About Nick @nickschifrin
Nick Schifrin is the foreign affairs and defense correspondent for PBS NewsHour, based in Washington, D.C. He leads NewsHour's foreign reporting and has created week-long, in-depth series for NewsHour from China, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Cuba, Mexico, and the Baltics. The PBS NewsHour series "Inside Putin's Russia" won a 2018 Peabody Award and the National Press Club's Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. In November 2020, Schifrin received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Media Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs.
Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America's Middle East correspondent. He led the channel’s coverage of the 2014 war in Gaza; reported on the Syrian war from Syria's Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian borders; and covered the annexation of Crimea. He won an Overseas Press Club award for his Gaza coverage and a National Headliners Award for his Ukraine coverage.
From 2008-2012, Schifrin served as the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2011 he was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after Osama bin Laden’s death and delivered one of the year’s biggest exclusives: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound. His reporting helped ABC News win an Edward R. Murrow award for its bin Laden coverage.
Schifrin is a Council on Foreign Relations term member and an Overseas Press Club Foundation board member. He has a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), with a concentration in Strategic Studies.
Nick’s Recent Stories
Nation Apr 09
Examining the microaggressions and ‘building blocks to extremism’ within the militaryAbout 15 percent of the insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 were current or former members of the military. The military admits it has an extremism problem, but advocates say it hasn’t taken the necessary steps to tackle…
Nation Apr 07
EU finds possible link between the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and rare blood clotsThe European Medicines Agency said a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is "unusual blood clots with low blood platelets." That's a blow to low- and middle-income countries because the vaccine is inexpensive, easier to transport and…
World Apr 07
Amnesty International finds evidence of possible atrocities in EthiopiaThe Ethiopian government is allowing journalists into Tigray in part because of international pressure, following reports of atrocities committed by the government and its allies. Nick schifrin reports on the anatomy of an event that Amnesty International calls a possible…
World Apr 05
A long-simmering royal family feud is publicly boiling over in JordanPalace intrigue is shaking one of the Middle East’s most historically-stable monarchies. Jordan’s King Abdullah is challenged by the former crown prince, his half-brother, Prince Hamzah. Nick Schifrin explores the long-simmering reasons for the family feud, and Dr. Bessma Momani,…
World Apr 01
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy leaders say it’s an ‘honor’ to be jailed over fight for freedomIn another blow to the city’s democracy, seven of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy leaders were convicted of unlawful assembly on Thursday and could face up to five years in jail. Nick Schifrin focuses on three of those convicted and…
World Mar 30
Ethnic group in Myanmar faces airstrikes, new attacks for protesting coupTwo months ago, the Myanmar military staged a coup and overthrew the civilian government and has since met resulting protests with violence. The conflict is now entering a new stage as militias associated with the country’s ethnic minorities join the…
World Mar 29
WHO report says COVID originated in bats, but critics claim the study was biasedThe PBS NewsHour has obtained a study by a group of independent researchers convened by the WHO to find the origins of COVID-19 in China. As Nick Schifrin reports, the virus that caused the worst pandemic in a century most…
World Mar 25
Amid third wave, European Union running behind as vaccine rollout faces challengesMuch of continental Europe is suffering through a third and brutal wave of COVID-19. Making matters worse, the drive to vaccinate throughout the European Union is faltering badly. Coupled with recent concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine, the EU is running…
Nation Mar 24
How personal experience is guiding this military corp’s attempt to combat sexual assaultThe Pentagon on Wednesday announced a commission that will investigate sexual assault and harassment in the military. Nick Schifrin reports on how sexual assault and harassment infects the military’s most prominent units and how members of one corps are trying…
Nation Mar 23
AstraZeneca scrambles to address concerns about vaccine efficacy dataAstraZeneca is facing new questions today after a highly unusual reprimand from a board overseeing the company’s clinical vaccine trials.The company is scrambling to respond to allegations that it used misleading data when claiming its vaccine was 79 percent effective…