KATHY GANNON
SPECIAL REPORT
Journalism Maybe
August 8, 2023 • Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy
It was December 2001.
The U.S.-led coalition had taken control of Afghanistan and installed a government of warlords. It was led by Hamid Karzai, the only man among the Afghan allies without a private militia.
Karzai’s swearing-in ceremony had taken place, and he was ensconced in the presidential palace when a news conference was called.
Hundreds of reporters, who had swarmed into the Afghan capital after the collapse of the Taliban, attended the presser to find a member of the ousted, extraordinarily secretive movement on the stage before them, ready to answer their questions.…
WHAT’S HAPPENING
It was an honor and a privilege to serve as chair of the Hinzpeter Video Journalism Awards for 2024. On behalf of the jury, the May 18 Foundation and the Korea Video Journalists Association I would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s competition. We had entries from across the globe and the quality was quite simply extraordinary.
I would like to take a moment to recognize our Palestinian colleagues who have been our only eyes into the devastating war in Gaza. They have continued to report even as they have been targeted and their families killed by Israeli bombs.…WATCH THE VIDEO
As Canada Welcomes Afghan Women Politicians, a Reminder of a Larger Betrayal
ISLAMABAD — The bipartisan effort by Canadian politicians to bring women Afghan politicians to Canada is a heartwarming story. They are among the 69 women who once served in Afghanistan’s Parliament. One of the former politicians on the list of those hoping to escape to Canada, Mursal Nabizada, was murdered in January 2023. Her security guard was arrested by the Taliban for her murder as well as that of another of her security detail in February 2023. The motive for her murder was not known. But six have made it out safely.…READ MORE
ABOUT KATHY
Kathy Gannon was a Joan Shorenstein Fellow for the 2022 fall semester at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. For 35 years she covered Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Associated Press as chief correspondent and later, news director. She has covered the 2006 war in south Lebanon, the Iraq war, the Central Asian States, and Azerbaijan. Gannon was the only Western journalist allowed in Kabul by the Taliban in the weeks preceding the 2001 U.S.-British offensive in Afghanistan.
In addition to her coverage of South Central Asia, she has covered the Middle East, including the 2006 Israeli war against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and war in northern Iraq.
In April 2014 Gannon was seriously wounded—hit by seven bullets—while covering preparations for Afghan national elections when an Afghan police officer opened fire on the car in which she was riding. Her colleague and close friend, AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus, was killed in the attack.