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AP International Editor keynotes annual DP Banquet
Daniszewski talks about his start at the DP, two decades as a foreign correspondent, and the difficulties for journalists in Iraq
By Sue Lin Chong '69
Daily Pennsylvanian alumnus John Daniszewski '79 began his keynote address at the January 2007 banquet celebrating the installation of the DP's 123rd Board of editors and managers by recalling the "laughter, high jinks, fun, stale pizza, bad instant coffee, and yes, even cigarette smoke" that marked his time at the newspaper.
Undoubtedly inspired by this atmosphere at the old office at 34th Street, and later at 40th & Walnut, Daniszewski shared his thoughts on moving directly into journalism after graduation and his fondness for the two employers he has had in his distinguished career -- the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times. He traced his career from his start at the Associated Press to the Times and back to the AP, through two decades as a foreign correspondent in eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2006, he returnbed to the US to become International Editor of the AP, where he now oversees an operation with 600 staff members around the world in 83 countries and more than 100 bureaus.
Daniszewski met his future wife, Drusilla Menaker '78, at the DP, and she -- newly installed on the DPAA Board of Directors earlier the same day -- and their two children joined him at the banquet.
In his speech, Daniszewski talked about the extraordinary difficulties facing the staff of the Associated Press in Iraq in recent years, highlighted by a painful recounting of the apparent execution of a runner and occasional cameraman, Ahmed Hadi Naji, whose body was discovered on January 5 in Baghdad. Noting that Naji was the fourth AP employee to be killed in Iraq and the 30th killed in the course of his work for the organization since its founding in 1846, Daniszewski praised the courage of all journalists in Iraq. "The situation for our journalists in Iraq is unprecedented in AP's history of covering wars and conflicts," he observed. "We share the anxiety of our Iraqi staffers who endure on a daily basis anonymous death threats whispered over their cell phones, and knotted stomachs as they go out on the streets and see a checkpoint in a neighborhood or at a crossroads."
Despite this grim depiction, Daniszewski concluded with a strong plea to support journalists around the world. Calling these reporters "our brothers and sisters," he urged the audience to speak up for the rights of journalists everywhere to work freely and without fear.