For the Columbia Journalism Review: On the afternoon of October 7, Bilal Jadallah stood inside the offices of Press House, the media center he had founded in the Gaza Strip, as journalists came to pick up free flak jackets and helmets. Earlier that day, Hamas militants had stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack, brutally killing hundreds of civilians. The Israeli government was promising swift and decisive retribution. For many years, Jadallah, who was forty-five years old, had been the face of independent journalism…Continue Reading “Remembering the ‘father figure’ of journalism in Gaza”
For ProPublica: A multi-part series. How Police Have Undermined the Promise of Body Cameras (The New York Times Magazine) (Honorable Mention for 2024 John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism, Medill School of Journalism) Body Cameras Were Sold as a Tool of Police Reform. Ten Years Later, Most of the Footage Is Kept From Public View When Alabama Police Kill, Surviving Family Can Fight Years to See Bodycam Footage. There’s No Guarantee They Will Police Departments Are Turning to AI to Sift Through…Continue Reading “Black Boxes: How Police Undermined the Promise of Body Cameras”
For ProPublica: A multi-part series. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1908 that tribes with reservations have a right to water. But ProPublica and High Country News found that in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin they face unique obstacles: a state that aggressively opposes them, a process that sometimes doesn’t provide infrastructure to access water and growing competition from other users. How Arizona Stands Between Tribes and Their Water (Honorable mention, 2024 Best Feature Story, Indigenous Journalists Association) Supreme Court Keeps Navajo Nation Waiting for…Continue Reading “Waiting for Water: Tribes’ Fight for a Promised Resource”
For ProPublica: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was in a tough spot last August when he paid a visit to Turkey. For nearly a year, his government had been at war with rebels from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which was now pushing south from its stronghold near the Eritrean border and threatening to move on the country’s capital of Addis Ababa. Thousands had already been killed, and the United States and the United Nations had accused all the warring parties of blockading aid, committing…Continue Reading ““The Drone Problem”: How the U.S. Has Struggled to Curb Turkey, a Key Exporter of Armed Drones”
For Al Jazeera English: Istanbul, Turkey – A light snow falls on Istanbul as Yoruk Isik boards a ferry and climbs upstairs, passing up the cosy enclosed lower deck where tourists and commuters sip tea for the open-air top of the small boat. As the ferry embarks on its trip up the Bosphorus Strait, Isik pulls out a camera and begins snapping photos of a giant southbound cargo ship he recognises, one usually contracted to carry wheat purchased in Eastern Europe as humanitarian aid for…Continue Reading “Giant chessboard: Istanbul ship-spotters monitor moves for war”
For Al Jazeera English: Istanbul, Turkey – Just off of Istiklal street, Istanbul’s busiest pedestrian walkway, the occasional passerby stops to glance at a screen displaying the prices of cryptocurrencies in the window at NakitCoins. Only a handful of people enter the shop, but the brick-and-mortar exchange, which lets them buy or sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is a physical example of how the ailing Turkish lira is propelling the popularity of virtual cryptocurrencies in Turkey, despite a recent history of scandalised exchanges. Interest in…Continue Reading “Crypto investing is alive and well in Turkey, thanks to lira woes”
For Al Jazeera English: Istanbul, Turkey – At a produce stand in Istanbul’s Balat neighbourhood this week, the owner, Selamet, took a break from serving customers to talk about something that’s affecting everyone in Turkey – rising food prices. “Some things have not gone up as much as others, because their production has kept up, but others, especially the most often bought items here have gone up more,” Selamet told Al Jazeera. Prices of popular items including potatoes, onions, eggplant, green beans, and other vegetables…Continue Reading “Just how bad is inflation in Turkey? It depends on who you ask”
For Al Jazeera English: Istanbul, Turkey – Every day, Emre İlkan Saklica scrolls through endless social media feeds, delving into the latest trends and browsing through news reports, with just one goal: debunk false claims. Saklica is head of editorial at Teyit, Turkey’s largest independent fact-checking organisation. For more than five years, Teyit has been using a variety of channels to fight false information in the country’s public discourse – not just what is perpetuated publicly on social or traditional media but also in closed…Continue Reading “How Turkey’s largest fact-checking group tackles disinformation”
For Al Jazeera English: Istanbul, Turkey – On a sunny afternoon this week in Istanbul’s Uskudar neighbourhood, retiree Niazi Toprak sat on a bench reading the newspaper as he waited for a fresh delivery of bread to arrive. Joining him were dozens of other people who had also lined up at the nearby kiosk belonging to the city’s subsidised bread programme. Istanbul Halk Ekmek, or “Public Bread”, sells a 250g (8.8 oz) baguette for 1.25 Turkish liras ($0.09) – cheaper than at nearby bakeries, where…Continue Reading “In Turkey, bread lines grow longer as inflation soars”
For Al Jazeera English: Istanbul, Turkey – On a chilly afternoon in Istanbul’s Kadikoy neighbourhood, Nurmukhammed Annaev poked his head out of the window looking for fellow dissidents from Turkmenistan who had said they would attend a press conference. Dozens of Turkish police officers milled about below, blocking traffic on the street leading to the office. “The police stopped me on my way here,” Annaev, 40, told Al Jazeera. “They wanted to know if our press conference was going to be outside because they say…Continue Reading “Turkmenistan’s dissidents fear crackdown in Turkish exile”