Elaine Shannon (born November 16, 1946) is an American
investigative journalist
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
and former correspondent for ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' and ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' considered an expert on
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
,
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
, and
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tang ...
.
Describing her also as "a leading expert on the evil alliances of drug kingpins and corrupt officials", ''Newsweek'' said Shannon "could rightly claim to be the
Boswell of thugs and drugs."
Early life
Shannon was born in
Gainesville, Georgia, on November 16, 1946.
She was an
English major
English studies (usually called simply English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries; it is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is ...
at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
where she graduated in 1968.
While a senior at Vanderbilt, Shannon began working for the ''
Nashville Tennessean
''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...
'' where she reported on
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
,
police brutality, and
prisoner abuse
Prisoner abuse is the mistreatment of persons while they are under arrest or incarcerated. Prisoner abuse can include physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, torture, or other acts such as refusal of essential medication.
Physica ...
.
In 1970 Shannon became the newspaper's
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
correspondent and covered the Senatorial campaign of
Albert Gore Sr., the Presidential campaigns of
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
and
George McGovern, and the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
.
She spent a year at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
where in 1974 she earned a
Nieman Fellowship
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University awards multiple types of fellowships.
Nieman Fellowships for journalists
A Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University ...
in journalism, then went to work for ''
Newsday'' the following year.
Career
According to CNN, Shannon "has covered criminal justice issues, including international arms trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering, organized crime, white collar crime, terrorism and espionage" since 1976.
She frequently speaks on issues related to
drug trafficking.
Through her reporting, Shannon has built "an extensive network of sources as she covered the FBI, DEA, Customs and Justice departments, intelligence and terrorism."
She joined ''Newsweek'' in 1976 and covered the Presidential campaigns of
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
and
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...
.
In October 1986, she left ''Newsweek'' to finish writing her
''New York Times'' best-selling book about the drug trade, ''Desperados: Latin Drug Lords, U.S. Lawmen, and the War America Can't Win''.
In April 1987, Shannon joined ''Time'' where she was a correspondent in their Washington, D.C. bureau.
She became a panelist on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
's ''
To the Contrary'' in 1993.
Books
Shannon is the author of four books. Her first, ''Desperados: Latin Drug Lords, U.S. Lawmen, and the War America Can't Win'', sold over 130,000 copies.
''Publishers Weekly'' stated that Shannon drew on 10 years of expertise covering the international drug scene for ''Newsweek'' to write about the 1985
torture-murder of
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...
agent
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena.
In his review for the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'',
Jonathan Kirsch
Jonathan Kirsch is an American attorney, writer, and a columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He is a bestselling author of books on religion, the Bible, and Judaism.
Biography
Life
Kirsch earned a B.A. degree in Russian and Jewish history f ...
called ''Desperados'' "a sock-in-the-eye work of reporting about America’s losing struggle against the multinational, multibillion-dollar drug industry"
''Desperados'' also served as the basis for
Michael Mann
Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ...
's three-part miniseries ''
Drug Wars: The Camarena Story'' broadcast on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
in January 1990.
The
docudrama received an
Emmy award as the best miniseries of 1990.
A second miniseries based on ''Desperados'', ''Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel'', was broadcast on NBC in January 1992 was also nominated for an Emmy for best miniseries of 1992.
''No Heroes: Inside the FBI’s Secret Counter-Terror Force'' was written with Deputy Assistant Director of the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
Danny Coulson
Danny Coulson (born June 29, 1941) is a former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI. In his thirty-year tenure at the FBI, Coulson created and commanded the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (FBI), Hostage Rescue Team and commanded four field divisio ...
and ''The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen'' was co-authored by journalist
Ann Blackman
Ann Blackman is an author and a journalist. She lived in Bogota, New Jersey, until 1956 when her family moved to Tenafly, New Jersey. Blackman graduated from Tenafly High School in 1964, received an Associate of Arts degree from Colby Junior Colle ...
.
Shannon's fourth book, ''Hunting LeRoux'', was published in 2019 by
William Morrow/
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...
.
The story discusses
Paul Le Roux
Paul Calder Le Roux (born 24 December 1972) is a former programmer, former criminal cartel boss, and informant to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
In 1999, he created E4M, a free and open-source disk encryption software program for ...
and the DEA's elite special operation group that tracked him in an effort to bring down his global criminal enterprise.
Shannon learned about Le Roux in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
while researching how warlords and terrorist groups were financed by the heroin trade,
and her sources included undercover DEA agents and informants.
Mann wrote the foreword of the book and as of 2019 had plan to develop it into a movie.
''Kirkus Reviews'' called it a "painstaking, fascinating account of crime and punishment" and said Shannon did an especially good job presenting "how the American Drug Enforcement Administration pieced together its multiagency, multigovernmental case against Le Roux".
Jeff Ayers' review described the book as a "gripping account that is both well-written and exhaustively researched".
Awards
Shannon has won the
Association for Women in Communications
The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is an American professional organization for women in the communications industry.
History
Theta Sigma Phi
The Association for Women in Communications began in 1909 as Theta Sigma Phi (), an ho ...
'
Clarion Award
Clarion may refer to:
Music
* Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages
* The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6
* A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch
* "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...
and the
New York State Bar Association Award.
In 1992, Shannon and
John Moody's two-part
cover story
Cover story or Cover Story may refer to:
* A magazine or newspaper article whose subject appears on that issue's front cover, and may be profiled in depth.
* A fictitious explanation intended to hide one's real motive; see disinformation, cover-u ...
in ''Time'' about the
Cali cartel
The Cali Cartel ( es, Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca. Its founders were the brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. They broke away f ...
won the
Inter American Press Association
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA; Spanish: ''Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa'', SIP) is a press advocacy group representing major media organizations in North America, South America and the Caribbean. It is made up of more than 1,300 ...
's IAPA-Bartolome Mitre Award for distinguished journalism.
Their story, ″Cocaine, Inc. — The New Drug Kings″, addressed the drug problem in the United States.
Personal life
Shannon lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Dan Morgan, author and correspondent for ''The Washington Post''.
They have a son, Andrew.
References
External links
Official websiteLinkedIn profileAppearances on C-SPAN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon, Elaine
1946 births
Living people
20th-century American journalists
21st-century American journalists
American investigative journalists
American women journalists
Journalists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Nieman Fellows
People from Gainesville, Georgia
Vanderbilt University alumni
20th-century American women
21st-century American women