James Andrew Laurie is an American writer, journalist, and broadcaster who is known principally for his work in Asia.

Education

Laurie graduated from the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in Washington D.C. in 1973 with a degree in History and a certificate in Asian Studies. He underwent his postgraduate studies at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

's Sino-Soviet Institute in 1973 to 1974, under Professor Gaston Sigur.

Career

Laurie started a freelance career in the early 1970s as a radio stringer in Vietnam and Cambodia and writing for the ''

Far Eastern Economic Review The ''Far Eastern Economic Review'' (FEER or The ''Review'') was an Asian business magazine published from 1946 to 2009. The English-language news magazine was based in Hong Kong and published weekly until it converted to a monthly publication ...

''. In 1972, Laurie joined

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 ...

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

to cover the wars in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. In 1975, with cameraman Neil Davis, he covered the final phase of the Communist take over of Vietnam on April 30, remaining 26 days in the newly renamed

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. His work in Vietnam in 1975 for

earned him the George Foster

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

from the University of Georgia. Laurie reported for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

from 1978 through 1999. In 1980, his reporting in Vietnamese-occupied Cambodia resulted in a one-hour ''ABC News Close Up'' documentary ''This Shattered Land.'' In 1981, while working for ABC News, Laurie established the first American television network bureau in China. Later, he reported from Beijing during the Tiananmen Square student protests and subsequent crackdown of May–June 1989. Other assignments for ABC News included being part of the entourage of Filipino opposition leader Senator

Ninoy Aquino Benigno "Ninoy" Simeón Aquino Jr., (, ; November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983) was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac (1963–1967). Aquino was the husban ...

as he returned to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in August 1983 after three years of self-imposed exile in the United States (witnessing the senator's eventual

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport), the coverage of

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

and

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

in Russia from 1988 to 199

the war in Bosnia 1992-1993, the elections in South Africa in 1994,

the famine and US Marine operations in Somalia in 1995, and the continued conflict with Saddam Hussein when Laurie reported from Baghdad in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. In 1999, Laurie left active television news reporting and turned to television management for the News Corporation owned Asia network STAR Group Ltd. Laurie has co-produced, written, and narrated a number of television documentaries and long form broadcasts. They include ABC News Close-up ''Japan: Myths Behind the Miracle,'' 1981, ''China: The Yellow River,'' 1988

''Cambodia: Boom Town,'' 1999 (an ABC News Nightline special), and ''Vietnam: Giaiphong 25 years later''; (a one-hour Focus Asia special on News Corporation's STAR World Channel) 2000. From September 2005 to December 2011, Laurie served as Director of the broadcast journalism department of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre, the University of Hong Kon

In 2005 he also founded Focus Asia Productions Limited, a Hong Kong–based consulting and production company. He has provided consulting services to international TV News organizations

including television channels in India

Qatar, Malaysia, and China. In 2020, Laurie authored a book entitled "The Last Helicopter: Two Lives in Indochina," a memoir of his earliest days in Asia beginning in 1970.

Awards

In addition to the Peabody Award cited above, Laurie is the recipient of an Overseas Press Club Award for his 1984 reporting in the Philippine

two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, an Armstrong Award, and an Amnesty International Media Award for human right reporting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurie, Jim American University alumni American male journalists George Washington University alumni Peabody Award winners Living people Year of birth missing (living people)