About

The word jina means "name" in Swahili and "the overcomer" in Sanskrit.  That's quite a spectrum.  Somewhere along there is me.

I'm a freelance multimedia journalist, and I cover human rights, Africa and international relations.  I also like to write quirky features, character-and-place- rich narratives and occasionally snarky blog posts.

I am a regular print and multimedia correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor.  My work has also appeared in Newseek, The Boston Globe, The Walrus (Canada), Glamour Magazine, Harvard Magazine, Congressional Quarterly Press, Search magazine, and Best American Science Writing.  I've also published in the online versions of Mother Jones, Foreign Policy and the Global Post.

Prior to this full-time journalism thing, I helped edit "Telling True Stories," a handy how-to resource for narrative nonfiction writers put out by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where I also helped shape and organize several of the Nieman Conferences on Narrative Journalism.

I've been able to do all of this because of help from countless people and several institutions.  I've been especially fortunate for financial support from Boston University, the Harry S Truman Foundation, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

I'm also an Ochberg Fellow of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, which seeks to improve reporting on all things tragic, and a member of the Dart Society, where I occasionally blog on meta-media matters.