Entries for July 2002

Mary McGrory joined the Washington Post as a columnist in September 1981. She joined the Washington Star in 1947 and debuted as a national commentator in 1954 when assigned the biggest story of the day, the Army-McCarthy hearings. Her column has been syndicated since 1960 and currently appears two times a week. In 1975, McGrory received journalism’s highest honor, the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. The award’s citation read "for trenchant commentary spread over more than 20 years as a reporter and a columnist in the nation’s capital."

On September 11, 2001, Kathy Gannon, who has reported for the Associated Press from Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1988, became the eyes and ears of the Western press in Kabul.

Sandra Nyaira is political editor of the only independent newspaper in Zimbabwe, The Daily News. She works amid almost daily harassment in a country with one of the worst press freedom records in the world. President Robert Mugabe, aided by his minister of information, Jonathan Moyo, has waged war on the independent press. All journalists must be licensed by the government and they can be prosecuted for criticizing Mugabe and his government. In Zimbabwe, journalists who cross the president risk beatings, torture and death threats.

Anna Politkovskaya, a reporter for the independent, Moscow-based newspaper Novaya Gazeta, has covered both sides of the war in Chechnya, earning harassment from both the Russian government and Chechen rebels. She is known for her investigative reporting documenting atrocities against the civilian population of Chechnya by the Russian military.