Kim Murphy (born, August 26, 1955) is an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

who works for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for International Reporting.

Early years and education

Murphy was born in 1955 in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. She received her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1977 from

Minot State University Minot State University (MSU or MiSU) is a public university in Minot, North Dakota. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, Minot State University is the third-largest university in North Dakota, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. ...

.http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/kim-murphy

Career

Murphy worked as an assistant editor for ''The North Biloxian'' in 1973, as a reporter for the ''

Minot Daily News The ''Minot Daily News'' is an American daily newspaper, printed in downtown Minot, North Dakota. It originated as the ''Burlington Reporter'' and was published out of Burlington, then the county seat, until the early 20th century. It is the ...

'' in 1978, and then as a reporter and later the assistant metro editor of the '' Orange County Register'' starting in 1982. Murphy began at the ''Los Angeles Times'' as a general assignment staff writer, and later became the Times' national and foreign correspondent covering

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

. She became the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Bureau Chief in 1983 and national editor in 2013.

''Los Angeles Times'' memo

In November 2015, Murphy sent an email to her ''Los Angeles Times'' staff, with the subject "today is buyout day". The first two paragraphs were: :Hello all, :This is the day when a number of our colleagues will be leaving us, and in the weeks ahead, more will join them out the door. :Let's not pretend that this is anything but sad. We have all shared way too many intense, insane, crazy hard times together (many of which ended up as astonishingly good journalism) to think that these departures won't make us cry. I'm tearing up already. Murphy mentioned numerous names of many longtime veterans who would be leaving, such as, "

David Zucchino David Zucchino is an American journalist and author. Career Zucchino was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in the Feature Writing category in 1989 for his series ''Being Black in South Africa'', written for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. In 2020, Zucchi ...

, one of the best war correspondents of our generation. No need to say more--everybody knows David Zucchino. I'm not even going to talk about how sick I am he's leaving". Murphy ended her memo that "We are not dead yet. We'll move on--after taking this day to wish all the very best to our departing colleagues as they with trepidation prepare for their exciting "next chapters." A huge virtual hug to all".

Awards

Murphy won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for International Reporting for "her eloquent, wide ranging coverage of Russia's struggle to cope with terrorism, improve the economy and make democracy work". She won numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Publisher's Prize for Persian Gulf War correspondence, the Orange County Press Club Award, four times, and the Society of Professional Journalists, Delta Chi, foreign correspondence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, zkim American women journalists Minot State University alumni Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners