Performer (Interviewee)
Kathy Gannon
Interviewer
Dr. You Li
Geographic Location
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Biography
Kathy Gannon covered Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Associated Press as chief correspondent and later news director for 35 years. She also covered the 2006 war in South Lebanon, the Iraq War, the Central Asian States, and the Middle East. Gannon was the only Western journalist allowed in Kabul by the Taliban in the weeks preceding the 2001 U.S.-British offensive in Afghanistan. In April 2014 Gannon was seriously wounded, hit by seven bullets while covering preparations for Afghan national elections when an Afghan police officer opened fire on the car in which she was riding. A Canadian native, she received numerous awards, including the 2022 Fall Semester Joan Shorenstein Fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard Kennedy School, the 2022 Columbia Journalism School Lifetime Award, the International Women’s Media Foundation Courage In Journalism Award, and many others. In May 2022, Gannon retired from the Associated Press.
Gannon recalled her reporting on COVID-19 on top of other regional conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She criticized the Western media's institutionalized double standard when covering foreign countries. Gannon believes in the role of journalists to witness and record history as a detached observer. She reviewed incidents where she pushed cultural, religious, and political restrictions against a woman to accomplish reporting tasks. She encouraged fellow women journalists to use their gender to their advantage and maneuver in challenging situations. She also urged more institutional attention and changes to resolve gender and race inequalities.
Interview Date
5-30-2023
Subject
Afghanistan, Pakistan, international reporting, Associated Press, institutional bias, gender stereotypes, sexism, racism, inequality, COVID-19, pandemic, women in journalism, journalism, Eastern Michigan University Archives, regional conflicts
Publisher
Eastern Michigan University Archives
Digital Object File Type
mp3
Run Time
1:16:31
Rights
Copyright to the audio resource and its transcript, headshot, and stories is held by the content creator, author, artist, or other entity, and is provided here for educational purposes only. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any other format without written permission of the copyright owner, Eastern Michigan University Archives (lib_archives@emich.edu).
Recommended Citation
Li, You, "Kathy Gannon, Oral History Interview, 2023" (2023). Collective Memory of Women Journalists in COVID-19. 25.
https://commons.emich.edu/cmwj/25
Author Page
https://www.kathy-gannon.com/