The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

At Graduation each year, the J-school Faculty invites two speakers to address the students at two separate events. One is the main commencement speech, given by the winner of the Columbia Journalism Award (the school’s highest honor). This year’s speaker, in front of the students, families and guests, was Jim Amoss, editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. You can read his remarks here.

The other is the Pringle Lecture, given on Journalism Day (an event without parents and guests - just the Faculty and students). This year, the speaker was Farnaz Fassihi, J’99, Middle East correspondent of The Wall Street Journal. She was introduced by Prof. Sig Gissler, who taught her in the Spring 1999 semester - his remarks are below. You can read her speech here.

Introduction of Farnaz Fassihi
By Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes

Columbia Journalism School
Pringle Lecture
May 16, 2006

In October of 1999, an EgyptAir jetliner plunged out of the clam night sky into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantucket killing all 217 persons aboard.

The Staff of the Providence Journal mobilized.
The plane had just fallen off the radar screen.
There were fears of pilot suicide.
It was a huge story.

During the newsroom hubbub, Farnaz Fassihi, a new Columbia journalism school graduate working in a suburban bureau, was basically overlooked.

Nonetheless, she pitched a piece on the religious implications of the crash.

After all, the pilots and most victims were Muslim. While the staff chased the big story, Farnaz pursued her angle – showing, among other things, the value of newsroom diversity.

Soon, using her knowledge of Islam, she bonded with the imam who would be at the heart of the saga as survivors arrived from Egypt. Farnaz broke one exclusive story after another, so impressing editors that they sent her to Cairo for further reports. Her work won a major award and she was a finalist for a Livingston Award, given to outstanding journalists under 35.

Columbia professors who had Farnaz as a student were not surprised.

Courage, tenacity, charm and resourcefulness had been her trademarks.

Soon, she moved to the Star-Ledger in New Jersey, covering Elizabeth, a tough urban community.

After 9/11, as the United States prepared to invade Afghanistan, Farnaz made another pitch. She convinced Star-Ledger editors to give her a crack at covering the conflict. Again, her work sparkled. The paper proudly entered it in the Pulitzer Prize competition for international reporting where, I can say on good authority, the entry was highly regarded by the jury.

In 2002, she caught the eye of The Wall Street Journal, still reeling from the murder of reporter Daniel Pearl at the hands of terrorists. Before naming her its Middle East correspondent, the paper called around.

“Is she reckless?” a Journal editor asked me.

“No,” I said. “But she is gutsy…and tireless.”

Soon this new Journal reporter would underscore those traits amid the awesome perils of Iraq.
* * *
Farnaz was born in the United States of Iranian parents and went to college in Iran. She was hooked on journalism while working as a translator for Western reporters visiting Iran.

Later, she worked as a stringer for the foreign desk of The New York Times in Iran and for the paper’s metro desk in New York City.

Then, came the Columbia training that helped propel her forward.

For Farnaz, foreign reporting was the dream job. However, the war in Iraq altered everything – including what it means to be a correspondent in a combat zone.

Early in the conflict, Farnaz roamed freely in sandals and T-shirt. But as journalists became targets, security concerns dominated her day.

In 2004, she wrote about the terrible transformation in an eloquent private e-mail to friends. Soon, it ricocheted around the world and Farnaz became the center of a presidential election-year controversy (which she will tell you about).

The message has been memorialized in a new book, “Women’s Letters,’’ a collection of letters from the American revolution to the present. Farnaz is in good company – from Dolly Madison to Louisa May Alcott and Jackie Kennedy. Farnaz’s e-mail is the final piece in the book.

However, her portfolio of work is also rich with distinguished reporting on all aspects of the Iraqi conflict. In her array of news features, profiles and analytical pieces — notable for fresh perspectives and memorable details –- the full tragic struggle emerges.

Today, Farnaz is the Journal’s senior Middle East correspondent headquartered in Beirut. Although an occasional trip to Iraq likely, her focus will be on other Middle East issues.

Please welcome an inspiring young colleague, Farnaz Fassihi….

Read Farnaz’s speech here:
http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/students/graduation2006/Farnazremarks.asp.

If you want to go back one year, you can also read the 2005 graduation
speech by David Halberstam:
http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/students/graduation2005/halberstam.asp