Nicholas H. Wadhams
PO Box 27552-00100 Nairobi, Kenya +254-728-651-072 nwadhams@gmail.com http://nwadhams.typepad.com
EXPERIENCE:
Freelance journalist, Time Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, NPR, Salon, The Times of London, The San Francisco Chronicle, others
Nairobi, Kenya, November, 2006 -- Present
Spent five weeks in Ethiopia exposing human rights abuses by the Ethiopian government against its own people. Stories appeared on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, page one of the San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere. Received several threats and was forced to leave eastern Ethiopia when a hit squad threatened to kill my wife and me.
During Kenya's post-election crisis, wrote stories for Time Magazine and National Geographic Adventure among others. Broke news that Kenya's violence was planned before the vote, scooping all American and Kenyan media. Filed live reports for television and radio stations around the world
Wrote a 5,000-word essay for Salon about my bizarre friendship with an Ethiopian rebel.
Report for many radio, print and web outlets worldwide, including the Times of London, the Daily Telegraph, Radio France International, National Geographic News and the Globe and Mail.
United Nations Correspondent, The Associated Press
New York, NY, November 2004 - October 2006
Broke stories on the Oil-for-Food scandal and sex abuses by U.N. Peacekeepers, wrote spot features on topics including the intricate language of diplomacy and the decrepit state of U.N. headquarters.
Exposed how the U.N. had been forced to award back pay to a employee who had sued for wrongful termination even though he was fired for his involvement in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Cultivated numerous sources in the U.N. system, the U.S. government and among NGOs
Embedded Reporter in Iraq, The Associated Press
Baghdad, Iraq, December 2004-February 2005, December 2005-January 2006
Over two trips to Iraq, embedded with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the172nd Stryker Brigade, covered night raids, wrote stories and took photographs for investigation about new counterinsurgency tactics in eastern Baghdad.
Oversaw AP's Baghdad bureau in January 2005, overseeing run-up to elections, sending reporters on assignment and editing stories.
Won AP's prestigious "Beat of the Week" award for in-depth investigation of the emerging use of car bombs as a weapon of terror in Iraq.
Editor/Technology Reporter, The Associated Press
New York, NY July 2002 – November 2004
Directed coverage and edited stories on AP’s International Desk, including the 2003 Bali bombings, the 2003 Iran earthquake and the Iraq war.
Wrote a piece about university programs that study video games as they would literature or art, a story that was one of the most widely-used AP features of the year; covered the effects of violence in video games on children.
Reviewed computer and video games for AP's technology desk.
Denver Correspondent, The Associated Press
Denver, CO, November 2000-July 2002
Covered the satellite and airline beats, including Frontier Airlines' strong-arm attempts to prevent its flight attendants from forming a union.
Spent weeks reporting on wildfires in western Colorado, reported on the capture seven Texas fugitives, nurtured sources in Colorado's state government.
Moscow Reporter, The Associated Press
Moscow, Russia, July 1998-November 2000
Traveled to Chechnya twice to report on the war there, including one trip when I sneaked into the off-limits region with a Russian medical convoy. Was then left behind in Grozny and held captive by Chechen troops allied with the Russian government. The coverage helped AP earn a nomination for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting
Covered the fall of Boris Yeltsin and the rise of Vladimir Putin, reported on elections in Kazakstan, highlighted the collapse of the middle class during Russia's 1998 financial crisis.
Reporter, The Vladivostok News, stringer, The Associated Press
Vladivostok, Russia, June 1997-July 1998
Covered the rollicking and violent political scene for this bi-weekly (and now defunct) newspaper soon after Vladivostok was opened to foreign visitors in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse.
AP story on city's refusal to collect corpses for lack of funds gained worldwide attention.
EDUCATION:
Pomona College, Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Cum Laude
Claremont, CA, May 1997
Edited the weekly college newspaper, The Student Life, managing a staff of 50 reporters and editors.
Worked as a business reporter with The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, a circulation 150,000 newspaper. Turned down offer of full-time job with the paper at age 19 to continue with college.
Spent 10 weeks in 1996 in cultural immersion program in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia
AWARDS:
With my wife Zoe Alsop, won a $7,000 grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in 2007 for our Ethiopia reporting trip
Pulitzer Prize finalist for team war coverage in Chechnya, August 2000
Shared Associated Press Managing Editors’ award for coverage for President Yeltsin’s resignation
ADDITIONAL:
Language skills: Fluent Russian, working French, studying Swahili
Write a blog (http://nwadhams.typepad.com) that has been cited on Jim Romenesko's media site at Poynter.org and received several thousand hits during Kenya's post-election crisis.
Fluent in recording and producing radio-quality reports, use of CoolEdit and Adobe Audition
Spoke on many panels, including at colleges, Fort Knox, and AP's annual meeting in Texas
Took a year off from college to build sets at a tiny San Francisco theater company for $400 a month
Married to Zoe Alsop; daughter Sascha was born on February 27, 2008
