Editing
As an editor at Al Jazeera America, I had the opportunity to work with a talented group of journalists and writers. Among the most interesting stories that I edited/commissioned:
- Being ‘hafu’ in Japan: Mixed-race people face ridicule, rejection by correspondent Roxana Saberi (9/9/2015) Among Japanese, the perception of pure ethnic background is a big part of belonging to the culture [Story that drove our biggest web traffic day ever]
- Six-part series on tensions between Moscow and the West at flashpoints along Russia’s borders and in territories of former Soviet Union by Matthew Luxmoore (2015) Stories included Ukrainian refugees in Poland; ethnic Russians in Latvia; separatists in Kaliningrad; Ossetian frontier friction; Transnistrian rebel soldiers; and Armenian economic protests
- Star Wars desrt rave by Yasmine Ryan, photos by Tara Todras-Whitehill, produced by Joanna S. Kao, edited by Ben Piven, Vaughn Wallace (2/28/2015) Thousands flock to movie sets in Tunisian dunes despite political and economic turbulence
- Middle East & North Africa reporting by Alice Su (2014-2015) Four different series filed from the region: Iraq’s Yazidis languish on Sinjar mountaintop; Gaza under siege and in poverty; radicalism in post-Arab Spring Tunisia; and ISIS sympathies in Jordanian city of Ma’an
- Timeline of Edward Snowden’s revelations by Joshua Eaton (2013) In-depth look back at a year of NSA leaks by the former government contractor who fled from Hawaii to Hong Kong to Russia after releasing loads of documents on surveillance in the U.S. and around the world
- New Orleans local stories by Lauren Zanolli (2015-2016) Pieces on health care and culture in Louisiana: poor water infrastructure; transformation of the hospital system; politicization of maternal health; refugees caught up in backlash; Confederate monument controversy