Kathy Gannon
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| Born | 1954 (age 69–70)
Timmins, Ontario
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| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Recovering from being wounded in Afghanistan, and returning to war reporting |
Kathy M. Gannon is a Canadian journalist and news director of the Associated Press for Afghanistan and Pakistan.[1] Gannon was attacked and wounded while reporting from Afghanistan.[2][3][4] Her German colleague, Anja Niedringhaus, was mortally wounded. Gannon has received extensive coverage as she struggled to recover from her wounds and return to war reporting.Now Senior Fellow, media centre at Harvard Kenedy School.
Gannon was born in Timmins, Ontario.[2] She has reported on Afghanistan and Pakistan since 1988.[1] In 2002, the International Women's Media Foundation presented her with the Courage in Journalism Award.[5] In 2003, she was awarded a one-year Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations.[6]
Gannon is the author of I is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror in Afghanistan.[2] She was the 2015 recipient of the McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage from the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.[7]
Gannon had spent 18 years, reporting from Afghanistan prior to her attack, and was the Associated Press's regional chief.[2]
Gannon and Niedringhaus were in a convoy of journalists, reporting on the national elections, protected by elements of the Afghan National Army and Police.[2] When the vehicles were stopped, one of the commanders, named Naqibullah, of the police contingent took his rifle, yelled "Allahu Akbar!", and fired into their vehicle at close range.[8] He then sat down and surrendered to his colleagues.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed his deep sadness over Niedringhaus' death and the wounding of Gannon. "These two AP journalists had gone to Khost province to prepare reports about the presidential and provincial council elections," a statement from Karzai's office quoted him as saying. It added that Karzai instructed the interior minister and the Khost governor to assist the AP in every way possible.
Gannon, 60, who for many years was the news organization's Afghanistan bureau chief and currently is a special correspondent for the region, was shot three times in the wrists and shoulder. After surgery, she was in stable condition and spoke to medical personnel before being flown to Kabul.
"Anja Niedringhaus and Cathy Gannon were the two journalists in the world who spent more time than any others covering Afghanistan," Associated Press executive director Kathleen Carroll said.
According to the AP report, Niedringhaus, 48, was in a car with AP reporter Kathy Gannon, an AP Television News freelancer and a driver. They had just arrived at a heavily guarded district compound and were waiting for the convoy to move forward when a unit commander by the name of Naqibullah "walked up to the car, yelled 'Allahu Akbar' — God is Great — and opened fire on them in the back seat with his AK-47."
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