Chris McGreal
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Chris McGreal is a reporter for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. He is the author of ''American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts'' published by Public Affairs in the US and Guardian Faber in the UK.


Career

McGreal is a foreign correspondent for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' who has covered Africa, the Middle East and Central America. He is now based in the US. He has won awards for his coverage of Africa, Israel and the U.S. A former merchant seaman, he began his career in journalism in 1982 with BBC local radio. He worked as a producer at the BBC World Service in London before moving to Venezuela in 1985 as a reporter on the English-language Daily Journal in Caracas and as a correspondent for the BBC. In 1987 McGreal moved to Mexico City for the BBC and, later, ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''. In 1990, he became ''The Independent on Sunday'''s first South Africa correspondent following the release of
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
from jail. He joined ''The Guardian'' in 1992 and remained based in Johannesburg to report on the transition from apartheid as well travelling widely in Africa to cover the
Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...
, the
Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
, the invasion of Zaire and fall of
Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
, and military rule in Nigeria. McGreal won the 1995 Amnesty International national print award for an article about the organisers of the Rwandan genocide. He was awarded the 2002 James Cameron Prize for his coverage of Africa and "work as a journalist that has combined moral vision and professional integrity". The judges praised his "even-handed reporting and analysis of sub-Saharan Africa - without allowing his judgment to be affected by sentimentality or historical guilt". McGreal was appointed ''The Guardian'''s
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
correspondent in 2002 at the height of the second Palestinian uprising. In 2004 he won the Martha Gellhorn Award (London), for reporting of Israel & Palestinian territories that "penetrated the established version of events and told an unpalatable truth". In 2006, McGreal returned to South Africa. He made repeated undercover trips to
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
to report on the political violence of President
Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
's regime. He was runner up in the 2006 British Media Award by the Foreign Press Association in London for his Zimbabwe coverage. In 2009 he was appointed ''The Guardians Washington correspondent. He was runner up in the Foreign Press Association award for Print/Web Feature Story of the Year for a series retracing route of ''
The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
'' to report on economic depression in modern America. He has continued to report from the Middle East at times, including the Egyptian and Libyan revolutions in 2011.


Awards

* 1995: Amnesty International print reporter of the year for reporting of Rwandan genocide. * 1996: Foreign Press Association, London. Runner up British Media Award for Africa coverage * 2002:
James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
prize, London, for Africa coverage for "work as a journalist that has combined moral vision and professional integrity". * 2004:
Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, named for the war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn, was established in 1999 by the Martha Gellhorn Trust. The Trust is a UK-registered charity. The award is founded on the following principles: The award ...
, London, for reporting of Israel & Palestinian territories that "penetrated the established version of events and told an unpalatable truth". * 2006: Foreign Press Association, London. Runner up British Media Award for Zimbabwe coverage * 2009: Foreign Press Association, Runner Up, Print/Web Feature Story of the Year for a series retracing route of "Grapes of Wrath" to report on economic depression in modern America


Works

* ''American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts'', Public Affairs, 2018, . Shortlisted for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize 2019. Longlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Writing.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGreal, Chris British male journalists The Guardian journalists Criticism of journalism Arab–Israeli conflict Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)