Jeremy Scahill
Jeremy Scahill’s investigative reporting is in the best tradition of speaking truth to power, waging a political campaign by journalistic means, indefatigable in its detail and international in outlook.
Jeremy Scahill is an investigative journalist and author whose work has sparked several Congressional investigations and won some of journalism’s highest honors. His reporting has led him to Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere across the globe. In addition to his work as National Security Correspondent for The Nation and Puffin Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, Scahill is the author of the bestselling books Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army (2007) and Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield (2013). He also wrote and produced the documentary film Dirty Wars, which exposes covert American counterterrorism operations including targeted killings and drone strikes, executed without congressional oversight or public debate. Scahill was twice awarded the George Polk Award for his work and appears regularly on The Rachel Maddow Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Democracy Now!
Donald Windham’s incredible life story should serve as an inspiration to aspiring writers and journalists for generations to come. He was living proof that heart, passion and determination can be far more valuable than any formal academic credentials. I have always believed that journalism is a trade, like plumbing or carpentry, and that some of the best journalists never stepped foot in a journalism class. I am deeply honored to be among the first recipients of the Windham-Campbell Prize and am very grateful to the fiercely independent man who made it possible.JEREMY SCAHILL