Aryn Baker
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Aryn Baker is an American journalist who is ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine's Africa correspondent. She was previously based in
Beirut, Lebanon Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, for ''Time'' as the Middle East bureau chief, and has been a correspondent in
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
.


Early life

Baker attended
Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...
from 1991 to 1995 and received her
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in anthropology and literature. She then received her master's degree in journalism at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, in 2001. While at UC Berkeley, Baker explored radio journalism, foreign reporting and longform writing.


Career

Baker worked as a freelance journalist in print and radio while earning her master's at UC Berkeley. She wrote articles for the ''San Jose Mercury News'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', the ''East Bay Express'', the ''Asia Wall Street Journal'' and the ''Village Voice''. She produced a weekly radio show for KALX at Berkeley and interned at KQED in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. In 2001, Baker started working with ''Time'' international edition based in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. Starting her international reporting career, she traveled from Hong Kong to India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Libya and many other countries across Africa. She was named the Middle East bureau chief for ''Time'' in September 2010, and produced breaking news, features, analyses and investigative stories throughout the region. Specifically, she wrote about the Arab Spring, the war on terror and the Ebola crisis in West Africa. Baker stayed in the Middle East for four years and maintained contacts with diplomats, politicians, activists and others in order to provide her with the best in-depth on-the-ground reporting. She also worked intensely with photojournalists to help give life to her stories. Baker became the Africa bureau chief for ''Time'' magazine in September 2014, and is now in this position, living in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, South Africa. She covers politics, art, technology, society, health and other social conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. Baker's most recent stories from earlier this year have been covering Zika,
Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...
, corruption in military defense spending, and women facing rape in war-ridden
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
and Congo.


Notable work

Baker wrote a story about Bibi Aisha in 2010. The story was about an Afghan woman whose nose had been cut off by Taliban, and the gripping details caused an uproar in national and international women's rights debates, the Taliban and U.S. troops. She also wrote a collection of stories on the Ebola virus in 2014. Baker also wrote a piece on the Zika virus in early 2016, where she explored the origins of the virus and where it's headed around the world. Baker did a series of stories on the "secret war crime" in Africa, which generally is the epidemic of wartime rape that has been plaguing African countries for many years.


Volunteer experiences

Baker became a member of the International Reporting Project at the
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C. The school also maintains campuses in Bologna, Italy and Nanjing, China. The school is devoted to the study of int ...
in 2005. She is an active board member of the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), which is headquartered in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
but has centers located in
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
,
Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
and Afghanistan. CIVIC is a disaster and humanitarian relief effort agency, and focuses on helping civilians caught in armed conflict.


Awards

Baker was the All Media winner for the Daniel Pearl Award in 2012 for outstanding reporting about South Asia. This award was through the South Asian Journalism Association (SAJA).


Personal life

Baker is married to Tamim Samee, an Afghan-American IT entrepreneur. She currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa. She is fluent in French and English.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Aryn Living people Sarah Lawrence College alumni UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists