Maria Armoudian is the author of three books, Reporting from the Danger Zone: Frontline Journalists, Their Jobs and an Increasingly Perilous Future and Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World. and her most recent Lawyers Beyond Borders : Advancing International Human Rights Through Local Laws and Courts . She is a lecturer at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, the host and producer of the syndicated radio program, The Scholars’ Circle. Maria served as an environmental commissioner for the City of Los Angeles for five years, on the Board of Taxi Cab Commissioners for two and worked on environmental protection, government oversight, poverty reduction, civil rights, and corporate reform legislation for the California State Legislature for eight years, Her articles have been published by the Columbia Journalism Review, New York Times Syndicate and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, The New Zealand Herald, the Los Angeles Daily News, Grist, the Progressive, Salon.com, Truthout, Alternet, Inc., Daily Variety, and Billboard. She also a songwriter & musician. Her CD is called Life in the New World.
Publications :
“This well-written, innovative and nuanced book dissects the vital but increasingly perilous roles played by journalists in danger zones. Through compelling narratives of horrifying violence witnessed, evaded or experienced, and analyses of how these conditions jeopardize professional and independent journalistic observation, Armoudian illuminates the difficulties in disseminating news despite omnipresent communication technology. Framed by deep scholarship, enlivened by sensitive interviews with journalists who have seen too much, this book merits urgent and wide attention from scholars, practitioners and those interested in understanding threats to human rights and democracy throughout the world.”
– Robert M. Entman, George Washington University
“Lawyers Beyond Borders is a virtual encyclopedia of relevant Human Rights cases, meticulously documented and detailed . . . it makes an exciting read. Although the book records few full successes in winning justice . . . in getting courts to recognize the standing of the complainants, and indeed to win some settlements . . . just getting past the question of ‘standing’ represents a major achievement. Armoudian concludes the book with some optimism, even in this age of callous cynicism.”
– Richard M. Abrams, Emeritus Professor of History, and former Associate Dean of International Area Studies, University of California, Berkeley
“Succeeds in providing both examples of when journalism helped relieve or exacerbate major societal problems and giving the reader mini-history lessons of important movements outside the United States…. Clear writing and provocative conclusions make Kill the Messenger useful for undergraduate and graduate classes. It clearly contributes to the growing number of voices calling for major changes in journalism and media practice.”
– Journalism History