Christopher J. Harper is an American professor and former journalist.

Early life and education

Born October 1, 1951, in

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, Harper graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism and English literature from the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

in 1973. He earned a master's degree in journalism in 1974 from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Career

As a reporter for ''Newsweek'', Harper reported on

Jonestown The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, an American religious movement under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became in ...

, Guyana, in November 1978. His reporting was nominated for a National Magazine Award. As

Beirut 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 ...

bureau chief for ''Newsweek'' in 1979-1980, Harper reported on the continuing

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

and the

Iran hostage crisis The Iran hostage crisis () began on November 4, 1979, when 66 Americans, including diplomats and other civilian personnel, were taken hostage at the Embassy of the United States in Tehran, with 52 of them being held until January 20, 1981. Th ...

. He was expelled from Iraq in 1980 for his reporting about

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

, whom Harper described as "The Butcher of Baghdad." As

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

bureau chief for ABC News in 1981, Harper was expelled by

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

in September 1981 for interviewing a previously expelled correspondent in

. During his work as a correspondent and then bureau chief in Rome from 1981 to 1986, Harper reported on the 1981 plot to kill Pope John Paul II,

1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

, the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks that left 241 soldiers and Navy seaman dead, and the 1985 hijacking of

TWA Flight 847 TWA Flight 847 was a regularly scheduled Trans World Airlines flight from Cairo to San Diego with en route stops in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Los Angeles. On the morning of June 14, 1985, Flight 847 was hijacked soon after take off from Athens. ...

for which he and his team were nominated for five Emmy awards. Harper joined ''20/20'' in 1986 and worked there until 1995. He left the news business to teach journalism at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1995 and later at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, where he headed the Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab. He now teaches multiple classes within the journalism department such as Journalism and the Law International Reporting, and Ethics of Journalism. Harper has edited and written seven books, including one of the first about the digital age and its influence on journalism. The 1998 book, ''And That’s the Way It Will Be''. His 2011 book, ''Flyover Country'', documents the history of his high school graduation class of 1969 from Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Harper wrote a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

on the journalism industry for ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'' beginning in January 2013. His last column was published on Wednesday, May 27, 2015. Harper currently writes a weekly column fo
DaTechGuyblog
ever
Tuesday

Selected bibliography

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Christopher J. American male journalists 1951 births Living people People from Boise, Idaho University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni New York University faculty Temple University faculty