August 2009

MediaBistro interview

An International Correspondent, Based in Brooklyn

Gail Shister
TVNewser Columnist

Baghdad to Brooklyn — how's that for culture shock?


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Michael {hearts} New York

(...although that doesn't explain why he's chatting with Page Six!) Thanks to everyone who sent this on to me.

New photos of Michael

Sharon made a great discovery on Flickr today -- a series of photographs of Michael taken by Fernando Escovar. At a guess, I would say they were taken in LA last month ... and perhaps we have another magazine article in the future?


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Out of order but catching up

Well, I am finally beginning to catch up (suddenly becoming unemployed does free up time!) so just a quick update on some things that were posted out of order.

I got the clips for
Witness to War up, as well as Real Time with Bill Maher. And tonight I am posting a transcript of the CrocMedia talk (heavily annotated for the Aussie slang and various references.)

Yes, I still have things on my to-do list...

CrocMedia newsletter piece

From CrocMedia's August newsletter:


More from Mexico tonight ... or not! [UPDATE]

Tonight's "War Next Door" report focuses on the cartels involvement in human trafficking:

Michael Ware is in Mexico where he continues to dig deeper on the drug violence plaguing the country. The cartels are big business in Mexico, but it’s not just drugs anymore. They have branched out into other areas — like human smuggling. The cartels are now playing a central role in the multibillion dollar-a-year-business of illegal immigrant trafficking across the U.S. border. Some believe this is contributing to the spike in violence against U.S. border patrol agents. Michael Ware will have more for us tonight.

UPDATE: Well, two nights out of three ain't bad... hopefully there will be more reports next week.

360 again tonight

Michael has another report scheduled for tonight:

Michael Ware is in Mexico where he is reporting on the drug wars that continue to plague the country. He’s been looking into the cartels and explains how they run their operations – both on the Mexico and U.S. side of the border. Tonight he’ll profile Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as “El Chapo,” the infamous “king” of the Mexican drug lords. This guy has an interesting story: he came from poverty but is now extremely wealthy. So wealthy in fact that he was ranked on the Forbes billionaire list. But that’s not the only list he’s on – he ranks right up there with Osama bin Laden on the FBI’s most wanted list. We’ll have more on “El Chapo” tonight.



And here is a photo posted on the AC360 blog:


Michael Ware interviews Lawyer Antonio Ortega who is one of the only people who has met Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and is brave enough to talk about it.

AC360 tonight

Michael is scheduled to be on 360 tonight with a report on Los Zetas cartel. The footage previewed last night was heartbreaking.

Michael Ware is across the border in Mexico today where he is reporting on Los Zetas – the ruthless arm of the Gulf drug cartel. Los Zetas is rumored to be behind the murder of Mexican police commander Jesus Antonio Romero and his entire family. The attack came at night and assassins used guns, grenades and set the entire house on fire. Get this – many leaders of Los Zetas were once part of the special forces for the Mexican military, but they defected to work for the cartels. Michael Ware will show us the bloody tactics used by the cartel and will explain their role in this lethal drug war.

Also, the International special Witness to War will be airing this weekend on Domestic. Six war correspondents -- Michael, Atia Abawi, Stan Grant, Reza Sayah, Nic Robertson, and Ivan Watson -- talk about the realities of covering these conflicts and the day-to-day lives of the civilians caught in the crossfire.

Courier-Mail article: Michael Ware, the Crocodile Hunter of the US media

Michael Ware, the Crocodile Hunter of the US media

Article from:

  • August 04, 2009 12:00am

Michael Ware and James Swanick ... making it big in America.


A COUPLE of former Courier-Mail journos continue to take big strides in the US - none more so than former news reporter turned CNN war correspondent Michael Ware.


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Los Angeles

Got back from LA this morning... obviously I have some major catch-up work to do -- in fact, so much that I don't really even know where to begin!

First of all, the CrocMedia event was incredible. Michael spoke for about an hour, including Q&A time. There was so much that I honestly have a hard time pulling "highlights" out at random, but I did audiotape it, and will listen to that and try to outline it. (Also, it was videotaped, so be patient and hopefully that will be available soon!)

A couple of factoids, though -- he has been invested with the new title of "Chief Primetime Foreign Correspondent" and is based out of New York; he is heading to Juarez tomorrow to update the cartel coverage; current plan is to go to Afghanistan in about a month.

And the CrocMedia event isn't even the only thing I have to get posted! CNN International's
Witness to War special aired this week, and Délie has sent me the files to upload. (Still no word as to whether this might air on Domestic — as of Thursday night, Michael had not even seen it yet, although he did mention that they taped it "ages ago.") Of course, he also did this week's Real Time with Bill Maher and the Overtime segment as well.

I also had a chance to interview Michael before the event and will be posting that as soon as I transcribe the audiotape.

Thanks to Jodi and Lynda for their hospitality in Los Angeles; to James Swanwick at CrocMedia for putting on such a great event (and offering the interview!); and of course to Michael himself for his unwavering dedication to honest reporting. It has been a privilege to watch his work all these years.