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 Jul 28
Gen. Brown on extremism in the Air Force and threats from China, AfghanistanThe Air Force’s top officer is Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the first and so far only Black service chief in U.S. military history. Nick Schifrin sits down with General Brown to look at his history and his priorities for…
World Jul 23
Hong Kong police arrest authors of a children’s book in latest free speech crackdownHong Kong authorities arrested the authors of a children’s book this week and accused them of sedition. The book, “Defenders of Sheep Village,” explores the politics of a protest movement, facing off against an increasingly assertive China using animals. Nick…
World Jul 19
As U.S., allies condemn Chinese cyberattacks, report exposes governments’ use of spywareThe Biden administration and a large group of allies called out China for state-sponsored, international hacking Monday. A consortium of media outlets also published an investigation revealing how governments hacked into their opponents' phones with sophisticated, Israeli-made software. Nick Schifrin…
World Jul 16
Analyzing the U.S. business advisory for Hong Kong and how it could affect global financesThe United States government Friday warned Americans about the risks of doing business, studying, or investing in Hong Kong. The U.S. also sanctioned Hong Kong officials, accusing them of eroding the city’s freedoms as China continues to force its will…
Nation Jul 15
U.S. military leaders worried Trump might attempt a coup to stay in power, new book claimsToday the Washington Post published excerpts from a new book by reporters Carol Leonnig and Phil Rucker describing how U.S. military leaders, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, worried President Trump might call on the armed forces to decide the…
World Jul 14
Chaos in South Africa as riots, looting follow Zuma’s jailingIn South Africa, rioting and looting rocked parts of the country again overnight. The trouble began last week after the country’s former leader Jacob Zuma was jailed, and police say more than 70 people have been killed and 1,200 arrested.
World Jul 13
Fire at Iraq COVID hospital leaves 92 dead, more than 100 injuredA fire swept through a COVID hospital ward in southern Iraq overnight, killing at least 92 and injuring more than 100. Nick Schifrin reports.
World Jul 12
Why are Cubans protesting? Examining the nation’s disappointment with the Communist PartyPolice are out in force tonight in Havana, Cuba, after thousands of protesters rose up Sunday, taking to the streets across the country in the largest demonstrations against communist rule in a generation. Nick Schifrin begins our coverage, and talks…
World Jul 09
UN votes to keep sole humanitarian border crossing open to starving SyriansThe U.N. Security Council unanimously extended the sole humanitarian crossing into Syria — one day before it was set to close — after a deal between the U.S. and Russia. The White House said Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin…
World Jul 08
Poorer nations are ‘perilously at risk’ as delta variant spreads. Can the U.S. help?More than 4 million people have officially died from COVID-19 globally, but the actual number is almost certainly much higher. As wealthy nations with high vaccination rates like the U.S. begin emerging from the pandemic, the disease is accelerating in…