JULIE POUCHER HARBIN

 Kabul, Afghanistan

                                                                            

julieharbin@yahoo.com

 

 

PRINT JOURNALISM TRAINER AND EDITOR

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Kabul, Afghanistan

July (1 week) 2004, August (month) 2004, September (month) 2004, November (month) 2004

 

I have worked on a short-term contract basis as a basic skills journalism trainer and editor for the Afghan Recovery Report, published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (can be seen at http://www.iwpr.net/), a London-based on-line news agency that specializes in coverage of crisis and post-crisis areas of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 

Final articles, which covered subjects as diverse as divorce, women police, refugees in Pakistan, mental health, sanitation, soldier demobilization and disarmament, northern commanders,  and political struggles, appeared both on the web site and in the local press. 

Post description: intensive personalized training of semi-experienced Afghan journalists, novice journalists, and journalism students through practical on-the-job training and mentoring; working one-on-one with trainee journalists to shape story ideas, decide on appropriate sources, and organize news and news analysis reporting for news or news analysis articles.  

STAFF REPORTER

San Diego Business Journal

San Diego, California

September 2003- June 2004

 

As a staff writer for this weekly business paper, I covered the international trade, small business and water issues beats. Among my regular items, I write a weekly column on small business, a weekly small business profile, and a once-a-month column on trade. 

 

International business topics included the Mexican maquiladora industry, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Department of Homeland Security, creation of a U.S./Mexican border political action committee, the Mexican and Asian shrimp trade, off-shoring, the San Diego Padres marketing efforts in Mexico, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s world view, Chile’s trade agenda, and export opportunities with Asia and UK markets.

 

Water stories included the finalization of the Quantification Settlement Agreement (Colorado River water deal), and innovations and controversy with desalination. 

 

I also wrote on topics as diverse as the San Diego wildfires 2003, defense contracting and subcontracting, opportunities for women in business, the growth of the recycling industry, highway construction and funding issues, the RV business, employment trends, franchising, the Mars Mission, yacht building, and Hispanic labor demographics. I’ve also written stories about a variety of small and mid-sized manufacturers. 

 

I conducted some high-profile interviews presented in Q & A format as well, including with the U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Hector Barreto, deputy SBA administrator Melanie Sabelhaus, Head of the International Franchise Association Don DeBolt, British Consul General New York and Director General Trade and Investment USA Sir Thomas Harris, and U.S. Commerce Department senior trade officials posted in South Korea and Vietnam.

 

FREELANCE EDITOR

Oceanside, California

Summer 2003

 

I worked, as an editor via computer, with a Macedonian journalist on a report about Macedonia’s education system for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, an on-line news agency based in London.

 

In addition I executed an over 50-page proofreading assignment of a Bosnian author’s manuscript about Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir (written in English) for a book published in Malaysia in the Fall of 2003.

 

POLITICAL AND GENERAL ASSIGNMENTS CORRESPONDENT, JOURNALISM TRAINER AND EDITOR

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina  

January 2001- April 2003

 

As a freelance print journalist based in Sarajevo, I contributed political and investigative reports to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (http://www.iwpr.net/), a London-based on-line news agency that, at the time, specialised in coverage of crisis and post-crisis areas of Europe and Asia.  I covered twice-weekly news briefings by the Office of the High Representative, the UN Mission, NATO-SFOR, the OSCE, and the UNHCR, and reported from all over Bosnia and Serbia.

 

I also worked with local reporters in Bosnia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Serbia on writing and editing joint-investigative reports through on-the-job training and collaboration that were published on the IWPR web site.

 

LINKS TO SELECTED IWPR STORIES BELOW:

 

German Media Giant Dominates Balkans (BCR No 419, 01-Apr-03)

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200304_419_5_eng.txt

Bosnia: UN Handover Causes Concern

www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200212_393_2_eng.txt

Bosnia:  Brain Drain Gathers Pace

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200211_385_3_eng.txt

Bosnia Elections Special:  Religious Leaders Take a Back Seat

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr2/bcr2_20021002_4_eng.txt

Bosnia Elections Special:  Women Struggle to be Heard

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr2/bcr2_20021002_5_eng.txt

Bosnia:  Sex Trade Claims Spread

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr2/bcr2_20020821_1_eng.txt

Bosnia: Multi-Ethnic Football Kicks Off

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr2/bcr2_20020705_3_eng.txt

Bosnia: Foreign-Funded Mosques Under Scrutiny

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr2/bcr2_20020510_4_eng.txt

Bosnia: Families at War

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr/bcr_20010904_4_eng.txt

Bosnia Drugs Misery
www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr/bcr_20010725_3_eng.txt
Bosnia: Sarajevo Olympic Hopes
www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr/bcr_20010412_4_eng.txt

Bosnia: Investigative Report on Human Trafficking (co-written with local reporter)

*** cited in the International Crisis Group’s May 2002 report on policing in Bosnia.

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr2/bcr2_specialinvestigation_bosniatrafficking_18042002.txt

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?development/workshops/training_bosnia_investigrep_april02.html

Bosnia: Trnovo Turns for the Better
www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr2/bcr2_20011121_4_eng.txt
Bosnia: The Fall of OBN (Investigative Report)
www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr/bcr_20010619_1_ir_eng.txt
Bosnia: Broadcasting Shakeup

www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr/bcr_20010829_5_eng.txt
Bosnia: Public Broadcasting Struggle (Investigative Report)

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr2/bcr2_20020215_1_ir_eng.txt

 

FREELANCE WRITER

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Fall 2000/Winter 2001

 

I contributed a magazine piece, including photos, in the U.S.- based The Wildlife Journal.  The story was about the return of Bosnian bears to a war ravaged region and their conflicts with village returnees, hunters, and the state. (**copy of this report available upon request).  

 

COPY EDITOR, JOURNALISM ADVISOR, REPORTER 

ONASA NEWS AGENCY   

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina  

July 2000-March 2001                                                                                      

I was chief copy editor, journalism advisor, and occasional reporter for the English language service of the independent ONASA news agency in Sarajevo. Duties included proofreading for style and content and advising translators and journalists on grammar as well as Western European/American style journalism. Feature stories I wrote for the agency included the following topics; innovative inter-ethnic dog de-mining teams in Bosnia, the growth of Middle Eastern asylum seekers in Bosnia,  and Albanian, Kosovar, and Roma refugee children coping with daily life in UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees)  refugee camps in Bosnia.

 

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT/RESEARCHER

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, "ALL THINGS CONSIDERED" PROGRAM  

Washington, DC

February 2000-July 2000                                                                                            

I held the position of editorial assistant to a senior producer of All Things Considered on the "The Changing Face of America"  project, and worked in this capacity with a variety of regional beat reporters. Duties included researching a variety of topics for monthly series documentaries, generating story and interview ideas, and conducting extensive pre-interviews and booked interviews both via ISDN and on-location. Stories generated included the changing Asian demographic in Austin, Texas with a focus on Indians in the hi-tech sector; teenage computer skills changing the family dynamic; two neighboring Florida towns make very different choices—grow their suburb or preserve their rural identity;  GDC coils stop the threat of stroke through non- invasive surgery; Texas ranchers bring nature tourists to their ranches in order to preserve their way of life and profit from it; the Gullah culture of the South Carolina sea islands face up to modern day change and their new minority status. These stories aired from March 2000 through September 2000.

 

Links to NPR Stories:

1.        High tech and changing communities in Austin, Texas, which you can listen to here.  (Aired March 29, 2000)

2.        Computer-literate kids in Vermont, which you can listen to here.  (Aired April 26, 2000)

3.        Development in Broward County, Florida, which you can listen to here.  (Aired May 24, 2000)

4.        Carolina's Coastal People, which you can listen to here. (Aired August 30, 2000)

5.        The Farmer With the Dell in Saline County, Missouri, which you can listen to here.  (Aired September 27, 2000)

 

FREELANCE PRODUCER                                                                        

Washington, DC                                                                 

December 1999- January 2000                                                                                   

Wrote TV scripts for FOX NEWS during “millennium weekend.”

 

ASSIGNMENT MANAGER AND FIELD PRODUCER   

NBC NEWS WASHINGTON

Washington, DC

August 1997--December 1999

Assignment Manager Managed the news assignment desk and the coverage of daily news. Supervised the assignment of stories, editorial staff, and field crews. Coordinated microwave and satellite feeds, including for the pool. Also developed story ideas, interviewed sources and booked guests for TV appearances. Compiled visual materials for air and worked with crews in producing live remotes and news turnarounds. Developed a broad understanding of Washington; government, Congress, agencies, organizations and related institutions. Maintained an extensive rolodex.

Field Producer Conducted interviews to completion for air; including interviewing, verbating and selecting SOTs for cutting producers and correspondents. Field produced press conferences, newsmaker stakeouts, and all- day political events inside and outside of Capitol Hill. Interviews and stake-outs have been as diverse as intelligence experts, legal scholars, current and former independent counsels, senators and house members, presidential advisors, health professionals, current and former cabinet members, weapons specialists, scientists and consultants. Field produced during President Clinton’s fundraising/Chelsea college trip to California and the President’s trip to the United Nations—September 1997. 

 

VIDEOTAPE COORDINATOR 

WJLA TV                                                                            

Washington, DC                                                                

January 1996-August 1997                                                                                         

Editing Coordinator Responsibilities included coordinating and assigning editing of the 5p and 6p weekday newscasts, news cut-ins and special broadcasts, and logging tapes for air.

Videotape Producer/Video Archivist Daily tasks included researching stories and providing archive video for reporters and editors, coordinating the recording of satellite and microwave feeds for live shots, feeding breaking news stories to ABC Newsone and CNN, monitoring CNN and ABC intake newsfeeds, and intake of White House, Congressional and Campaign ’96 feeds. Also responsible for year-round maintenance of the video library and processing of file video requests for ABC Network News shows and independent documentary programs.

Emmy Judge Judged Emmys in 1997. Judged documentaries from National Geographic and Discovery Channel, and newsmagazine pieces, in the SOUND category.

 

ASSIGNMENT MANAGER/ FIELD PRODUCER                                          

NBC NEWS MOSCOW

Moscow, Russia

March 1994-November 1995                                   

Assignment Manager Responsibilities included coordinating assignments for daily/nightly news coverage of Moscow, writing nightly news summaries, logging five Russian newscasts per shift, monitoring feeds from seven networks, booking satellite feeds, researching and pitching stories. Managed the assignment desk during the ongoing Chechen War, and two Russia/US summits, in addition to regular desk duties.

Field Producer Conducted interviews and covered Duma proceedings, and demonstrations and press conferences held by the Communist party, Nationalist parties, and Democratic oriented parties.  Field produced Yeltsin events at the 50th anniversary of the end of World War 2, and covered one of his many hospitalizations. Interviews included (now former) Russian Foreign Minister Andrea Kozyrev, Nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, former Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, and former Finance Minister Boris Fyodorov. Experience also included serving as technical producer during the 1994 Clinton/Yeltsin summit, before joining NBC full-time two months later. Also responsible for rough cutting and logging video for voice- overs for NIGHTLY NEWS, associate producing a variety of NIGHTLY NEWS pieces, and assisting in production of international DATELINE stories.

Researcher Conducted in-depth research on the international diamond industry, the Russian arctic and Russian ecological disasters.

 

FREELANCE FIXER                                                                                                   

CRONKITE AND WARD 

Moscow, Russia  

Spring 1994

Spent a week setting up shoots and arranging interviews for Walter Cronkite, Sandy Socolow and Gordon Manning for a documentary on the Russian Space Program for Discovery Channel.

 

STAFF CORRESPONDENT                                                                         

THE MOSCOW TRIBUNE

Moscow, Russia                                                                  

February 1993-March 1994

Special Investigations Reporter Researched and wrote a series of reports on the Russian Far East—including articles on mothers who care for their babies in prison, Russian mafia, and substandard conditions in children’s hospitals. Researched and wrote articles on economic development issues, Russian counter-intelligence and Russia’s environmental crisis—including an interview with Yeltsin’s chief ecology advisor Alexei Yablokov.

Crime Beat Reporter Wrote a weekly column tracking organized crime in Russia and Moscow based on exclusive interviews of Security and Interior Ministry officials, press conferences and police ride-alongs. Also wrote expanded articles on these topics, which were later used for briefing US Embassy personnel.

Covered the October 1993 coup; focusing on the state of emergency situation following the bombing of the Russian White House and the Russian police and federal security response to that.

Political Opposition Reporter Researched and wrote profiles of prominent communist and nationalist figures running in Russia’s first free Duma elections in December 1993. Covered their role in the October 1993 coup.

Freelance Contributor  Collaborated with a Russian journalist on a series of features and profiles of Russian and foreign business people, artists and actors. (March 1994-November 1995)

 

INDEPENDENT FILM SCRIPT SUPERVISOR                                                    

Washington, DC                                                 

February 1996-July1996 

Worked four nights a week performing script supervisor duties for a small independently produced DC film, including monitoring film shooting for video and audio accuracy and the proper dramatic presentation. I did this in the evenings, while I was working at Channel 7.

 

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER/DESK ASSISTANT                                                

KSAT-TV  

San Antonio, TX 

March 1990-August 1990

Associate Producer As an intern during college, produced and wrote human interest scripts. Researched and co-produced a six-week series exposing corruption in the Texas School Board. Wrote voice-over (VO) scripts for national and international news. Monitored wire services, television broadcasts, and police radio.  Compiled future planning log for assignment manager.

 

EDUCATION

Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages, Russia 1993

MA Coursework in Russian Language

Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 1988-1992

BA Communication

BA Russian Studies

Minor in International Relations with a concentration in World Affairs

Minor in Political Science

Leningrad State University, St. Petersburg, Russia 1991-1992

Certificate for completion of one academic year of Russian Language/Culture/Journalism Instruction

 

SPECIAL HONORS/MEMBERSHIPS

Recieved award, along with a colleague from the San Diego Business Journal, for best investigative newspaper report from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists, 2004.

Part of a team of journalists from the San Diego Business Journal who recieved an award for breaking news newspaper coverage of the San Diego wildfires, 2004.

Collegiate membership in International Studies and Political Science Honor Societies.

Member AFTRA.

Member of Women in Film and Video, 1996.

 

SPECIAL SKILLS:

Fluent in Russian. Proficient in Spanish.

Familiarity with Serbo-Croat.

Computer and Internet proficient.

 

REFERENCES

Upon Request.