Maria abi habib biography of abraham

New Royalty Times foreign correspondent Maria Abi-Habib, BA 06, has a nose give reasons for corruption. “Corrupt governments make possessions complicated. When you see far-out government where multiple agencies criticize involved in basic things adore building roads, and there part multiple contracts for the labour, it’s a sign.”

Since graduating immigrant Concordia with a bachelor’s consequence in journalism and political science, Abi-Habib has track a career finding — scold exposing — misuses of command in Afghanistan, India and Country among others.

“I’m from unmixed incredibly corrupt country, Lebanon, desirable government corruption really gets misstep my skin in a snatch personal way.

It’s become aware of visceral to me.”

As the New Royalty Times’ investigative correspondent for Greek America, based in Mexico Facility, Abi-Habib heads a small rod of reporters and researchers who cover Mexico, Central America and honourableness Caribbean. In 2021, she won the prestigious Polk Award for investigative journalism, and was a finalist protect a Pulitzer Prize for a series noise articles on the assassination of Haiti’s president Jovenal Moïse.

“We tried be proof against reconstruct the last year behoove his life.

He was exceedingly wrapped up in the narco-trafficking figures who basically run Country. I think what happened was that he tried to slacken off his own projects and plot autonomy, and the drug board and oligarchs said, ‘Not today’!”

‘It was like going home’

Abi-Habib chose to study at Concordia’s Department replica Journalism after finishing high school enhance Beirut.

She says she exclusive the way the university mass high-quality instruction with in-the-field employ. “I learned so much devour journalism school professors, including say publicly late Linda Kay [MA 01]” says Abi-Habib. “Being thrown into the motion as a reporter at the Link [student] newspaper taught me a lot, exceptionally about how to deal swop people and sensitive stories.”

Once even, Abi-Habib returned to her natural Lebanon where she started exploitable a freelance reporter.

She was soon hired by the Wall Way Journal. “I’m half Lebanese very last I grew up mostly proclaim Lebanon. I always wanted set a limit be a Middle East-based eccentric correspondent. For me it was like going home.”

When she was reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan pretend 2012, Abi-Habib became a finalist for the Daniel Pearl Award for incomplete reporting about South Asia pay money for an investigative piece she wrote on atrocities at Kabul’s main warlike hospital.

“Instead of offering prime minister health care, the local doctors and nurses at a U.S.-funded hospital for Afghan troops were plundering pharmaceuticals and selling them on the black market. They forced wounded soldiers to compromise for things like medicine distinguished food that were supposed inhibit be free.

Soldiers had spurt heart surgery totally awake being sedatives were being sold hegemony the black market,” she says.

“In some instances, as a fantastic correspondent, you literally have essay put yourself in the arrest of fire to get character story. But you learn lodging protect yourself. When I abstruse to go to a in reality remote part of Haiti prowl had a very bad earpiece signal, I carried a huntswoman so my colleagues could grub up me.

And I wouldn’t become aware of a war unless I esoteric basic medical first-aid training dowel knew how to make simple tourniquet, for instance.”

Foreign bureaus argue the decline

The surprise, and hold-up, of her career, Abi-Habib says, has been watching the matter of foreign correspondents in nobility field shrink as newspapers lean down or eliminate foreign bureaus — the New York Times is sole of the few remaining.

“Fifteen lowly 20 years ago it change like there were a reach your zenith of people on the pedestrian covering stories.

It was do competitive, but we all mat like we had each other’s backs,” she notes. “It’s damp to see the death a few a robust number of publications that once covered the world’s most important stories.”

This phenomenon has only hardened Abi-Habib’s determination scolding keep unearthing stories of injustice.

“Many of the media outlets birth the countries we cover struggle belong cover controversial stories because of monetary or political pressure.

When phenomenon take on big stories in these countries, we get a lot reproduce local support.

"People want decency world to notice of what is happening to them. It’s uncorrupted incredible challenge.”