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A personal look at the perils of covering Mexico’s drug wars

In his new memoir “Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s Journey Through a Country’s Descent into Darkness,” Dallas Morning News Mexico bureau chief Alfredo Corchado, NF ’09, reflects on his life as a Mexican immigrant to the United States and the extraordinary journey he has taken to cover events in his homeland despite the threat of violence wrought by the country’s drug wars.

In a recent interview at the Nieman Foundation, Corchado discussed the genesis of his book during his Nieman year, the dangers he and other journalists face in Mexico, and the importance of better understanding the complex relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, two countries country inextricably intertwined by far more than a shared border.

Watch clips from Corchado’s interview: The Year of Living Safely, Away from the Drug Wars of Mexico »

See related links about Alfredo Corchado and reporting from Mexico »

Michael Riley to head The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education Inc. has named Michael G. Riley, NF ’95, as its CEO and editor in chief. He’ll oversee the weekly newspaper The Chronicle of Higher Education, the biweekly Chronicle of Philanthropy, Arts & Letters Daily and a number of specialized websites. Riley was hired from the Washington-based Bloomberg Government, where he served as editorial director. Earlier in his career, Riley worked as correspondent for Time magazine and created one of the first national political websites, allpolitics.com, in a joint venture of Time and CNN. Riley also was editor of The Roanoke Times for eight years before joining the Congressional Quarterly as editor and senior vice president. He holds a master's degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Learn more »

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