Josh Rushing is an Emmy Award winning American broadcast journalist and photographer. He is the senior correspondent for the award winning documentary series, Fault Lines, on

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

. He is also a former officer of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

(USMC).

Early life

Rushing was born in Lewisville, Texas in 1972.

Career

Military service

Rushing enlisted in the

in 1990 and completed basic training at

Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego (MCRD San Diego) is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to San Diego International Airport and the former N ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was selected for Public Affairs and attended the Defense Information School (DINFOS) in 1991. He was selected for th
Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP)
and studied at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

where he received a dual degree in Ancient History and Classic Civilization in 1999. Rushing became a

Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticate ...

upon his graduation from UT and moved to Quantico, Virginia, to further his military officer training at The Basic School (TBS). Though slated to be a Marine Corps aviator at TBS, hearing loss prevented Rushing from completing flight school. Instead, he returned to Public Affairs and reported to

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, a commu ...

in San Diego, California. Rushing moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 2002 where he represented the Marine Corps in Hollywood in th
Marine Corps Motion Picture and Television Liaison Office
Aware of future military operations in the Middle East, Rushing volunteered to deploy with forward units before the

invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

in 2003. Rushing was assigned to United States Central Command (CENTCOM) in

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It is also Qatar's ...

, during

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

where he served as a spokesperson to General Tommy Franks. Unbeknownst to him, an independent film, ''Control Room'', captured his efforts to communicate the American message on

Al Jazeera Arabic Al Jazeera Arabic ( , ) is a Qatari state-funded Arabic-language news television network. It is based in Doha and operated by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which also operates Al Jazeera English. It is the largest news network in the Middle ...

. The documentary debuted at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in 2004 and enjoyed theatrical release across the world. After the Pentagon ordered him not to comment on the film, he left the Marine Corps after 14 years of active duty service in October 2004 and later helped start Al Jazeera English in 2005.

Broadcasting work

Rushing has been with Al Jazeera English since the run-up to its launch. As an international correspondent, Rushing has hosted and produced programs all over the world. So far in 2011 Rushing has filmed two ''Fault Lines'' episodes in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

- "Mexico: Impunity and Profits", and "Mexico's Hidden War" - plus a third in Colombia. He has also traveled to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, for the eighth time, to provide special news coverage marking the 6-month milestone before the planned withdrawal of the U.S. military.

Writings

Rushing's book, ''Mission Al Jazeera: Build a Bridge, Seek the Truth, Change the World'', was published by Palgrave-MacMillan in 2007. The book blends his personal story with a unique behind-the-scenes look into the controversial Al Jazeera broadcast networks. Rushing is also published in ''Reader's Digest''s 10th Anniversary of 9/11 special edition. Rushing blogged regularly for AJE and the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' before beginning his own online journal.

Personal life

He is married, with a daughter and four sons.

Notes

References

;Books *

External links

Josh Rushing Official WebsiteOfficial ''Control Room'' Website
*

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

, September 28, 2005
The Education of Lieutenant Rushing
Mother Jones, November/December 2006
Al Jazeera's (Global) Mission

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

, April 2006
Al Jazeera Hires an Ex-Marine

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

, September 27, 2005
Marine Lands in Film, Collides With Superiors

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

, August 2, 2004
Democracy Now! interview
June 20, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rushing, Josh Living people 1972 births United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War American male journalists Al Jazeera people American public relations people Writers from Texas