Kurt Schork was an American reporter and war correspondent

War correspondent

A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...

. He was killed in an ambush

Ambush

An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...

 while on an assignment for Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

 in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

 together with cameraman Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora

Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora

Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora was a Spanish cameraman and war correspondent, working for Associated Press.After a successful career as a corporate lawyer in Barcelona, Spain, Miguel became a freelance war correspondent first in Sarajevo and later, an award winning cameraman for AP Television.Leaving...

 of Spain, who worked for Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 Television. Two other Reuters journalists, South African cameraman Mark Chisholm and Greek photographer Yannis Behrakis

Yannis Behrakis

Yannis Behrakis , is a Greek photojournalist and Chief Photographer of Reuters.- Biography :Yannis Behrakis was born in 1960 in Athens, Greece. He studied photography in the Athens School of Arts and Technology and received his BA from Middlesex University. He worked as a studio photographer in...

, were injured in the attack.

Career

Kurt Schork was born in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, on January 24, 1947, graduated from Jamestown College

Jamestown College

Jamestown College is a private liberal arts college founded by the Presbyterian Church located in Jamestown, North Dakota. It has about 1,000 students enrolled today and has been co-educational from its founding....

 in 1969, and studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar later that year—the same time as future US president Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

. He worked as a property developer, a political adviser and as chief of staff for the New York Mass Transit Authority, before becoming a journalist.

Kurt Schork covered numerous conflicts and wars, including in the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Chechnya

Chechnya

The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...

, Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...

, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, and East Timor

East Timor

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

.

He filed the story Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo

Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo

Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo was an international documentary about the deaths of Admira Ismić and Boško Brkić . The couple were natives of the former Yugoslavia, living in the city of Sarajevo...

, about a couple killed during the Siege of Sarajevo

Siege of Sarajevo

The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.After Bosnia...

.

Mr. Schork has been memorialized posthumously in the dedication of Kurt Schork Street in Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

, and in the dedication of the Kurt Schork newsroom at Jamestown College, his alma mater.

Kurt Schork Memorial Awards

The goal of the Kurt Schork Memorial Awards is to recognize and assist freelance and local journalists who make such a critical contribution to international understanding but whose work is often overlooked. The Awards include two cash prizes of $5,000 each to provide some financial support to help the winners continue reporting. Though local journalists in the developing world take extraordinary risks to expose corruption and injustice in their countries, they rarely earn enough money to support themselves and their families. Similarly, freelancers live from job to job, never knowing when the next assignment will come, where it may lead or how long it will last. With these awards, the Fund spotlights the plight and achievements of both.

External links

• Kurt Schork Memorial
• Kurt Schork’s signature dispatch from siege of Sarajevo
• The Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism
• Road to "Sniper Alley" in Sarajevo named for Reuters reporter
• Sierra Leone dangerous for journalists
• Original report on Schork's death - IFEX
  International Freedom of Expression Exchange
  The International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....