Deborah Amos
Deborah Amos covers the Middle East for NPR News. Her reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.
In 2009, Amos won the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting from Georgetown University and in 2010 was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award by Washington State University. Amos was part of a team of reporters who won a 2004 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of Iraq. A Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1991-1992, Amos returned to Harvard in 2010 as a Shorenstein Fellow at the Kennedy School.
In 2003, Amos returned to NPR after a decade in television news, including ABC's Nightline and World News Tonight, and the PBS programs NOW with Bill Moyers and Frontline.
When Amos first came to NPR in 1977, she worked first as a director and then a producer for Weekend All Things Considered until 1979. For the next six years, she worked on radio documentaries, which won her several significant honors. In 1982, Amos received the Prix Italia, the Ohio State Award, and a DuPont-Columbia Award for "Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown," and in 1984 she received a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for "Refugees."
From 1985 until 1993, Amos spend most of her time at NPR reporting overseas, including as the London Bureau Chief and as an NPR foreign correspondent based in Amman, Jordan. During that time, Amos won several awards, including a duPont-Columbia Award and a Breakthru Award, and widespread recognition for her coverage of the Gulf War in 1991.
A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Amos is also the author of Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East (Public Affairs, 2010) and Lines in the Sand: Desert Storm and the Remaking of the Arab World (Simon and Schuster, 1992).
Amos is a Ferris Professor at Princeton, where she teaches journalism during the fall term.
Amos began her career after receiving a degree in broadcasting from the University of Florida at Gainesville.
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The Bakdash ice cream parlor has been a landmark in the Syrian capital Damascus for more than a century. But after two years of war, the owners have set up a new shop in Amman, Jordan, home to many Syrian refugees. -
More than half a million refugees have crossed into Jordan, and the number is expected to rise rapidly. Jordanian officials say the influx is threatening the stability of the kingdom. -
The war in Syria has torn families apart and driven millions out of the country, but it has also transformed some Syrians as they take on roles they never imagined. A 26-year-old woman from Homs has put her dream of teaching English literature on hold as she works with the opposition. -
Aleppo was once the financial heart of Syria. But as the country's revolt grinds on, many of the city's most innovative businessmen have moved to the Turkish border town of Gaziantep. An estimated 150,000 Syrians are there — some of whom are putting down roots — raising questions about Aleppo's future. -
More than 100 private aid groups have emerged since the uprising began, and many activists say the experience they've gained will be valuable in rebuilding the country. -
Syria's political opposition is meeting in Istanbul this week to choose a rebel government, despite opposition from the Obama administration. The vote has been postponed twice because of internal tensions over naming a rival government to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. -
Islamist brigades are competing with pro-democracy civilians to shape Syria's future. In many areas in rebel-held northern Syria, Islamists have set up religious courts that deliver rulings under Shariah, or Islamic law. -
A 28-year-old computer wizard known as the Harvester, along with his online rebel friends, have hacked into a pro-regime TV station as part of their ongoing battle against the government's electronic army. -
In a rare test of democracy, a soft-spoken, 31-year-old aid worker won a seat on the Aleppo provincial council in a vote held on March 3 in neighboring Turkey. Abdul Rahman Kahir won top votes for his work organizing aid distributions in the Syrian city. -
Aleppo, Syria, is holding the first free elections for 25 city council seats and 26 provincial council seats. This election is far from perfect, but those involved say they want to set an example for other Syrian towns. -
The top rebel commander in northern Syria was not impressed with Secretary of State John Kerry's announcement of new direct U.S. aid to the rebels and their political leaders.
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Secular activists launched the uprising in Syria two years ago, but ultraconservative Muslims are becoming a more potent force as the war grinds on. The sides have little in common besides their opposition to President Bashar Assad's government.
