On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist, with Clarissa Ward

The Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies,
School of International and Public Affairs, and the School of Journalism, Columbia University, present

"On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist"

A conversation with author Clarissa Ward, CNN Chief International Correspondent
Introduction by Merit Janow, Dean, School of International and Public Affairs
Hosted by Keren Yarhi-Milo, Director, Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies;
Lisa Anderson, Special Lecturer in International and Public Affairs, Dean Emerita, SIPA, former President, American University of Cairo; Dipali Mukhopadhyay, Associate Professor, School of International and Public Affairs

Abstract:
A conversation with author Clarissa Ward, CNN Chief International Correspondent
Introduction by Merit Janow, Dean, School of International and Public Affairs
Hosted by Keren Yarhi-Milo, Director, Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies;
Lisa Anderson, Special Lecturer in International and Public Affairs, Dean Emerita, SIPA, former President, American University of Cairo; and Dipali Mukhopadhyay, Associate Professor, School of International and Public Affairs

The recipient of multiple Peabody and Murrow awards, Clarissa Ward is a world-renowned conflict reporter. In this strange age of crisis where there really is no front line, she has moved from one hot zone to the next. With multiple assignments in Syria, Egypt, and Afghanistan, Ward, who speaks seven languages, has been based in Baghdad, Beirut, Beijing, and Moscow. She has seen and documented the violent remaking of the world at close range. With her deep empathy, Ward finds a way to tell the hardest stories. 'On All Fronts' is the riveting account of Ward’s singular career and of journalism in this age of extremism.

Ward found her calling as an international war correspondent in the aftermath of 9/11. From her early days in the field, she was embedding with marines at the height of the Iraq War and was soon on assignment all over the globe. But nowhere does Ward make her mark more than in war-torn Syria, which she has covered extensively with courage and compassion. From her multiple stints entrenched with Syrian rebels to her deep investigations into the Western extremists who are drawn to ISIS, Ward has covered Bashar al-Assad’s reign of terror without fear. In 2018, Ward rose to new heights at CNN and had a son. Suddenly, she was doing this hardest of jobs with a whole new perspective.

'On All Fronts' is the unforgettable story of one extraordinary journalist -- and of a changing world.

Bios:
Clarissa Ward is CNN's chief international correspondent. In her fifteen-year career spanning Fox, CBS, and ABC, Ward has reported from front lines across the world. She has won five Emmy Awards, two George Foster Peabody Awards, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, two Edward R. Murrow Awards for distinguished journalism, honors from the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association, the 2016 David Kaplan Award from the Overseas Press Club, and the Excellence in International Reporting Award from the International Center for Journalists. She graduated with distinction from Yale University, and in 2013 received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Middlebury College in Vermont. She lives in London.