For World Press Freedom Day, here are short quotes with links to three articles by May Jeong.
The first article is about the torture, murder, and dismemberment of her friend, the journalist Kim Wall, in Copenhagen.
The second article is about the death by suicide bombing, of her friend the photojournalist Shah Marai, in Kabul.
The third article is about a four-year-old girl who was the lone survivor of a U.S. drone strike, near Asadabad.
I am suggesting here a very considerable bravery, in the subjects she will address, and in the harm she will risk in her reporting. Qualities worth recognizing, on World Press Freedom Day, or any other.
Or just, that these are three powerful and exceptionally high quality essays, that deserve to be read.
In Afghanistan, where I worked mostly with men, I never wanted to show any sign of weakness or fear. In reporting this story, my editor made me promise that I wouldn’t put myself in harm’s way. But much of reporting is just that—routinely putting yourself in uncomfortable positions.
The Final, Terrible Voyage of the Nautilus, May Jeong, Wired
There is great need for that accounting now, as the past winter has been a season of carnage in Kabul.
When a Suicide Bombing Claims a Friend, May Jeong, New Yorker
Before she disappeared, Afghan President Hamid Karzai had visited Aisha at the French hospital during her stay. There, Karzai was confronted with a girl who had lost her sight, her nose, her lower lip, the skin on her forehead, the skin on her torso, her left hand, and nine members of her family, including her grandmother, her uncles, her aunts, her cousin, her mother, her father, and her baby brother.
Losing Sight, May Jeong, The Intercept