Lawrence Pintak

Biography:

Lawrence Pintak, the Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism, is a veteran of 25 years in journalism on four continents. He has reported for many of the world's leading news organizations, has served as both a newspaper editor and the editorial director of a major Internet news site, and has advised foreign governments on media issues.

Pintak covered the birth of modern Islamic terrorism as CBS News Middle East correspondent in the 1980s and more recently reported on Indonesia’s reformasi, which led to the overthrow of President Suharto, the emergence of an independent media and the rise of political Islam for The San Francisco Chronicle, ABC News, and public radio’s Marketplace. He was twice nominated for Emmy awards and won two Overseas Press Club citations for his Middle East coverage.

Pintak is the author of the recently-published Seeds of Hate: How America’s Failed Middle East Policy Ignited the Jihad. An earlier version of the book was called “a tour d’force” by Anthony Lewis of the New York Times, while The Washington Post said it was, “One of the most perceptive accounts of the nightmare in Lebanon.”

Pintak teaches courses on “Terrorism, Islam & the Media,” which explores the disconnect in worldviews between the West and the Muslim world; and “Engaged Journalism: Conscience, Compassion and Conflict,” which looks at the role of reporters in a world of conflict.

Pintak’s work has been published in scores of mainstream and academic publications, from The New York Times and The Times of London to the American Journalism Review and Middle East Journal, as well as publications in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Recent publications: “White House Media Manipulation Nothing New,” Media Asia, fall 2003; “Progressive Muslims,” Middle East Journal, forthcoming winter 2004; “Terrorism in Southeast Asia,” Journal of Terrorism and Violence, forthcoming winter 2004.
He also writes on Buddhism and Eastern Religion for mainstream and academic outlets such as Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma.

Pintak is currently at work on a book about the communications breakdown between the U.S. and Muslim world and its impact on the rise of radicalism.

The center is committed to promoting a broader and deeper understanding of Southeast Asia and its peoples, cultures, and historiesby providing resources for faculty, students and the community to learn and disseminate knowledge about the region.