Date: TBD
Topic: How news media lost their way, and why I left after a 50-year career
“Why Are We Still Afraid?” is Mark Lavie’s second book. It draws on on 46 years of features articles he has written since making Aliyah in 1972, alongside his work as a radio and print correspondent for leading news outlets. It shows how Israel was weak but arrogant in the ‘70s, and it’s strong but frightened today, distorting the political system and stymying efforts to fix what’s wrong in Israel’s society. The book traces this progression in four sections: Conflict, Society, People, and Media. The last section explains why Mark quit his beloved profession, lamenting, “I didn’t leave journalism. Journalism left me.”
About the Speaker
MARK LAVIE has been covering the Middle East as a news correspondent, analyst and author since he moved to Israel in 1972. Most of his work has been in radio news, starting as an anchor and reporter for Israel Radio’s English-language news service and continuing as Middle East correspondent for radio networks including NPR, NBC, Mutual, and CBC in Canada. He won the New York Overseas Press Club’s Lowell Thomas Award for “Best radio interpretation of foreign affairs” in 1994.
In 2014 he wrapped up fifteen years with The Associated Press, where he served as a reporter and editor for the news agency’s print service and Middle East Correspondent for AP Radio and its 850 stations in North America. In 2009, he began splitting his time between AP’s Jerusalem bureau and its Cairo regional hub. He moved to Cairo in 2011 and lived there for two years, experiencing Arab Spring first hand. His first book, “Broken Spring,” is based on those experiences.
Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Mark graduated from Indiana University with a degree in political science in 1969.
Mark is married with four children and eleven grandchildren. He is an Orthodox Jew who sometimes leads services in his local synagogue and sings in two synagogue choirs.
For more biographical details: marklavieauthor.com
Why Are We Still Afraid by Mark Lavie
“Why Are We Still Afraid?” is Mark Lavie’s second book. It draws on on 46 years of features articles he has written since making Aliyah in 1972, alongside his work as a radio and print correspondent for leading news outlets. It shows how Israel was weak but arrogant in the ‘70s, and it’s strong but frightened today, distorting the political system and stymying efforts to fix what’s wrong in Israel’s society. The book traces this progression in four sections: Conflict, Society, People, and Media. The last section explains why Mark quit his beloved profession, lamenting, “I didn’t leave journalism. Journalism left me.”
