A panel of three distinguished Pulitzer Center fellows – Jeffrey Stern a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, freelance reporter Iona Craig, and PBS NewsHour contributor Marcia Biggs joined NU-Q alumna and Yemeni native Mariam Al-Dubhani – to discuss how the war in Yemen is affecting its civilians.
"These journalists, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, are doing some of the most remarkable journalism in the region, and maybe even the world," said Mary Dedinsky, professor and director of the Journalism and Strategic Communication Program. “They are uncovering humanitarian and political crises that are some of the most critical of our time. Their courage and dedication to reporting the truth are helping the international community understand the severity of a war’s aftermath on the lives of civilians living in Yemen.”
Tom Hundley, Pulitzer Center senior editor, moderated the discussion and introduced each of the fellows who discussed their reporting in Yemen and shared personal experiences about reporting from one of the most dangerous warzones in the world.
Al-Dubhani, who has won multiple awards for her documentary films about Yemen, discussed the challenges she faces while trying to report from her war-torn country. "The war," she said, "can strip away the culture" and erode some of the most valuable traditions and values in a country.
Biggs, who has more than a decade of experience in the Middle East, discussed her experience reporting on the lives of Yemeni civilians who were enduring some of the worst living, health, and economic conditions in the world. Her PBS NewsHour series on Yemen reported on the lives of women and children who were forced into underage marriages, begging on the streets, homelessness, and a lack of education as a result of the war.
Stern’s award-winning article in the New York Times followed the journey of an American manufactured bomb in the United States to a village in Yemen where 31 civilians were killed by the bomb.
Craig spent five years living in Yemen between 2010 – 2015 to cover the revolution, the U.S.’s military increased involvement in the country, and the civil war that began in 2014. She continues to return to Yemen. Her work has won numerous awards, including the 2018 George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting for her investigation of Navy SEAL raid in one of the rural Yemeni villages.
“Their courage and dedication to reporting the truth are helping the international community understand the severity of a war’s aftermath on the lives of civilians living in Yemen. ”
At the discussion, Craig described the risks involved in being on the ground during a time of war and explained how being a woman was her biggest asset and granted her access to the homes of Yemeni families and to prohibited areas where she could disguise herself as a local by wearing a traditional niqab.
During their visit to NU-Q, Biggs, Craig, and Stern will also present their work at NU-Q classes, meet with students to discuss trending issues and the evolving role of a journalist, and provide feedback on student work.
Each year, NU-Q welcomes a delegation of visitors and reporters from the Pulitzer Center who spend a week exchanging ideas and discussing various aspects of journalism with students. The purpose is to raise awareness about journalistic campaigns and global issues, which have previously included climate change, health, and gender issues, as well as reporting on the Muslim world.
