Kemal Kurspahić
| Kemal Kurspahić | |
|---|---|
Kemal Kurspahić
|
|
| Born |
1 December 1946 Mrkonjić Grad, PR Bosnia-Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia |
| Education |
University of Belgrade Lawyer Harvard University Nieman Fellow (1994-1995) |
| Occupation | Connection Newspapers Managing Editor (2007-present) Media in Democracy Institute Chairman and Founder (2007-present) UNODC Spokesman, Caribbean Regional Representative (2001-2006) Oslobođenje Editor-in-Chief Sarajevo (1989-1994) |
| Notable credit(s) | Award-winning editor, Four books, Op-Ed articles in major international dailies |
| Spouse(s) | Vesna Kurspahić (1969–present) |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Website | http://kemal.kurspahic.com |
Kemal Kurspahić (born 1 December 1946 in Mrkonjić Grad) is a Bosnian Managing Editor of The Connection Newspapers in Alexandria, Va., USA and Chairman/Founder of the Media in Democracy Institute, dedicated to promoting higher standards in journalism in post-conflict societies and countries in transition to democracy. He won broad international recognition as the Editor-in-Chief of the Bosnian daily Oslobođenje in Sarajevo, 1989-1994.
Kurspahić was born in Bosnia. He went to elementary schools in Croatia and Bosnia, completed his high school in three years in Sanski Most, Bosnia and earned his academic degree from the University of Belgrade's Law School, while working as a freelancer since the earliest days in a high school. He was the editor at the Belgrade weekly Student during the students’ unrest in Europe in 1968 and then became sports correspondent in Belgrade and sports editor in Sarajevo for the Bosnian daily Oslobođenje. He reported from the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, Lake Placid in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984 and from the 1974 Football World Cup in Germany.
Kurspahić served as Oslobođenje’s New York correspondent, 1981-1985. and became the editor-in-chief in 1989. In that role he led the paper through three battles for press freedom: liberating the paper from the one-party control, 1989–1991; defending the paper against the nationalist takeover and winning the Constitutional Court case for its independence in 1991: publishing every day during the siege of Sarajevo from the underground atomic bomb shelter on the front lines of the besieged Bosnian capital, 1992-95.Oslobođenje and Kurspahić have received some of the highest honors in journalism and human rights for maintaining the culture of ethnic and religious tolerance throughout the terror of the siege.
He has published articles in numerous international dailies, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Die Zeit, El País, Neue Zuercher Zetung, Dagens nyheter and other publications. He has appeared on programs such as ABC's Nightline and Good Morning America, CBS's 60 Minutes, PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer, as well as British, Canadian and German television. In addition to living in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia, as well as the United States, he has lived and worked as a diplomat in Vienna, Austria and Barbados and visited 60 countries.
...
Wikipedia