Danny Gold is an American journalist and documentary filmmaker. He is a 2018

Pulitzer Center The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an American news media organization established in 2006 that sponsors independent reporting on global issues that other media outlets are less willing or able to undertake on their own. The center's goal ...

grantee for reporting on gangs in El Salvador. Gold has produced documentaries and worked as a correspondent for

PBS Newshour ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...

AJ+ AJ, or variants, may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Applejack (''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''), a character from the fourth incarnation of ''My Little Pony'' * A. J. (''The Fairly OddParents''), a fictio ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Fusion TV Fusion TV was an American pay channel owned by Fusion Media Group, a multi-platform media company subsidiary of Univision Communications, which relied in part on the resources of its parent company's news division, Noticias Univision. In additi ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, and others. Gold was a founding producer and host for

Vice News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's alternative current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice Ne ...

, and has written featured stories for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

,'' ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', among others. He focuses on organized crime, armed conflict, and crises.

Personal life

Danny Gold was born in New York City. He attended

White Plains High School White Plains High School is a high school in the White Plains Public Schools system of White Plains, New York, United States. Built in 1962, it sits on 75 acres and has been expanded. It was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a Sc ...

. Gold graduated from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

with a bachelor's degree in political science in 2005, and a master's degree in Journalism from the

CUNY Graduate School of Journalism The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York is a public graduate journalism school located in New York City, New York, United States. One of the 25 institutions comprising the City University of New York, ...

in 2010. Gold has written that all four of his grandparents are Holocaust survivors and that two grandparents were the only surviving members of their families.

Early career

Gold was a stringer for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' from 2011 to 2012. In 2012, Gold began reporting for ''The Wall Street Journal''. His coverage focused on New York City crime and breaking news. Gold covered the

Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the 117th annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarna ...

on April 15, 2013 and the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Newtown Public Schools, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children bet ...

for ''The Wall Street Journal'' and reported from Myanmar for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

Conflict reporting

Syria

During his first report from Syria during its

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in 2012, Gold gained some of the earliest access to the

People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a libertarian socialist US-backed Kurds in Syria, Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostl ...

(YPG). In March 2013, during the

Battle of Ras al-Ayn A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, Gold embedded with the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

's Mashaal Brigade. Gold returned to Syria in 2015, where he was one of only a handful of journalists reporting directly from the besieged city of

Kobane Kobani, also Kobane, officially Ayn al-Arab, is a Kurdish-majority city in the Ayn al-Arab District in northern Syria, lying immediately south of the Syria–Turkey border. As a consequence of the Syrian civil war, the city came under the contr ...

Gaza

In late 2013, Gold was hired at the newly created international news outlet, Vice News. As part of the original launch team, Gold was deployed to Gaza in 2014 to cover the Israel-Gaza conflict. During that deployment, a series of 9 video dispatches were released, focusing on both the violence and political implications of the conflict.

Iraq

Gold headed Vice's breaking news coverage of the 2014 attack on

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

. He spent time on the frontline in Mosul during the early stages, and later embedded with Kurdish militia forces in the northern city of

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

. When ISIL began an assault on the Christian city of

Qaraqosh Qaraqosh (; (official name), or , also known as al-Ḥamdāniyya or Qara-Qūš; a Turkic placename meaning "Black Bird") is an Assyrian city in the Nineveh Governorate, of Iraq located about southeast of the city of Mosul and west of Erbil am ...

, east of Mosul, Gold covered the

Peshmerga The Peshmerga () are the internal security forces of Kurdistan Region. According to the Constitution of Iraq, regional governments are responsible for "the establishment and organization of the internal security forces for the region such as p ...

's attempts to fortify the city against ISIL mortar attacks. Gold returned to Mosul in 2016 as a freelancer to cover the U.S.-supported military operation to liberate the city from ISIL control. The offensive was considered a final test of

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

's military strategy in the Middle East, and was called a "disaster" by

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. The report was released by

Ebola

During the

2014 Ebola outbreak The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in West Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and S ...

, Gold and a team from Vice News traveled to

Monrovia, Liberia Monrovia () is the administrative capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liberia’s total population. It ...

. He produced a half-hour special on the epidemic, speaking to doctors, aid workers, and victims.

Gawker ''Gawker'' was an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers that was based in New York City and focused on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month in 2015. Fo ...

called the brashness of the report "terrifying". The film went on to win a 2015

Webby Award The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

El Salvador

Gold began reporting from

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

in 2015, covering

MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area ...

and

18th Street gang The 18th Street Gang, also known as , , , or simply in North America, is a multi-ethnic (largely Central American and Culture of Mexico, Mexican) street gang in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest street gangs in Los Angeles, with around 30 ...

activity, and government countermeasures. In 2018, he received a Pulitzer Center grant to investigate the effects of American deportation, as well as methods for escaping the cycle of gang violence.

Awards

*2012: Mirror Award Nominee *2013 Fellowship from the

International Center for Journalists International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is a non-profit, professional organization located in Washington, D.C., United States, that promotes journalism worldwide. Since 1984, the International Center for Journalists has worked directly with ...

*2015: Webby People's Voice Award for Online Film & Video *2018: Pulitzer Center Reporting Grant

References

External links

*
Official websitePulitzer Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Danny American male journalists American producers Living people White Plains High School alumni Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni CUNY Graduate School of Journalism alumni 1983 births