Gena Asher | March 23, 2010
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| Courtesy photo |
| New York Times London chief John F. Burns will deliver the Roy W. Howard lecture at 7 p.m. Monday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. He is the second of the school’s spring Speaker Series guests. |
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“John Burns is one of the world’s premier international journalists, so it is appropriate that he deliver the Roy W. Howard lecture,” said School of Journalism Director of Communications Beth Moellers. Burns’ talk also is the second of the school’s spring Speaker Series.
Howard, who led the Scripps Howard newspaper chain for more than 30 years, was a strong believer in the importance of international news and was the first American to interview Japanese Emperor Hirohito.
“We’re eager for our students to hear about Mr. Burns’ experiences covering turbulence around the world including the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as his long career in which he covered apartheid in South Africa and the siege of Sarajevo,” Moellers said.
Howard’s 30 years in the industry is matched by Burns’s own three decades with the Times. Burns has covered everything from China’s Cultural Revolution to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Two years ago, he met and talked to students who were visiting London as part of the J460 Ernie Pyle: London to Paris course, which takes students to Europe to trace Pyle’s path during World War II. At that time, Burns told the journalism students that some of the most exciting moments of his life were lived in war zones.
"I just feel being a reporter is so exhilarating," Burns said. "I don’t think it’s just thrill seeking … but it gives a kind of sharpness to life that’s hard to duplicate."
Along with the sharpness came two Pulitzer Prizes: the first in 1993 for Burns’s coverage of the siege of Sarajevo, the second in 1997 for his reporting on the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. He’s also a two-time George K. Polk Award winner for his foreign reporting.
Foreign reporting comes at great risks for the Burns. His height, coupled with a bushy head of hair, means Burns has a hard time blending in with most crowds. And blending in was never more important than when he was reporting from Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s regime. His said his work had earned him the label “most dangerous man in Iraq” and Hussein’s secret police were actively hunting him down to take him into custody. So Burns went into hiding.
During a second reporting venture to Iraq, this time after Hussein’s fall, Burns and his support staff were ambushed on their way to what they thought would be an interview with Shi’a leader Moqtada al’Sadr. Burns and his crew were kidnapped by insurgents and whisked away to a building in the desert. It was a harrowing experience but, Burns told students, he was determined not to appear defeated.
"I wasn’t really scared," Burns told the group. "When you’re in a position of power, of authority, you learn that if you’re anxious you can’t let that show. You have to be resolute."
Based in London since 2007, Burns continues to report on U.S. wars as well as other issues in Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition to his print work, Burns contributes regular writing and analysis to the Times’ “At War” blog and appears on news programs such as the PBS NewsHour, Charlie Rose and C-SPAN.
The talk is free and open to the public. While in the area, Burns also will address the Bloomington Press Club at noon and will talk with groups of journalism students and faculty.
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