Longtime journalist, author and former hostage Terry A. Anderson, has “come home” to New York to join the teaching faculty at SU’s Newhouse in the fall.
Anderson, who was raised in Batavia, was kidnapped in Beirut in 1985 and held for nearly seven years while reporting on the Lebanese Civil War. He was the chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press at the time.
Anderson was released in 1991, and three years later published the memoir “Den of Lions” about his experiences in captivity.
He ran a close but unsuccessful race for Ohio state senate in 2004, losing to Republican incumbent Joy Padgett. He has taught journalism classes at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Most recently, Anderson began teaching journalism courses at the University of Kentucky in 2009.
Anderson said at SU he would teach classes in international journalism, critical perspectives of the media and diversity in the media.
Anderson’s interest in journalism was sparked “accidentally,” he said, while serving in the Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. When he returned home, he studied broadcast journalism at Iowa State University and went on to work for the AP.
“It’s been an exciting career,” he said. “I’ve traveled all over the world. Sure, it has its downsides now and then.”
Though traditional jobs in journalism are harder to come by, Anderson disagrees that the field is dying.
“The jobs are there, they’re not just traditional jobs,” Anderson said last week while he packed to relocate from Kentucky. “Journalism schools are full, that’s true, but that just shows you how many people are interested in the career.”
He pointed out that journalism students today are expected to have more skills than in the past, and be able to perform as “one man bands.”
But the struggles of the newspaper business don’t translate to a lack of journalism opportunities — or a lack of good journalism, Anderson said. Online news sites and blogs have created a new outlet for journalists globally, and new opportunities for students entering the field.
“There’s lots of really good journalism going on. God knows the news hasn’t stopped,” he said.
Anderson said his work with the Committee to Protect Journalists, a group dedicated to freeing and protecting journalists imprisoned for their work, has shown that half of the journalists currently in prison are bloggers.
“Half of them,” he emphasized. That speaks to the level of work being produced online by bloggers, he said, and noted the best coverage he found of the Egyptian Revolution was produced by bloggers.
“I am frankly encouraged and energized by the level of journalism I see,” he said.
Anderson moved to his new home in Preble last week and was looking forward to returning to Central New York.
“I’m looking forward to learning about Syracuse, I’ve never lived there” he said. He’s also looking forward to learning his way around.
“It’s kind of a confusing town,” he laughed.
