Deborah Amos
By Trish Anderton
Newly elected OPC First Vice President Deborah Amos covers the Middle East for NPR News and is now a domestic correspondent reporting on refugees in America. For a decade she reported for television, including ABC’s Nightline and World News Tonight and the PBS programs NOW with Bill Moyers and Frontline. Amos has won many awards, including the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting in 2009. She spent 1991–1992 as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She lives in New York City. She has been a Ferris Fellow at Princeton University teaching an international journalism seminar in 2012 and 2016.
Hometown: Princeton, NJ for now.
Education: University of Florida, BS in Journalism.
Languages: English.
First job in journalism: ABC TV news reporter in Orlando, Florida. I was an affirmative action hire.
Countries you’ve reported from: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Israel, Egypt, Sudan, England, France, Iraq, Iran, Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Russia, China, Thailand, Poland, Hungary, Rwanda, Algeria, Libya, Liberia, Somalia, India, Turkey, UK, Pakistan, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy, Greece and Sierra Leone.
Year you joined the OPC: 2015.
What drew you to international journalism? It’s the same discipline as a PHd but you get to travel. A constant education.
Major challenge as an editor: As a reporter – recognizing that everyone needs an editor.
Best journalism advice received: Cover the civilians caught up in conflict.
Worst experience as a journalist: I was close enough to see a car bomb explode on the Turkish border. For the first time, I experienced that moment when “time stands still” the silence after the blast before the screams begin.
When traveling, you like to …pack something from home, always a picture, to put up in my room.
Hardest story: Syria.
Journalism heroes: Martha Gellhorn – Michael Herr – They wrote about war, but were not defined by it.
Advice for journalists who want to be foreign correspondents: Just get out there – learn a new culture, a new language (I have always regretted that I didn’t take the time to learn Arabic).
Dream job: I have it.
Favorite quote: “You shall leave everything you love most; this is the arrow that the bow of exile shoots first. You are to know the bitter taste of others’ bread, how salty it is, and know how hard a path it is for one who goes ascending and descending others’ stairs.”
Place you’re most eager to visit: A beautiful place near the sea where there is no “hot” news story.
Most over-the- top assignment: Writing a food feature from Aleppo, Syria in 2010. I got more emails than any other story I’ve reported and discovered how many people had a grandparent from Aleppo. Many of the places I visited during that visit are now gone, blown to dust.
Most common mistake you’ve seen: Believing that the front lines is where the story is.
Twitter handle: @deborahamos
Want to add to the OPC’s collection of Q&As with members? Please contact patricia@opcofamerica.org.