Farnaz Fassihi ( fa, فرناز فصیحی; born 1971) is an Iranian-American journalist who has worked for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' since 2019. She is the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

bureau chief and also writes about Iranian news. Previously she was a senior writer for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' for 17 years and a conflict reporter based in the Middle East. Fassihi's memoir, ''Waiting for An Ordinary Day'', is based on her four years covering the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

and witnessing the unraveling of social life for Iraqi citizens.

Early life and education

Farnaz Fassihi was born in 1971 in the United States to Iranian parents. She grew up in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, Iran, and

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in the US. She earned a

Master of Journalism A Master of Journalism (abbreviated M.J., M.S.J., M.M.J.C., M.A. in Journalism, or M.S. in Journalism) is a master's degree awarded to students who have studied journalism at a graduate level. Like other master's degree programs, master of journ ...

from the Graduate School of Journalism at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Career

Early career

Fassihi worked as an investigative reporter and roving foreign correspondent for ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

'' of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. She covered the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

on the World Trade Center, the war in Afghanistan, Second Palestinian Intifada and Iraq under

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

for ''The Star-Ledger''. She was also a reporter for ''

The Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...

'' in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

covering local news. She led the paper's award-winning coverage of the crash of Egypt Air flight 990, traveling to Cairo to investigate the story. She worked as a

stringer Stringer may refer to: Structural elements * Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened * Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal * Stringer (stairs), ...

for Western media organizations in Iran, including ''The New York Times'' at the age of 19, when she was studying in Iran.

''The Wall Street Journal''

Fassahi spent 17 years covering wars and uprisings across the Middle East as a senior writer and war correspondent for ''

'', based

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

, Iraq, and then in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon, from 2003 to 2006, as deputy bureau chief for Middle East and Africa. She was sent to Afghanistan to cover the US-led invasion there, and covered topics such as elections in Zimbabwe, war in Gaza and the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

protests. She was one of the lead reporters for ''The Journal''s 2011 award-winning investigative project titled "Censorship Inc.," a series of enterprise stories examining how western technology enabled censorship in authoritarian countries. In 2004 she became more widely known, after a private email she had written to family and friends about the deteriorating situation in Iraq went viral on the Internet. It included criticism of U.S. activities in Iraq, saying "The genie of terrorism, chaos, and mayhem has been unleashed... as a result of American mistakes". It was published in newspapers, websites and blogs around the world and became the subject of a ''

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...

'' cartoon. The email later became the kernel of her book about life in Iraq for ordinary Iraqis, ''Waiting for an Ordinary Day'' (2008), and was published in full in the book. Moving back to the United States, she worked in ''WSJ''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, ...

office from 2015 to 2019, covering US foreign policy and diplomacy at the

. She wrote about U.S. foreign policy and global diplomacy of some of the biggest stories: the missile crisis with North Korea, Myanmar's ethnic cleansing of the

Rohingya The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...

minority, Venezuela's political upheaval, the Syrian civil war, Iran's nuclear deal, the refugee crisis and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

''The New York Times''

Fassihi joined ''The New York Times'' as a reporter in July 2019, based in

. Fassihi reported in November 2019 uprising in Iran and broke the story of the massacre of people in Mahshahr, reconstructing in detail how the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps shot down

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752/AUI752) was a scheduled international civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 flying the route was shot dow ...

, a passenger plane, with missiles on a night that the U.S. and Iran went to the brink of war, and lied about it for three days. Also in November 2019, Fassihi was one of the reporters on a joint investigative project, "The Iran Cables", between the ''NY Times'' and ''

The Intercept ''The Intercept'' is an American left-wing news website founded by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras and funded by billionaire eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar. Its current editor is Betsy Reed. The publication initially reporte ...

'' about a find of intelligence cables revealing how Iran wields influence in Iraq. In October 2020, Fassihi's investigation into Iran's MeToo movement revealed allegations of

sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, se ...

against prominent artist Aydin Aghdashloo. In August 2021, it was reported that Fassihi had been the target of a series of cyber attacks and violent threats by certain Iranian opposition groups and internet trolls over several months. She was

doxxed Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization, usually via the internet. Historically, the term has been used interchangeably to refer to both the aggregation of this in ...

and threatened with death and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

. ''The New York Times'' put out a statement on Twitter on August 6 in support of her.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) is a New York-based non-profit organization that functions globally. The organization is supported by Craig Newmark, Craig Newmark Philanthropies. Background The Coalition For Women In Journalism, a ...

condemned the attacks, which they called "deeply gendered and

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...

". In October 2021, Fassihi and the ''New York Times'' were accused and called out in an open letter by critics for "

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

" reports for " enial_of_(DARVO).html" ;"title="DARVO.html" ;"title="enial of (DARVO">enial of (DARVO)">DARVO.html" ;"title="enial of (DARVO">enial of (DARVO)and normalizing Iranian government brutality", which ''The New York Times'' Editorial board, public relations and Fassihi rebutted in an official public statement. In April 2022, ''The New York Times'' announced that Fassihi would be covering the United Nations in addition to continuing to cover Iran.

Recognition and awards

* 2000: For EgyptAir Flight 990 crash ** The New England News Executive Award-First place for General News category ** Livingston Award for young journalists—Finalist * 2006: For Iraq coverage ** Henry Pringle Lecture Award—Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism for reporting with the most impact in shaping policy in Washington. Fassihi is the youngest person honored with the award. * 2011: For "Censorship Inc." (Team award) ** Malcolm Forbes Award—The

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

's Best International Business Reporting ** Investigate Award—from Society of American Business Editors and Writers * 2010: For "Hearts, Minds and Blood: the battle for Iran" ** Robert F. Kennedy Award for best international reporting in print **

's Hal Boyle Award—for Best newspaper or news service reporting from abroad ** Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism from

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

** Taylor Family Award for Fairness and Accuracy in print Journalism from

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 ...

** Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best International Reporting from The Society of Professional Journalists ** National Journalism Award for Best Reporting in Print from the

Asian American Journalists Association The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current presi ...

* 2015: Career Award for coverage of Middle East ** The

Marie Colvin Marie Catherine Colvin (January 12, 1956 – February 22, 2012) was an American journalist who worked as a foreign affairs correspondent for the British newspaper '' The Sunday Times'' from 1985 until her death. She died while covering the siege ...

Front Page Award for Foreign Correspondence *2015:

Nieman fellow 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 ...

*2018: recipient of an

Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born ...

for distinguished contribution to American society

Other roles

Fassihi's essays on the subject of journalism, conflict reporting and courage have been published by

's ''Nieman Reports'' magazine and ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, an ...

''. She has been a guest speaker at numerous panels and journalism classes and a commentator for television and radio news shows on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

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 ...

, '' Charlie Rose'' and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

in the United States. Fassihi has served as a judge for the annual

's awarda, and as of September 2021 was serving on the OPC board. She was a member of the

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...

Fund For Journalists board for four years, and of the United Nations Correspondents Association from 2017 to 2019. She is also a member of the New York Chapter of the Iranian American Women Foundation, a non-partisan, non-political network of professional Iranian women. Fassihi is active in the organization's mentorship program and mentors a young female Iranian journalist each year. She was selected by

Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a proprietary business communication platform developed by Microsoft, as part of the Microsoft 365 family of products. Teams primarily competes with the similar service Slack, offering workspace chat and videoconferencin ...

in 2019 as a leader to be featured in a documentary called ''Art of the Team'', which featured a group of a dozen leaders from different fields, including scientists, Olympic athletes, CEOs and designers. Microsoft Teams uses Fassihi's interview in training sessions for corporations for team building and

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...

Books

Monograph

* ''Waiting for An Ordinary Day: the Unraveling of Life in Iraq'' (2008)—Fassihi's memoir of four years spent covering the Iraq war, and its impact on ordinary Iraqis

Contributing author

* ''Women's Letters, America from the Revolutionary War to the Present''—Fassihi's famous email from Iraq is included in this anthology of historical letters written by American women. * ''What Orwell Didn’t Know, Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics''—Fassihi contributed an essay about the Iraq War and US administration's propaganda. * ''Eating Mud Crabs in Kandahar: Stories of Food during Wartime by the World's Leading Correspondents''—Fassihi contributed a chapter on sharing meals in Iran with student activists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fassihi, Farnaz American women journalists American people of Iranian descent Iranian journalists The Wall Street Journal people University of Tehran alumni 1971 births Living people Lake Oswego High School alumni 21st-century American women