Natasha Mozgovaya

Natasha Mozgovaya (born 1979) is an Israeli journalist, currently Chief US Correspondent for the national daily newspaper Haaretz.

Background

Mozgovaya was born in the Soviet Union in 1979 into a family of two Russian Jewish journalists and immigrated to Israel in 1990. At the age of 11, she published her first piece in a Russian newspaper. At 14, she was writing a weekly satiric column for the Russian-Israeli newspaper "Vesti". In time she advanced to become editor for two supplement magazines at the newspaper and translated several books from Russian to Hebrew.^[1]

Early career

In 2000, Mozgovaya left "Vesti" and became a correspondent for Yediot Ahronoth newspaper, covering a broad spectrum of issues in Israel and all over the world, including the Disengagement from Gaza and the Second Lebanese War; immigration and human trafficking; hostage crises in the Former Soviet Union and North Caucasus conflicts; the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, including interviews with President Victor Yushenko and his partner-rival Yulia Timoshenko; in-depth reports dedicated to the Russian Mafia and Russian oligarchs; features from Chernobyl and Africa, from the post-election riots in Kenya to the AIDS situation in Malawi; Lost Tribes stories from North-Eastern India; the PKK in Kurdistan, etc.

During the reign of Vladimir Putin, Mozgovaya did not just give a voice to regime's official representatives and symbolic figure as Mikhail Gorbachev and Mikhail Kalashnikov; but contributed extensive coverage of the Russian opposition. She published one of the last interviews with the assassinated Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya; interviews with Garry Kasparov, some odious figures such as Edward Limonov, Boris Berezovsky, Chechen exiles as Ahmed Zakaev; widow of the poisoned ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, and many others.

Television

Meanwhile, Mozgovaya anchored several television programs, including the investigative report program "Special Department" on Channel 9, "Osim Ruach", a cultural program on Channel 1, and "Ha-boker ha-Shvii", another cultural series aired on Saturday mornings on Channel 2, aside Daphna Spiegelmann.^[1] On Channel 1 she presented, along with Meni Pe’er, the special "Black Sea in the Heart", dedicated to the victims of the passenger plane that was hit by a Ukrainian missile on its way from Israel to Russia.

In January 2006 she was selected to anchor the 5pm news broadcast on Channel 2 along with Danni Kushmaro, raising high expectations, but her Russian accent gave rise to a public discussion of whether it was an acceptable feature for a news broadcaster of the major channel, and finally Mozgovaya returned to the print press.

From October 2007 she presented the nightly newscast on Channel 9 and starred in the documentary series "Tmol Shilshom", that engages in the history of Israel from 1948, each part dedicated to a different year in history of the country. Although working most of the time in Hebrew, her reports in Russian from the Palestinian territories and Israel were published in various magazines and newspapers in Russia, and one of her blogs was chosen twice as "the best blog" in Russian blogosphere and the "Best Journalistic Blog in Russian" by Deutsche Welle in 2004.

Haaretz

In 2008, Mozgovaya left Yedioth Ahronoth to become the Washington Bureau Chief for Haaretz newspaper in Washington, D.C..^[2] She currently lives in Maryland with her Israeli husband and two children.

Education

Mozgovaya holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology and Anthropology and a master's degree in political science from Tel-Aviv University.^[1]

Social Agenda

Mozgovaya is committed to the promotion of the topics of minorities and representation in the media, and, among other things, was until recently a director on the board of the non-profit organization Agenda. She has lectured numerous times in various Israeli academic and public institutions about cultural differences, immigrants’ media, FSU politics and coverage of conflicts. In 2008, volunteered for Russian language campaign promoting aid centers for victims of sexual abuse.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Hadar, Alon (2006-05-05). "The Cold War". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=712030. Retrieved 2008-12-24.  (Hebrew)
2. ^ Silverstein, Richard (2008-07-23). "Israel News : Natasha Mozgovaya New Haaretz U.S. Correspondent". Israel News. http://www.israelenews.com/view.asp?ID=2719. Retrieved 2008-12-24. 

External links

• Natasha Mozgovaya Blog in Hebrew
• Natasha Mozgovaya Blog in Russian

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Name	Mozgovaya, Natasha
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Date of birth	1979
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