Nick Schifrin

Nick Schifrin (born July 10, 1980) is an American journalist. He was most recently Al Jazeera America’s Middle East correspondent. Prior to joining Al Jazeera in 2013, Schifrin worked for ABC News as a correspondent in its London bureau and as the network’s Afghanistan/Pakistan correspondent during the height of the war in Afghanistan.^[1]

Early Life and Education

Schifrin grew up in Los Angeles, California, where he attended Oakwood School from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating in 1998. In 2002, he graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in U.S. History. During his time at Columbia, Schifrin served as Managing Editor of The Columbia Daily Spectator, including on 9/11.^[2]

ABC News

In 2002 Schifrin joined ABC News as an overnight desk assistant.^[3] From 2002 to 2004, Schifrin worked as a producer for ABC News, during which time he covered Hurricanes Katrina in Mississippi and Wilma in Florida, as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for California governor.^[4] In 2004, Schifrin joined the ABC News Political Unit, reporting on the 2004 presidential campaigns and traveling with Senator John Kerry and Senator John Edwards after the Democratic convention.^[5]

In 2006, Schifrin helped launch the daily World News Webcast, the first network show designed for the web and iTunes. He served as the show’s writer and broadcast producer. In its review of the webcast, The New York Times called the show’s stories "raw and personal, as if they were made for MTV rather than ABC".^[6]

In 2007, Schifrin moved to New Delhi, India, where he served as an ABC News reporter. There, he interviewed the Dalai Lama during the 2008 uprising in Tibet, and won a Business Emmy as part of a team covering the worldwide food crisis.^[7]^[8] Schifrin was also one of the first international reporters to arrive on the scene following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.^[9]

In 2008, Schifrin became the ABC News Afghanistan/Pakistan correspondent and bureau chief. Schifrin was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan after Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011, delivering one of biggest exclusives of the year: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound.^[10] His reporting helped ABC News win an Edward R. Murrow Award for its bin Laden coverage.^[11]

In 2012, Schifrin moved to London and became a correspondent there, reporting on breaking news and feature stories across Europe and northern Africa.During his time in London, Schifrin covered the Greek elections, the economic crisis in Cyprus, the Olympics, the pope's resignation, and the attack on the U.S. embassy in Istanbul.^[12]

Al Jazeera America

In November 2013, Schifrin became Al Jazeera America’s first foreign correspondent. He was based in Jerusalem and primarily covered the Middle East. During his time at Al Jazeera America, Schifrin notably covered the death of South African President Nelson Mandela, the War in Syria, the war in Gaza, and the conflict in Ukraine and Crimea.^[13]

In early 2014, Schifrin arrived in Ukraine as violence peaked in Kiev. He spent more than a month in Ukraine and Crimea as the Ukrainian government fell and Russia annexed Crimea. He and his team won a National Headliners Award for their coverage.^[14]

In the summer of 2014, Schifrin led the channel’s coverage of the war in Gaza. During this time he filed more than 50 stories from Gaza and Israel during the war, and anchored an hour-long special from Gaza City, reporting from inside Gaza longer than almost any other foreign journalist. Schifrin and his team won the Overseas Press Club’s David Kaplan Award for their coverage of the war from both sides of the border.^[15]

Publications

In 2011, Schifrin wrote "Reading Shakespeare In Kandahar," a piece based on his journey from his college lecture classroom, where he was on 9/11, to bin Laden’s lair ten years later. In his class a decade prior, Schifrin’s Shakespeare professor had given an emotional speech about the 9/11 attacks and Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, with its theme of the desire for revenge. The piece touches on the US’s failure to heed Shakespeare’s warnings about how the pursuit of revenge can become destructive. "Reading Shakespeare In Kandahar" was published in Foreign Policy.^[16] Schifrin and his Columbia Professor, David Kastan, appeared on "Charlie Rose" to discuss the essay.^[17]

Awards

Emmy Award: News & Documentary for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Form, December 2008 ^[18]
Radio Television Digital News Association’s Edward R. Murrow Award: Video Breaking News Coverage for "Target bin Laden: The Death of Public Enemy #1", March 2012 ^[19]
The Press Club of Atlantic City’s National Headliners Award for "Coverage of Ukraine", March 2015 ^[20]
Overseas Press Club’s David Kaplan Award for "Conflict in Gaza", May 2015 ^[21]

References

External links

Nick Schifrin at the Internet Movie Database
"Reading Shakespeare in Kandahar". ForeignPolicy.com. September 8, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2015.

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