AKU's Graduate School of Media and Communications Dean, Dr Lawrence Pintak is among the authors shortlisted for the 2020 Religion News Association Awards for Reporting Excellence. His book America & Islam: Soundbites, Suicide Bombs and the Road to Donald Trump, is one of six finalists in the Books category. The book has received numerous glowing reviews and has been noted to be a, “must-read, valuable, thoughtful, well timed, written and researched.”
The 100 award finalists were chosen from 22 categories for magazines, newspapers, broadcast outlets, online-only outlets, non-fiction books and student journalists. The winners will be revealed during a virtual awards ceremony in the fall and will split a prize of nearly $8,000.
Dr Pintak, whose tenure at GSMC began on July 1, 2020, is an award-winning journalist and scholar who has reported from 18 African countries and four continents. He was the founding dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University (2009-2016) and previously headed the graduate journalism programme at The American University in Cairo. Lawrence holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
A former CBS News Middle East correspondent, Dr Pintak's numerous books and articles focus on America's relationship with the world's Muslims and the role of the media in shaping global perceptions and government policy. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Vox.com and a range of other media.
Lawrence reported on the birth of modern terrorism in Beirut, the Iran-Iraq War, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Zimbabwe's war of independence and a variety of other stories across Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe including more than 20 wars, coups and revolutions. That reporting earned him two Overseas Press Club awards and a pair of international Emmy nominations, among others.
He is the author of five books, including America & Islam: Soundbites, Suicide Bombs and the Road to Donald Trump (2019); Islam for Journalists (co-editor, 2014); The New Arab Journalist (2011); Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam & the War of Ideas (2006); Seeds of Hate: How America's Flawed Middle East Policy Ignited the Jihad (2003); and Beirut Outtakes (1988).
The RNA awards aim to honor religion reporting excellence in the news media. Click here for the full list of finalists.