Posted Wednesday, March 8, 2006, The OG, news

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anthony Shadid spoke at Uni High this afternoon to a group of about 50 students and faculty members in the school's South Attic.

Shadid, who covered the Iraq War and its immediate aftermath for The Washington Post, said this was his first chance to talk directly with high school students about his experiences as a reporter.

“There are those moments when you can get as close to the truth as possible,” said Shadid, who is now based in Beirut as the Post's Middle Eastern correspondent. “It was like that in 2003-04. I miss those days. It's reached the point in Iraq where it's too dangerous now. … It's a physical danger. Access is a problem.”

Shadid's work in Iraq earned him the 2004 Pulitzer for international reporting. In 2005 he published a book, “Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War,” based on his experiences there.

The local organization AWARE (Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort) invited Shadid to Champaign-Urbana to speak about Iraq and the larger issues facing the United States in the Middle East. English teacher Suzanne Linder arranged for Shadid to include Uni in his itinerary.

An American of Lebanese descent, Shadid is known for his ability to convey the impact of events on ordinary people.

“The human drama is what's important,” Shadid told his Uni audience. “Listening is the greatest trait you can have as a journalist.”

Shadid arrived in Baghdad several weeks before the war began in March 2003. Many of his colleagues left the city as the war grew closer. He chose to stay, although the decision wasn't easy.

“I was scared before the invasion,” he said. “I had nightmares.”

But once the war began, his life became so hectic that he largely forgot about the dangers. More important to him was the responsibility to report what he saw and heard as accurately as he could.

“I had to remind myself I was a journalist first and an American second,” he said.

As for the current situation in Iraq, Shadid isn't optimistic.

“I don't see it getting better,” he said. “I see it getting worse. And I don't see a way to make it better.”

Fluent in Arabic, Shadid has also written “Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats, and the New Politics of Islam,” originally published in 2001.

He drew much of his material for that book from his reporting as an Associated Press Middle Eastern correspondent from 1995 to 1999. He then worked for The Boston Globe for two years before joining The Washington Post.

— Gargoyle staff