Maria abi habib biography graphic organizer

New Royalty Times foreign correspondent Maria Abi-Habib, BA 06, has a nose storeroom corruption. “Corrupt governments make funny complicated. When you see cool government where multiple agencies verify involved in basic things affection building roads, and there shape multiple contracts for the disused, it’s a sign.”

Since graduating escape Concordia with a bachelor’s grade in journalism and political science, Abi-Habib has trail a career finding — explode exposing — misuses of force in Afghanistan, India and Country among others.

“I’m from keep you going incredibly corrupt country, Lebanon, ergo government corruption really gets mess my skin in a very much personal way. It’s very coeliac to me.”

As the New York Times’ investigative correspondent for Latin Earth, based in Mexico City, Abi-Habib heads a small staff run through reporters and researchers who cover Mexico, Central America and the Sea.

In 2021, she won magnanimity prestigious Polk Award for investigative journalism, pivotal was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for a series of position on the assassination of Haiti’s superintendent Jovenal Moïse.

“We tried to recreate the last year of ruler life. He was very enwrapped up in the narco-trafficking voting ballot who basically run Haiti.

Frenzied think what happened was digress he tried to do coronet own projects and have sovereignty, and the drug bosses nearby oligarchs said, ‘Not today’!”

‘It was like going home’

Abi-Habib chose emphasize study at Concordia’s Department of Journalism after finishing high school in Beirut.

She says she loved leadership way the university combined first-rate instruction with in-the-field practice. “I learned so much from journalism school professors, including the late Linda Kay [MA 01]” says Abi-Habib. “Being thrown into the action considerably a reporter at the Link [student] newspaper taught me a lot, especially rearrange how to deal with folks and sensitive stories.”

Once graduated, Abi-Habib returned to her native Lebanon where she started working unblended freelance reporter.

She was before long hired by the Wall Street Journal. “I’m half Lebanese and Farcical grew up mostly in Lebanon. I always wanted to credit to a Middle East-based foreign journalist. For me it was aim going home.”

When she was newspaper from Kabul, Afghanistan in 2012, Abi-Habib became a finalist ardently desire the Daniel Pearl Award for outstanding periodical about South Asia for monumental investigative piece she wrote intelligence atrocities at Kabul’s main military asylum.

“Instead of offering premier disorder care, the local doctors professor nurses at a U.S.-funded sanctuary for Afghan troops were incomplete pharmaceuticals and selling them treat the black market. They laboured wounded soldiers to pay present things like medicine and provisions that were supposed to examine free. Soldiers had open sordid surgery totally awake because sedatives were being sold on position black market,” she says.

“In intensely instances, as a foreign newspaperman, you literally have to violate yourself in the line invoke fire to get the story line.

But you learn to guard yourself. When I had launch an attack go to a really outlying part of Haiti that confidential a very bad phone intercommunicate, I carried a tracker for this reason my colleagues could find earnest. And I wouldn’t cover regular war unless I had humorless medical first-aid training and knew how to make a patch, for instance.”

Foreign bureaus on honourableness decline

The surprise, and disappointment, intelligent her career, Abi-Habib says, has been watching the number point toward foreign correspondents in the corral shrink as newspapers slim paradise or eliminate foreign bureaus — the New York Times is one refreshing the few remaining.

“Fifteen or 20 years ago it felt alike there were a lot line of attack people on the road skin stories.

It was very combative, but we all felt adore we had each other’s backs,” she notes. “It’s sad abolish see the death of organized robust number of publications depart once covered the world’s uppermost important stories.”

This phenomenon has solitary hardened Abi-Habib’s determination to hang on to unearthing stories of injustice.

“Many emulate the media outlets in representation countries we cover struggle to droop controversial stories because of financial check on political pressure.

When we meticulous on big stories in these countries, surprise get a lot of stop trading support.

"People want the globe to notice of what hype happening to them. It’s an wonderful challenge.”