Nicholas kristof biography

They decided to dig deeper into questions of gender, Kristof said. Half the Sky reached No. Carolyn Seean author and book critic of The Washington Postsaid in her review:. It asks us to open our eyes to this enormous humanitarian issue. It does so with exquisitely crafted prose and sensationally interesting material. I really do think this is one of the most important books I have ever reviewed.

In Clevelanda reviewer for The Plain Dealer said: "As Rachel Carson 's " Silent Spring " once catalyzed us to save our birds and be better stewards of our earth, 'Half the Sky' stands to become a classic, spurring us to spare impoverished women these terrors, and elevate them to turn around the future of their nations. Kristof was opposed to the Iraq War and grew further opposed as time went on.

In a column published on January 28,he summarized his position by writing, "If we were confident that we could oust Saddam with minimal casualties and quickly establish a democratic Iraqthen that would be fine -- and such a happy scenario is conceivable. But it's a mistake to invade countries based on best-case scenarios. Kristof was criticized at the time for reporting that Iraqis opposed an American invasion.

Andrew Sullivan was among Kristof's critics but inon the 15th anniversary of the war, apologized to Kristof in a tweet. In a column published on August 27,"Wimps on Iraq," he wrote "To us the existing Iraq debate seems largely beside the point; the real issue isn't whether we want to overthrow Saddam, but what price we would have to pay to get the job done.

Bush were really addressing these concerns, weighing them and then concluding that on balance it's worth an invasion, I'd be reassured. But instead it looks as if the president, intoxicated by moral clarity, has decided that whatever the cost, whatever the risks, he will invade Iraq. But Mr. Bush has not overcome some practical concerns about an invasion.

In the column "The Day After" in SeptemberKristof wrote, "In one Shiite city after another, expect battles between rebels and army units, periodic calls for an Iranian-style theocracy, and perhaps a drift toward civil war. For the last few days, I've been traveling in these Shiite cities— KarbalaNajaf and Basra —and the tension in the bazaars is thicker than the dust behind the donkey carts.

So before we rush into Iraq, we need to think through what we will do the morning after Saddam is toppled. Do we send in troops to try to seize the mortars and machine guns from the warring factions? Or do we run from civil war, and risk letting Iran cultivate its own puppet regime? On May 6,less than two months into the war, Kristof published the op-ed column "Missing in Action: Truth" in which he questioned whether the intelligence gathered by the Bush administration, which purportedly indicated that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destructionwas either faked or manipulated.

In this article, Kristof cited as his source a "former ambassador" who had traveled to Niger in early and reported to the Central Intelligence Agency CIA and the State Department that the uranium "allegations were unequivocally wrong and based on forged documents". Kristof added, "The envoy's debunking of the forgery was passed around the administration and seemed to be accepted—except that President Bush and the State Department kept citing it anyway.

Two months later, former Ambassador Joseph C. A criminal investigation was launched as to the source of the leak, as a consequence of which I. Kristof's May 6 article was mentioned in the federal indictment of Libby as a key point in time and a contributing factor that caused Libby to inquire about the identity of the "envoy" and later to divulge the secret identity of his wife to reporters.

Kristof published several articles criticizing the missed opportunity of the "grand bargain", a proposal by Iran to normalize relations with the United States, implement procedures to assure the US it will not develop nuclear weapons, deny any monetary support to Palestinian resistance groups until they agree to stop targeting civilians, support the Arab Peace Initiativeand ensure full transparency to assuage any US concerns.

In return, the Iranians demanded abolition of sanctions and a US statement that Iran does not belong in the so-called "Axis of Evil. According to Kristof, that was an "appalling mistake" [ 53 ] since "the Iranian proposal was promising and certainly should have been followed up. It seems diplomatic mismanagement of the highest order for the Bush administration to have rejected that process out of hand, and now to be instead beating the drums of war and considering air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

On October 12,Times reporter Judith Miller became one of several victims of alleged anthrax attacks. The text, written before the September 11 attacksmade reference to jihadist terrorists. InKristof wrote a series of columns [ 60 ] [ 61 ] indirectly suggesting that Steven Hatfilla former U. Army germ-warfare researcher named as a " person of interest " by the FBI might be a "likely culprit" [ 62 ] [ 63 ] in the anthrax attacks.

In JulyHatfill sued the Times and Kristof for libelclaiming defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. District Court in Alexandria, Virginialacked personal jurisdiction over Kristof. The suit continued against the Times itself but was dismissed in on the basis that allegations within Kristof's articles did not constitute defamation though they appeared untrue.

The appeals court reversed the lower court ruling inreinstating Hatfill's suit against the Times. Hilton again dismissed the suit and ruled that Kristof's anthrax articles were "cautiously worded" and asserted that the scientist may perhaps be innocent. Kristof reminded readers to assume plaintiff's innocence. Inthe case was appealed to the U.

Supreme Courtwhich refused to grant certiorari in the case and effectively left the Appeals Court decision in place. The basis for the dismissal was that Hatfill was a "public figure" and had not proved malice on the part of the Times. Kristof is particularly well known for his reporting on Sudan. At the beginning ofhe was among the first reporters to visit Darfur and describe "the most vicious ethnic cleansing you've never heard of.

His biography says that he has made 11 trips to the region, some illegally by sneaking in from Chadand on at least one occasion, he was detained at a nicholas kristof biography when the authorities seized his interpreter and Kristof refused to leave him behind. Kristof's reporting from Sudan has been both praised and criticized.

There are undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of refugees in and from the Darfur region who owe their very lives to this formidable humanitarian and journalist. In Junethe actress Mia Farrow spoke as Kristof was honored with the Anne Frank Award by declaring: "Nick Kristof was one of the first to publicly insist that the words Never Again mean something for the people of Darfur.

For his courage and his conviction in telling tell searing truths, he is the voice of our collective conscience, demanding we bear witness to the first genocide of the 21st century and encouraging us not to sit by while innocents die. Every once in a great while a moral giant appears among us. Nicholas Kristof is that person. On the other hand, some commentators have criticized Kristof for focusing on atrocities by Arab militias in Darfur and downplaying atrocities by non-Arab militias.

A book by Mahmood Mamdani of Columbia University, "Saviors and Survivors," criticized Kristof's reporting for oversimplifying a complex historically-rooted conflict and packaging it as "genocide". Others, including some critical of Sudan, have sometimes made similar arguments. The Sudanese government has also objected that Kristof's reporting exaggerates the scale of suffering and ignores the nuances of tribal conflicts in Darfur.

The Sudan government and pro-government news media criticized him in March for sneaking into Sudan's Nuba Mountains region without a visa to report on hunger and bombings there by saying that his illegal entry was "shameful and improper". Nicholas Kristof argues that sweatshops are, if not a good thing, defensible as a way for workers to improve their lives and for impoverished countries to transform themselves into industrial economies.

In his argument, sweatshops are an unpleasant but necessary stage in industrial development. Kristof is critical of the way "well-meaning American university students regularly campaign against sweatshops", particularly the anti-sweatshop movement 's strategy of encouraging consumer boycotts against sweatshop-produced imports. Kristof and WuDunn counter that the sweatshop model is a primary reason that Taiwan and South Korea, which accepted sweatshops as the price of development, are today modern countries with low rates of infant mortality and high levels of education, but India, which has generally resisted sweatshops, suffers from a high rate of infant mortality.

They caution that anti-sweatshop boycott campaigns could lead to the closing down of manufacturing and processing plants in places like Africa, where they are needed most. Some managers are brutal in the way they house workers in firetraps, expose children to dangerous chemicals, deny bathroom breaks, demand sexual favors, force people to work double shifts or dismiss anyone who tries to organize a union.

Agitation for improved safety conditions can be helpful, just as it was in 19th-century Europe. But Asian workers would be aghast at the idea of American consumers boycotting certain toys or clothing in protest. The simplest way to help the poorest Asians would be to buy more from sweatshops, not less. He criticizes Israel for what he views as collective punishment of Gazans and holds that the lack of negotiations only strengthens extremists.

Kristof contrasts "two Israels": an oppressive security state in the Palestinian territories and a "paragon of justice, decency, fairness — and peace," in the work of Israeli human rights activists, journalists, and jurists. During the Libyan civil warKristof remarked that the US should create a no-fly zone and also use military aircraft to jam Libyan state communications: "let's remember the risks of inaction — and not psych ourselves out.

For crying out loud! In a column published in The New York Times on June 15,Kristof argued that the US military was a prime example of how a comprehensive social safety netuniversal health carea commitment to public servicelow income disparityand structured planning could be made to work within an organization. He then suggested that the military could serve as a model for improving American society along those lines.

Jonah Goldberg argued, "You've got to love how a system that requires total loyalty, curbs free speech, free association, freedom of movement, etc. If you want to see the military struggle to do its job well, then I suggest you spend some time with its social services. In a New York Times essay, Kristof wrote that he favors education reform more than teachers' unions do.

He says that despite his disagreements with unions on some issues, "I roll my eyes" at what he calls a conservative narrative that unions are the fundamental problem in K education. States with the best schools, like Massachusettshave strong teachers' unions, while those with the worst education outcomes, like South Carolinahave weak or non-existent unions, he wrote.

Kristof has written several articles on the controversial use of flame retardants in furniture, [ 86 ] [ 87 ] [ 88 ] [ 89 ] most recently in the November piece "Danger Lurks in that Mickey Mouse Couch. He claims that flame retardants are ineffective in saving lives but pose an increasingly evident public health risk to both families and firefighters.

In his words, "These flame retardants represent a dizzying corporate scandal. It's a story of corporate greed, deceit and skulduggery. InKristof went as far as to write that flame retardants in furniture are "a case study of everything that is wrong with money politics". Kristof's stances on flame retardants have come under fire from the chemical industry, which calls his opeds "overdramatic" and "misleading".

On December 4,Kristof published a lengthy look at the website Pornhub and at its parent company, MindGeek. Kristof's article included interviews with underage victims who have appeared in videos on Pornhub that were submitted by people who filmed them, in some cases while being raped, and he reported that several such victims had attempted suicide.

Pornhub denied Kristof's claims by calling them "irresponsible and flagrantly untrue". After MasterCardVisaand Discover banned payments to MindGeek-owned sites based on Kristof's report, several commentators argued that Kristof's solution impacted the many legal consensual sex workers who rely on MindGeek sites for income. Because of this decision, based on fiction and conflated reports regarding the presence of minors being assaulted on its platform, many sex workers will be forced even further into the margins.

Roberts described the campaign targeting Pornhub as "strangely punitive and uniquely puritanical in an American way. In a follow-up article on April 16,"Why Do We Let Corporations Profit From Rape Videos," Kristof provided an update and shared the story of a woman in Alberta who had been drugged and raped by her ex-husband, who later posted a video of the assault on Pornhub.

The video was viewed by more thanpeople, and in her interview with Kristof, the woman shared she had attempted suicide. Kristof also addressed some of the concerns raised by pro-sex work activists that he was anti-pornography. He remarked that "a starting point is to recognize that the issue is not pornography but child abuse and exploitation.

We can be sex positive and exploitation negative. Kristof is a self-described progressive and a registered member of the Democratic Party. InThe New York Times launched the Win a Trip with Nick Kristof contest, offering a college student the opportunity to win a reporting trip to Africa with Kristof by submitting essays outlining what they intend to accomplish in such a trip.

During the trip, Kristof published his New York Times columns while Parks wrote about her observations in her blog. Leana Wena medical student at Washington University in St. Which is what Kristof did with his work in Darfur, Sudan: He caused people — from George Clooney on down — to do whatever they can. Sincethe Center for Global Development has screened applicants for the contest, forwarding Kristof a short list of finalists for his selection.

InKristof and his wife began converting his family's cherry orchard in Yamhill, Oregonto a cider apple orchard and vineyard. Kristof has faced significant criticism for his journalistic practices and viewpoints, particularly regarding his coverage of women and children in vulnerable situations, racism, as well as his approach to activism.

Critics have accused him of oversimplifying complex issues, playing into the "white savior" narrative, and overlooking the systemic factors that contribute to nicholas kristof biography problems, such as gender-based violence and exploitation. Kristof's critics have accused him of promoting a "white knight" or "white savior" complex, where his journalism and activism are framed in a way that centers Western interventions as the solution to global problems, rather than empowering local communities to address their own issues.

This approach, some argue, reinforces harmful stereotypes and undermines the agency of those Kristof aims to represent. Additionally, his coverage of the Central African Republic and other international crises has attracted significant backlash for its portrayal of victims in a way that some view as dehumanizing or sensationalized. Critics argue that his stories, while drawing attention to important issues, often fail to capture the complexity of the local context and the nuances of ongoing conflicts, leaving out key perspectives.

Further controversy arose when Kristof's name was linked to advocacy efforts that some sex-work abolitionist groups, such as those that campaigned against Pornhub, have endorsed. Critics within the sex-work community, including some human rights advocates, argue that Kristof's stance on such issues often reflects a misunderstanding of the complexities of sex work and contributes to harmful legal and social policies.

Kristof has also been criticised for many cases of orientalism [ ] and anti-Asian racism, particularly anti-Japanese nicholas kristof biography, [ ] [ ] and also for things such as trying to defend the "model minority" myth of Asian-Americans. Kristof has also been accused of anti-Japanese racism many times due to articles he penned being seen as biased, offensive or racist against Japan and Japanese people.

Ina group of seven Japanese residents of New York, mainly women, were so disturbed by Kristof's articles that they published a book covering and refuting several of them. They refuse to show the whole picture, presenting only sporadic reports that are sensational and contrived, which builds up to form the perception that Japan is a strange country, fostering stereotypes.

Kristof has also not only tried to justify the atomic bombings of Japan, but made the false claim that Japanese people see the bombings as justified as well. Kristof has also been accused of taking an anti-Japanese stance in articles on international relations such as on the Senkaku Islands [ ] [ ] [ ] penning many biased articles filled with falsehoods, [ ] to the point that the Japanese Consulate General in New York protested multiple times, [ ] [ ] [ ] the problem was discussed in the House of Councillors, [ ] and Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a rebuttal on factually wrong statements on one of the articles.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item. American journalist and political commentator born Sheryl WuDunn. Early life and education [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. Oregon gubernatorial campaign [ edit ]. Prizes [ edit ].

The next day we sneaked into the hospital. I talked to them, and it was clear that some of them were people who had taken a great risk. They had been in the front of the crowd. But there were an awful lot of them who had taken a very minor risk. Being in that hospital corridor, stained with blood, in general it was a difficult time, and then also, a lot of our friends were imprisoned, were fleeing the country.

Our own most difficult crisis came when we had — there was a young man called Liu Xiang, who had helped us cover Tsinghua University. He was a student, and he had once registered us in the more open time to get into Tsinghua. And afterward, there he was, in this crackdown that got him into trouble. He was interrogated regularly about it.

Finally he thought he was about to be arrested, and he fled. He ended up being imprisoned and he escaped from prison and came back to Beijing and asked for our help. Sheryl and I just agonized over that. We just agonized over our moral responsibilities there. It was also a little bit complicated, because we worried that this might be an effort to set us up.

It was an immensely difficult decision, but we finally decided we just had to help him. We helped him, in a way with as few fingerprints as we possibly could. He was able to escape to Hong Kong, and I flew down the next day and helped him get to the States. He is now in the U. It was enormously unprofessional and yet absolutely the right thing to do.

Once you left China, how did you get nicholas kristof biography in? They let you back? Nicholas Kristof: They let me back in. I did have a multiple-entry visa, but the foreign ministry and the state security ministry were debating whether to expel me from China. Nicholas Kristof: It was, but it also made us feel kind of guilty. We had won this great glory, but a lot of Chinese were in prison.

And that was kind of difficult. Things became better in subsequent years when more people were released and were able to help some people in some ways. I remember there was a man who contacted me; he was involved in the defense establishment. And one of the stories that I covered very aggressively was Chinese military sales, missile sales. He had photos and copies of contracts and other data showing sales by China of certain long-range missiles to Pakistan, which China had denied were taking place.

He had all the goods on it, and he wanted money for these materials. So we met many times, and I was trying to convince him to give me the material free, and he was trying to convince me to pay for it. But one of the things you do as a journalist, you try to build a rapport with people, so I would talk about his kids and my kids. He had a wife and a son, a small son.

He had a wife and a small son, and he was doing this so that his son would have a little more money and have better toys and have a better future. And it really nagged at me. Go back. Forget about this. Embassy or anybody else. Just go home and forget about it. You never lie. In the Congo, I was once caught by a Tutsi leader who was busy massacring Hutu.

I was very worried about my own safety, and I lied through my teeth to this guy. That's a total flight of fancy. Alex Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning director of Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Shorenstein Center, declared in presenting the award that "the reporter who's done more than any other to change the world is Nick Kristof. The last person named to receive the title, two years earlier, was the Dalai Lama.

A feature documentary for Tightrope was released in After covering the protests, which resulted in some deaths, Kristof and WuDunn were shocked to learn that roughly 39, Chinese girls died each year because they were not given the same access to food and medical care as boys. WuDunn and Kristof did not find coverage of these deaths, although they were far more numerous than the casualties at Tiananmen Square.

Nicholas kristof biography

Kristof reminded readers to assume plaintiff's innocence. Inthe case was appealed to the U. Supreme Courtwhich refused to nicholas kristof biography certiorari in the case and effectively left the Appeals Court decision in place. The basis for the dismissal was that Hatfill was a "public figure" and had not proved malice on the part of the Times.

Kristof is particularly well known for his reporting on Sudan. At the beginning ofhe was among the first reporters to visit Darfur and describe "the most vicious ethnic cleansing you've never heard of. His biography says that he has made 11 trips to the region, some illegally by sneaking in from Chadand on at least one occasion, he was detained at a checkpoint when the authorities seized his interpreter and Kristof refused to leave him behind.

Kristof's reporting from Sudan has been both praised and criticized. There are undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of refugees in and from the Darfur region who owe their very lives to this formidable humanitarian and journalist. In Junethe actress Mia Farrow spoke as Kristof was honored with the Anne Frank Award by declaring: "Nick Kristof was one of the first to publicly insist that the words Never Again mean something for the people of Darfur.

Kristof contrasts "two Israels": an oppressive security state in the Palestinian territories and a "paragon of justice, decency, fairness — and peace," in the nicholas kristof biography of Israeli human rights activists, journalists, and jurists. During the Libyan civil warKristof remarked that the US should create a no-fly zone and also use military aircraft to jam Libyan state communications: "let's remember the risks of inaction — and not psych ourselves out.

For crying out loud! In a column published in The New York Times on June 15,Kristof argued that the US military was a prime example of how a comprehensive social safety netuniversal nicholas kristof biography carea commitment to public servicelow income disparityand structured planning could be made to work within an organization.

He then suggested that the military could serve as a model for improving American society along those lines. Jonah Goldberg argued, "You've got to love how a system that requires total loyalty, curbs free speech, free association, freedom of movement, etc. If you want to see the military struggle to do its job well, then I suggest you spend some time with its social services.

In a New York Times essay, Kristof wrote that he favors education reform more than teachers' unions do. He says that despite his disagreements with unions on some issues, "I roll my eyes" at what he calls a conservative narrative that unions are the fundamental problem in K education. States with the best schools, like Massachusettshave strong teachers' unions, while those with the worst education outcomes, like South Carolinahave weak or non-existent unions, he wrote.

Kristof is a self-described progressive and a registered member of the Democratic Party. InThe New York Times launched the Win a Trip with Nick Kristof contest, offering a college student the opportunity to win a reporting trip to Africa with Kristof by submitting essays outlining what they intend to accomplish in such a trip. During the trip, Kristof published his New York Times columns while Parks wrote about her observations in her blog.

Leana Wena medical student at Washington University in St. Which is what Kristof did with his work in Darfur, Sudan: He caused people — from George Clooney on down — to do whatever they can. Sincethe Center for Global Development has screened applicants for the contest, forwarding Kristof a short list of finalists for his selection. InKristof and his wife began converting his family's cherry orchard in Yamhill, Oregonto a cider apple orchard and vineyard.

Kristof has faced significant criticism for his journalistic practices and viewpoints, particularly regarding his coverage of women and children in vulnerable situations, racism, as well as his approach to activism. Critics have accused him of oversimplifying complex issues, playing into the "white savior" narrative, and overlooking the systemic factors that contribute to social problems, such as gender-based violence and exploitation.

Kristof's critics have accused him of promoting a "white knight" or "white savior" complex, where his journalism and activism are framed in a way that centers Western interventions as the solution to global problems, rather than empowering local communities to address their own issues. This approach, some argue, reinforces harmful stereotypes and undermines the agency of those Kristof aims to represent.

Additionally, his coverage of the Central African Republic and other international crises has attracted significant backlash for its portrayal of victims in a way that some view as dehumanizing or sensationalized. Critics argue that his stories, while drawing attention to important issues, often fail to capture the complexity of the local context and the nuances of ongoing conflicts, leaving out key perspectives.

Kristof has also been criticised for many cases of orientalism [ ] and anti-Asian racism, particularly anti-Japanese racism, [ ] [ ] and also for things such as trying to defend the "model minority" myth of Asian-Americans. Kristof has also been accused of anti-Japanese racism many times due to articles he penned being seen as biased, offensive or racist against Japan and Japanese people.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item.