Christof Putzel is an American journalist and correspondent for

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

. He is a former correspondent for

Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jaze ...

's news magazine ''

America Tonight ''America Tonight'' was Al Jazeera America's flagship news show, airing at 9:30 p.m. EST. It was a showcase for thought-provoking and insightful in-depth reporting and programming with a focus on investigative reporting. Its mission is to tell ...

'' and

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smal ...

's investigative documentary series, ''Vanguard''.

Career

Christof began his production career while an undergraduate at

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn College or Conn) is a private liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. It is a residential, four-year undergraduate institution with nearly all of its approximately 1,815 students living on campus. The college w ...

, where he produced his first documentary, "Left Behind," about AIDS orphans in Kenya. The film won over a dozen awards at film festivals, including a

Student Academy Award The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers. Description The awards were originally named the Student Film Awards and were first ...

, the

International Documentary Association International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...

’s David Wolper Award, and HBO Films Best Student Film Award. Christof joined Current TV in 2005 as one of the network’s first employees. The following year, he was nominated for his first Emmy for his report from Mogadishu, Somalia about the rise and fall of the Islamic Court Union. He trekked in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo to cover the exploitation of child gold miners, made the treacherous journey through the desert to cross the Mexico/US border with migrants trying to reach American soil, and camped on the southern shores of Yemen, where he discovered the bodies of more than two-dozen refugees who drowned attempting to escape the violence in Somalia. His documentary, “From Russia with Hate,” about the rise of violent attacks against immigrants in Moscow by neo-Nazi skinheads, won Columbia University’s Alfred I. DuPont Award and the prestigious Livingston Award for International Reporting. He was nominated for his third Emmy for “Lost in Democracy,” a documentary about the first democratic elections held in the tiny Himalayan

Kingdom of Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

. In 2012, "Sex, Lies, and Cigarettes," a documentary centered around Aldi, "the Indonesian smoking baby," went viral after exposing

Philip Morris Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to: Companies *Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist **Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group ** Philip Morris Inte ...

's marketing practices in the developing world. It won an Overseas Press Club Award, a PRISM Award, and was nominated for an Emmy. In 2013, Christof was awarded his second

Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered ...

for "Arming the Mexican Cartels," a documentary investigating gun trafficking into Mexico from the United States. When Current TV was sold to Al Jazeera Media in 2013, Putzel became a senior correspondent for the network's flagship news magazine, America Tonight.

Personal life

Putzel is a third-generation news reporter. His father, Michael Putzel, covered the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

. His mother, Ann Blackman, was a correspondent for ''Time'' and a reporter for the

. His grandfather, Samuel G. Blackman, was a top editor for the

. Christof was married to Julia Taft, a great-granddaughter of late

Robert A. Taft Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. (September 8, 1889 – July 31, 1953) was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the Republican Party's Taft family. Taft represented Ohio in the United States Senate, briefly served as Senate Majority Leade ...

, Republican senator from Ohio, and a great-great-granddaughter of President and Chief Justice

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

. They divorced in 2014.

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Putzel, Christof 1979 births Living people American television reporters and correspondents Al Jazeera people Connecticut College alumni American male journalists People from Washington, D.C. Livingston Award winners for International Reporting

Career

Personal life

Awards

See also

References