ariosto believes will explain what is in store for January 2019 10 Hardest story: I reported a story last year from Nicaragua and was in the coun- try at a time when the streets were full of protests and pro-government forces Alice Driver were shooting citizens in the streets. I didn’t witness violence but the streets of Managua felt volatile. CAMBRIA HARKEY CAMBRIA Journalism heroes: Ginger Thompson, Marcela Turati, Masha Geesen, Roxane Meet the OPC Members: Gay, Pamela Colloff. Q&A With Alice Driver Dream job: I am living my dream job, but I need to get to the point where out- is a bilingual lice driver When and why did you join the lets pay me on time and respect contracts journalist, translator and video OPC? I joined the OPC in 2017 after my (or to the point where I can afford to have Aproducer based in City. editor at CNN recommended it to me. a lawyer on retainer). Her work focuses on migration, human rights, and gender equality. Driver has What sparked your interest in migra- Favorite quote: I interviewed journalist filed work for a slew of media outlets, tion and human rights reporting? Francisco Goldman a few years ago, and including National Geographic, RE- I wrote a book about femicide in Mexico, he said, “Identify what it is you want to VEAL at the Center for Investigative More or Less Dead, and most of the do and without necessarily understanding Reporting, PBS, The Columbia Journal- victims were migrants so I knew that it, completely commit. It’s risky. It’s like ism Review, TIME, CNN, PRI.org, CBC I wanted my next project to be about what Bolaño said in his famous Venezue- la speech, ‘What is good writing? It’s not Radio, BBC News, The New York Times migration. good writing. It’s knowing that writing and Cosmopolitan. She has also published is looking into an abyss.’ Sometimes the a book, More or Less Dead: Feminicide, Major challenge as a journalist: abyss will destroy you.” Haunting, and the Ethics of Representa- My biggest challenge as a freelancer tion in Mexico [University of Arizona, is that outlets don’t adhere to contracts Place you’re most eager to visit: 2015] which she completed during a post- and don’t pay me on time. This puts me I would love to work on a project in the doctoral fellowship at the Universidad at risk and creates a lot of stress and and have discussed a few Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) instability. ideas with photographer Lynzy Billing. in . Best journalism advice received: Most over-the-top assignment: Hometown: Oark, Arkansas (pop. 200). “So much of the world needs the muscle TIME magazine sent me on a five-day found in true words. Please keep sending assignment covering the migrant caravan Education: Ph.D. in Hispanic Stud- what your head and belly make as one in Mexico with Magnum photographer ies from the University of Kentucky, loaf.” – poet Nikky Finney who was my Jerome Sessini. I love photography postdoctoral fellowship at the Universi- professor at Berea College in Kentucky and so the over-the-top part of the dad Nacional Autónoma de México in where I did my undergraduate degree. assignment for me was being paired Mexico City. with a photographer who has managed Worst experience as a journalist: to create iconic images over a period of Languages you speak: English, Spanish, One time, a migrant whom I met at a decades. Portuguese. shelter got my phone number from the migrant shelter (I had left my business Most common mistake you’ve seen: First job in journalism: After I finished card with some of the workers there), Reporters who don’t learn languages my postdoctoral fellowship, which and he wrote me both on FB and via text or take the time to understand the supported the publication of my book, I asking me for a large amount of money. cultural context of events when they are began to work as a freelance journalist. I The way that he asked made me feel like reporting outside of their home country. have never had a staff job in journalism. he was going to threaten me if I didn’t respond. I blocked him on both platforms Country you most want to return to: Countries reported from: Mexico, and thankfully did not hear anything else Brazil. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, from him. Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Domini- Twitter handle: @DriverWrites v can Republic, Peru, Cuba, Nicaragua, When traveling, you like to… , Barbados, Jamaica, The Bahamas, I like wandering the streets and eating Want to add to the OPC’s collection of Myanmar. local food which is a good way to get a Q&As with members? Please contact feel for a place. [email protected].

January 2019 11 40 West 45th Street New York, NY 10036 USA Phone 212.626.9220 Email: [email protected] opcofamerica.org

Josh Fine Mary Rajkumar PAST PRESIDENTS Senior Segment Producer International Enterprise Editor EX-OFFICIO HBO’s Real Sports The Associated Press David A. Andelman with Bryant Gumbel Gary Silverman John Corporon Alix Freedman US News Editor Global Editor Financial Times Deidre Depke BOARD OF GOVERNORS for Ethics and Standards Allan Dodds Frank Reuters Vivienne Walt Correspondent Alexis Gelber PRESIDENT SECRETARY David Furst TIME and FORTUNE William J. Holstein International Picture Editor Pancho Bernasconi Paula Dwyer Marcus Mabry The New York Times Michael Williams Vice President, Global News Senior Editor Global Enterprise Editor Larry Martz Getty Images Bloomberg News Douglas Jehl Reuters Michael Serrill Foreign Editor ACTIVE BOARD FIRST VICE PRESIDENT The Washington Post ASSOCIATE BOARD Larry Smith Deborah Amos MEMBERS­ John Avlon Coleen Jose Richard B. Stolley Correspondent Senior Political Analyst Artist Relations Brian Byrd NPR New Day, CNN and Community Program Officer EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NYS Health Foundation SECOND VICE David Ariosto Adobe Patricia Kranz PRESIDENT Executive Producer Pete Engardio Christopher Dickey Azmat Khan OFFICE MANAGER GZERO Media Investigative Reporter Senior Writer Foreign Editor Farwa Zaidi at Eurasia Group New America Boston Consulting Group The Daily Beast, Paris Molly Bingham Sarah Lubman EDITOR THIRD VICE PRESIDENT Jim Laurie President & CEO Documentary Producer Partner Chad Bouchard Scott Kraft OrbMedia, Inc. Focus Asia Productions HK Ltd. Brunswick Group Managing Editor OPC BULLETIN Los Angeles Times Miriam Elder Adriane Quinlan Kem Knapp Sawyer World Editor Show Writer Contributing Editor ISSN-0738-7202 ­ TREASURER BuzzFeed News HBO’s Tonight Pulitzer Center Copyright © 2018 Liam Stack Over­seas Press Club Reporter Linda Fasulo Rod Nordland Minky Worden Independent Reporter International Correspondent The New York Times Director of Global of America United Nations at Large Initiatives NPR Bureau Chief Human Rights Watch The New York Times

40 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036, USA • Phone 212.626.9220 • Email [email protected] • opcofamerica.org 12 January 2019