About Dan @DanSagalyn
As the deputy senior producer for foreign affairs and defense at the PBS NewsHour, Dan plays a key role in helping oversee and produce the program’s foreign affairs and defense stories. His pieces have broken new ground on an array of military issues, exposing debates simmering outside the public eye.
Over the past two decades at the NewsHour, he has booked and produced scores of exclusive interviews with foreign leaders, U.S. national security advisers, secretaries of defense and state, senior military officers, members of Congress, and other key government officials.
Dan initially joined the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in May 1996 as a reporter, responsible for producing discussion segments on the Middle East, Asia, defense, terrorism and intelligence issues. The show promoted him to deputy senior producer in 2003. Before joining the NewsHour, Dan was one of the producers of America's Defense Monitor, a 30-minute weekly television series on defense and foreign policy issues, broadcast nationally on PBS and cable television.
Dan received a Master's Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in 1987, specializing in international security policy. He received a BA in history from Boston University in 1984.
Dan’s Recent Stories
World Nov 17
Photo essay: The burn pits of Iraq and AfghanistanThere were at least 230 burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan according data from the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Defense. Beginning in 2008, veterans across the United States began suing former Haliburton subsidiary KBR Inc., the company…
Nation May 22
Critics accuse Air Force of manipulating data to support A-10 retirementA number of observers challenge the Air Force’s claim that 80 percent of close air support missions are really conducted by non-A-10 planes. These observers assert that the service has deliberately manipulated the data to support its case.
Nation Apr 08
Airmen at odds with Air Force brass over future of beloved A-10 planeThe Defense Department decision to retire an Air Force plane built specifically to support ground forces has ignited a firestorm of criticism from the airmen whose job is to embed with Army ground forces and spot enemy targets. Meanwhile, one…
Nation Feb 25
How the A-10 Warthog became ‘the most survivable plane ever built’Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Monday that the Air Force will retire the entire fleet of A-10 Warthogs, an aircraft that ground forces view as their guardian in the sky.
Nation May 04
Psychiatric Community Still Divided Over Idea of Changing PTSD’s NameWith just a year to go before the American Psychiatric Association finalizes the revisions to its dictionary of mental health illness, efforts to rename post-traumatic stress disorder as an injury are ratcheting up.
World Apr 30
Who Is Chinese Activist Chen Guangcheng?Chinese guards march outside the U.S. embassy compound in Beijing. Photo by Goh Chai Hin/AFP/Getty Images. The whereabouts of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng remain unclear Monday. He escaped house arrest in his village last week and reportedly sought asylum at…
World Jan 27
Senate Minority Leader McConnell Sees ‘Amazing Change’ in Myanmar// One of the Senate's leading hard-liners on Myanmar, Sen. Mitchell McConnell, R-Ky., told NewsHour Capitol Hill Correspondent Kwame Holman that he is very hopeful about the political reforms that are now underway in that country. McConnell, who just recently…
Nation Nov 04
Army General Calls for Changing Name of PTSDSome members of the Army hope that renaming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, as an injury will encourage more soldiers to seek help.
Nation Sep 20
The End of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’// As of Tuesday, gay troops will no longer have to hide their sexual orientation for fear of being drummed out of the military. Six months ago, President Obama repealed the law that forbid gays from openly serving and…
Nation Jul 14
U.N. Report: Apache Helicopters to Blame for Afghan Civilian DeathsPhoto by Getty Images Despite recent statements from top Obama administration civilians and military brass that progress is being made in Afghanistan, the United Nations reported Thursday that "civilians experienced a downward spiral in protection" in the first six…