“Anyone tuning into Al Jazeera’s new American channel coming this summer shouldn’t expect too much coverage of celebrities or other tabloid fodder typically found on U.S. television news. Instead Al Jazeera America hopes to stand out with a diet heavy on ‘fact-based, in-depth, long-format news.’” — The Wall Street Journal
Here’s my favorite photograph from an exhibition by emerging photographers from Pakistan’s tribal areas I attended at USIP last night. Taken by Huma Gul, the photo depicts 17-year-old Shahid playing with his niece Marwa in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as she screams in excitement.
The other photos were just as arresting, illustrating everyday life both in the tribal areas and in other parts of the country. Conspicuously absent, however, were any photos related to the drone war. Almost every single known U.S. drone strike targeting Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in Pakistan has taken place in the isolated, hard to access and underdeveloped tribal areas along its border with Afghanistan. (Learn more about that and see photos of what appears to be the aftermath of drone strikes in this piece I previously wrote.)
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be moving to D.C. in June to join Al Jazeera America’s flagship news program in a senior role as a digital producer.
Relentless, fiercely objective journalism has always been paramount to my work, and I see in AJAM’s new channel a bold, radical opportunity to raise the bar in cable news: to do it differently and more seriously, with integrity, fairness, respect, transparency and independence.
I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to spend the last three years at FRONTLINE working to shape its digital future: helping grow the series’ digital audience by more than 75 percent, experimenting in interactive storytelling and video, creating new collaborations and digital partnerships, and reporting and producing original digital stories spanning wide-reaching topics ranging from the financial crisis and the influence of money in political campaigns to the civil war in Syria and Al Qaeda’s stronghold in Yemen. I’ve been very fortunate to work with a truly impressive team there and with irreplaceable mentors and bosses. I will miss my colleagues and work there dearly.
But I’m very excited about this new opportunity and hope you’ll follow me on this new journey. Stay tuned for more soon!
Why the Military Has a Sexual Assault Problem -
Here’s why the military has a sexual assault problem - and here’s what can be done about it: a must-read by my colleague Sarah Childress.
Garlic naan and karahi chicken - extra spicy. Night made.
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A shout-out to my incredible digital colleagues at FRONTLINE who made this beautifully designed, well-executed interactive exploring how retirement fees cost you big money. Math made easy.
“It certainly takes courage to speak, but it takes a different kind of courage to be silent, to listen, to trust, and speak when the time is right.” — Following the speculation and errors rife in last week’s media coverage of the events in Boston, here’s a sharp, thoughtful argument about the need for silence, better timing and more pragmatism in breaking news. A must-read for every journalist.
On Al Jazeera America’s “radical agenda: unbiased news, delivered via virtually unlimted resources.”
We’re in Vogue! Check out the May issue for an inside look at the launch of Al Jazeera America.
Moved by the cover of the upcoming New Yorker, ”Shadow Over Boston.”
“A bomb at a marathon, right at the finish line of a festive occasion—it seemed almost like a mixed metaphor, incongruous and absurd,” artist Eric Drooker said. “Those are just the things that flashed through my head as I started painting.”
Locked down in Cambridge today, I can’t think of a better way of describing this madness.
Syria Behind the Lines is the only film to document Syria’s civil war from both sides of the line. If you missed it on PBS this week, you can watch it anytime on the site I produced, where there’s much more to explore.
A few digital highlights I’d like to point out:
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An incredible shot from FRONTLINE’s coming film, Syria Behind the Lines: A rainbow from the vantage point of a Syrian soldier at a government checkpoint in Aziziya.
The Iraq War began 10 years ago this week and has cost 16 times what the Bush administration predicted: $800 billion (and counting). Add it up for yourself with our interactive.
Also explore our deep portal on the war’s legacy, where you can also watch all of FRONTLINE’s reporting on the subject over the years.
Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Syrian conflict. What began as peaceful protests in a small farming town 60 miles south of Damascus is today a bloody nationwide civil war with no end in sight.
Here’s a jarring scene from our coming film Syria Behind the Lines: A woman pushes her child in a stroller just moments after an air strike in al-Bara.