24/7: The Rise and Influence of Arab Media Documentary Team

DAVID BRANCACCIO, Host
David Brancaccio hosts PBS’s weekly public affairs series NOW, where he also conducts interviews and reports on special assignments in the field as a correspondent. Brancaccio joined the series as co-host in September 2003.

Brancaccio is an award-winning broadcaster with 28 years of experience. During his 13-year tenure at Marketplace, the series tripled its audience and received a duPont-Columbia Award (1998) and the George Foster Peabody Award (2001). In 2004, he hosted and contributed to the award-winning public radio documentaries “UNder Fire: The United Nations’ Battle for Relevance” and “Security Check: Confronting Today’s Global Threats,” both Stanley Foundation and KQED Public Radio productions. He is also the author of the book Squandering Aimlessly, an account of his pilgrimage to talk with Americans about wealth and values. Before becoming host of Marketplace, Brancaccio worked from London as the program’s European editor and covered diplomatic stories for the radio service of the Christian Science Monitor. Brancaccio is based in New York.

SIMON MARKS, Producer and Correspondent
Simon Marks began his career as a correspondent for Britain’s Independent Television News of London. He joined Christian Science Monitor Television as a Europe correspondent in the late 1980s and covered the revolutions in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, and Poland. In 1991 Simon was appointed Moscow bureau chief and was nominated for an Emmy for his coverage of the attempted Soviet coup. He cofounded Feature Story News in 1992 and moved to Washington, DC, a year later to establish the company’s headquarters. In addition to management responsibilities, Simon is Feature Story News’ chief correspondent and travels widely to cover breaking international news stories. He writes on global and media affairs for US and European newspapers and lectures on contemporary political developments. In 2004, he produced and reported for the award-winning public radio documentary “UNder Fire: The United Nations’ Battle for Relevance.” He most recently co-produced and reported for the award-winning “Security Check: Confronting Today’s Global Threats.”

KEITH PORTER, Producer
Keith Porter is executive radio producer and director of communication and outreach for the Muscatine, Iowa-based Stanley Foundation. Keith served as the executive producer and segment correspondent for the award-winning radio documentaries The Russia Project, and “Children of War: Fighting, Dying, Surviving.” He also co-produced the 2004 award-winning public radio documentary “UNder Fire: The United Nations’ Battle for Relevance.” He most recently co-produced the award-winning  “Security Check: Confronting Today’s Global Threats.”  Porter was a finalist for the 1995, 1996, and 1997 Livingston Award for Young Journalists. His work has also been honored by the New York Festivals and the National Headliner Awards. He has reported from Iran, Russia, Germany, Austria, Cambodia, Cuba, Japan, South Africa, Eritrea, Kosovo, Uganda, Tanzania, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. 

KRISTIN MCHUGH, Producer and Correspondent
Kristin McHugh is the radio producer and a program officer for the Stanley Foundation. Kristin served as a correspondent for the award-winning radio documentary The Russia Project. She also served as project manager and segment correspondent for the radio documentary “Children of War: Fighting, Dying, Surviving.” In 2004, she co-produced and reported for the award-winning public radio documentary “UNder Fire: The United Nations’ Battle for Relevance.”  She most recently co-produced and reported for the award-winning “Security Check: Confronting Today’s Global Threats.” 

Kristin has earned dozens of awards for news coverage. Her 2002 story “Kosovo’s Pied Piper: The Liz Shropshire Story” won the RFK Journalism Award, a National Headliner citation, a Clarion Award, and was a finalist for the 2003 Harry Chapin Media Award. Kristin was also a finalist for the 2001 and 2002 Livingston Award for Young Journalists and one of five finalists for the first-ever Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize honoring individual news work of significance and quality by a journalist age 35 or younger in public radio. She has reported from Russia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Japan, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and the Netherlands.