The Daily Cardinal spoke with Pulitzer Prize-winning UW-Madison and Daily Cardinal alumnus Anthony Shadid Tuesday from Beirut, Lebanon, where he is reporting on the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict. The Washington Post correspondent won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for ""Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War."" He is the only journalist so far to receive aA Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the IraqA war. Shadid will be touring nationally until Nov. 15, beginning in Madison Thursday.
Daily Cardinal: How has working in Iraq affected your feelings on working in the field of journalism?
Anthony Shadid: As a reporter working in Iraq, rarely I think you cover a story of such unbelievable significance ... not only the enormity of the stakes but the scale of the violence, the scale of the project, the scale of the frustration and disappointment and resentment that [reporters] see. It's a story that is almost overpowering, in a way.
DC: How did being of Arab-American decent and being able to speak Arabic benefit your work?
AS: I think sometimes the language offers you a window into the background noise on some of the subtleties and nuances you might miss otherwise. That comes also with experience in the region and understanding the history.
DC: Does the final version of the book reflect what you sought out to accomplish when researching in Iraq?
AS: What I'm struck with is that it's a book that couldn't be written today. The ability to go to these places, to talk to these people, to do these things—you just can't do it anymore because Baghdad and Iraq and these places have become so dangerous. In a way, it captured the moment I wanted to capture and it's a moment I wouldn't be able to capture today. It gives it a certain permanence.
DC: Do your interpretations from the book correlate with ongoing events in Iraq?
AS: My sense of what has defined Iraq is that forces were released in wake of the invasion, and I think that those forces have held true, and if anything they have matured to the point of what we've seen today, which is a very chaotic and anarchic situation in the country. Did I expect the carnage to reach the levels it reached today? I didn't. I don't think many Iraqis did. Is it A-A-A-a similar country to the one I worked in? It is. Is it a much bloodier one, much more violent, much more hopeless place? That is also true. I always said, the longer I was there, the less I understand.
DC: Did you foresee winning a Pulitzer Prize?
AS: You don't want to be writing for a prize or keeping that in mind as you come up and do stories—I think you try to keep that in the back of your mind and not think too much about it.
DC: How can you summarize your years here at UW-Madison?
AS: I spent as much time at the Cardinal as I did at class. I remember it being some of my favorite years in journalism, to be honest. It's a great institution and has a definite place in my heart. It's easy to fall into easy answers and assumptions and certain stereotypes when trying to understand the world. I did learn that from the Cardinal—to be critical about everything and to not only bring that skepticism to your writing but to your reporting as well.
—Interview conducted by Heather Gjerde.
