Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson - NPR

NPR

Nelson joined NPR in 2006, after more than twenty years as a newspaper reporter. She is the bureau chief for NPR's Afghanistan bureau. Her reports are featured on several NPR programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. For her coverage of Afghanistan, Nelson received a Peabody Award in 2010 from NPR's permanent bureau in Kabul. In 2006, she founded the bureau, which was the first permanent presence in Afghanistan for a U.S. broadcast network. The award recognized Nelson's efforts over the previous year, which included a series on Afghan citizens turning to drugs to escape everyday miseries and the country's limited ability to offer rehabilitation; the story of determined girls breaking societal taboos and facing dangers to pursue an education; and a detailed account of how U.S. Marines struggle to establish trust with locals in order to combat the Taliban. Peabody judges concluded that "No reporter in any medium gives us a better sense of the variety of life inside Afghanistan." Nelson shared her award with Loren Jenkins, supervising senior foreign editor, and Doug Roberts, foreign desk editor. In June 2010, Nelson was assigned to cover the Arab World from NPR's Cairo, Egypt, bureau. She also received the Gracie Award and Overseas Press Club Award in 2010. She received the 59th Elijah Lovejoy Award for her courageous journalism in 2011 and was the first non-newspaper journalist to receive the award and an honorary doctor of laws degree. Nelson's reporting on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring uprisings, and subsequent developments in the Middle East were credited for her receiving these honors.