Benjamin Joffe-Walt

Benjamin Joffe-Walt is an editor, writer and reporter well known for his work as a features writer in Africa, for which he was awarded [http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/africanawards/ Africa Print Journalist of the Year] by [http://edition.cnn.com/ CNN] and [http://www.foreign-press.org.uk/showarticle.pl?id=293;n=14 Young Journalist of the Year] by the [http://www.foreign-press.org.uk/ Foreign Press Association] . He recently served as the editor of [http://www.colorsmagazine.com Colors] , a multilingual international reportage magazine created by Tibor Kalman and Oliviero Toscani. His articles have appeared in academic journals and various news outlets, including the Economist, BBC, [http://browse.guardian.co.uk/search?search=Benjamin+Joffe-Walt&sort=relevance&Ntk=MultiWordSearch&search_target=%2Fsearch&fr=cb-guardian Guardian] , [http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/benjamin_joffe-walt New Statesman] and Sunday Telegraph.

Early life

Joffe-Walt was born Philadelphia in 1980. He studied history, education and feminist studies at Oberlin College in the US, Birzeit University in Palestine, McGill University in Montreal and the University of Toronto. [http://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminjw Education history] ] During his university studies he trained as a medic and worked as a forest firefighter in 2002 and 2003. He was also involved in various social causes, in particular leading [http://www.oberlin.edu/stupub/ocreview/archives/2002.02.15/news/article8.htm workshops for men on sexual violence] . A dual American and South African citizen, he moved to Johannesburg in 2003 and began writing news features as a freelancer for various publications. [http://www.fabricanti.com/Benjamin_Joffe_Walt/ Benjamin Joffe-Walt, profile] ]

Awards

Joffe-Walt’s work in Darfur won him the [http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/africanawards/winners.html CNN Africa Print Journalist of the Year] prize and he was awarded Young Journalist of the Year by the UK Foreign Press Association for his coverage of the plight of two million Ethiopian farmers forcibly moved by the Ethiopian government in the largest resettlement program ever attempted in Africa. He was also given an [http://www.sej.org/contest/winners2005.htm#printsmall environmental journalism prize] by the Society for Environmental Journalism for his work following recycled electronic waste to China.

Guardian

In 2005 Joffe-Walt was hired by the Guardian as a features writer and sent to China

While on assignment in the Panyu district of Guangzhou, Joffe-Walt and his entourage were attacked by a mob on October 8, 2005, as they approached the village of Taishi following reports of hunger strikes by imprisoned activists in the area. Lu Banglie, an activist assisting Joffe-Walt in finding the village, was beaten unconscious by the mob. Joffe-Walt was harassed and had his equipment destroyed, but after rumors that he had been killed, he emerged unhurt. Following the incident the Guardian had Joffe-Walt flown out of China after fears that the incident would lead to threats on his life.

Joffe-Walt and the paper were criticized for his eyewitness account of the beating, which appeared on the cover of the Guardian and implied that Mr Banglie may have died. Days later when Mr Banglie was found, [http://zonaeuropa.com/20050919_1.htm his injuries] were found to be serious, but [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/11/china.jonathanwatts1 less severe than feared] .

Many argued the criticism was overdone, claiming that conservative British pundits out to discredit the Guardian and Chinese bloggers concerned with the overall role of foreign media in China were exploiting the bad luck of a reporter trying to highlight a [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/10/17/china11887.htm human rights issue] and caught in a [http://www.globalpulse.net/archives/asia/govt_goons_kill_000060.php violent situation] rarely [http://shanghaiist.com/2005/10/10/the_hazards_of.php witnessed by foreign correspondents] .

For its part the Guardian was accused of putting Joffe-Walt in a dangerous position and criticised for printing an eyewitness account by a young journalist after a traumatic incident, without inquiring as to the reliability of the description.

Joffe-Walt returned from China to the UK to continue as a features writer with the Guardian. He co-authored a report with Oliver Burkman on the working conditions along the international coffee supply chain, following a coffee bean from the birthplace of coffee in Ethiopia to a retailer in London, and wrote a variety of pieces on the UK’s relationship with Israel, breaking a story on illegal arms sales to Israel and following the growth of [http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1785633,00.html UK-based academic boycotts] of Israel.

Colors

From 2007 to 2008 Joffe-Walt served as the editor of [http://www.colorsmagazine.com Colors Magazine] . A multilingual, international reportage magazine based in Italy, Joffe-Walt led a major relaunch of [http://www.colorsmagazine.com the magazine’s online presence] and supervised the writing department of Fabrica, the creative communication center in which the magazine is produced. .

References

External links

* [http://benjamin.joffe-walt.com/ Benjamin Joffe-Walt, personal website]
* [http://www.benetton.com/colorspress72/docs/BiographicalNotes_en.pdf Colors Magazine biography]
* [http://www.fabricanti.com/Benjamin_Joffe_Walt/ Fabrica profile]