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John Burnett

As a roving NPR correspondent based in Austin, Texas, John Burnett's beat stretches across the U.S., and, sometimes, around the world. Currently, he is serving as NPR's correspondent in Nairobi, Kenya.

Normally, he focuses on the issues and people of the Southwest United States, providing investigative reports and traveling the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. His special reporting projects have included New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. invasion of Iraq and its aftermath, and many reports on the Drug War in the Americas. His reports are heard regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition.

Beginning with NPR in 1986, Burnett has reported from 25 different countries. His 2008 four-part series "Dirty Money," which examined how law enforcement agencies have gotten hooked on and, in some cases, corrupted by seized drug money, won three national awards: a Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Investigative Reporting, a Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists Award for Investigative Reporting and an Edward R. Murrow Award for the accompanying website. His 2007 three-part series "The Forgotten War," which took a critical look at the nation's 30-year war on drugs, won a Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for Excellence in Reporting on Drug and Alcohol Problems.

In 2006, Burnett's Uncivilized Beasts & Shameless Hellions: Travels with an NPR Correspondent was published by Rodale Press. In that year, he also served as a 2006 Ethics Fellow at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida.

In 2004, Burnett won a national Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for investigative reporting for his story on the accidental U.S. bombing of an Iraqi village. In 2003, he was an embedded reporter with the First Marine Division during the invasion of Iraq. His work was singled out by judges for the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award honoring the network's overall coverage of the Iraq War. Also in 2003, Burnett won a first place National Headliner Award for investigative reporting about corruption among federal immigration agents on the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the months following the attacks of Sept. 11, Burnett reported from New York City, Pakistan and Afghanistan. His reporting contributed to coverage that won the Overseas Press Club Award and an Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award.

In 2001, Burnett reported and produced a one-hour documentary, "The Oil Century," for KUT-FM in Austin, which won a silver prize at the New York Festivals. He was a visiting faculty member in broadcast journalism at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in 2002 and 1997. He received a Ford Foundation Grant in 1997 for a special series on sustainable development in Latin America.

Burnett's favorite stories are those that reveal a hidden reality. He recalls happening upon Carlos Garcia, a Mexico City street musician who plays a musical leaf, a chance encounter that brought a rare and beautiful art form to a national audience. In reporting his series "Fraud Down on the Farm," Burnett spent nine months investigating the abuse of the United States crop insurance system and shining light on surprising stories of criminality.

Abroad, his report on the accidental U.S. Air Force bombing of the Iraqi village of Al-Taniya, an event that claimed 31 lives, helped listeners understand the fog of war. His "Cocaine Republics" series detailed the emergence of Central America as a major drug smuggling region. But listeners may say that one of his best remembered reports is an audio postcard he filed while on assignment in Peshawar, Pakistan, about being at six-foot-seven the "tallest American at a Death to America" rally.

Prior to coming to NPR, Burnett was based in Guatemala City for United Press International covering the Central America civil wars. From 1979-1983, he was a general assignment reporter for various Texas newspapers.

Burnett graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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Africa
5:05 pm
Fri November 23, 2012

Rebel Advances In Congo Send Civilians Fleeing

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Credit Phil Moore / AFP/Getty Images
To escape fighting, thousands of civilians flee the town of Sake in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday. Rebels captured Sake and made other advances in the area this week. Eastern Congo and the larger region have been the scene of frequent fighting over the past two decades.
Credit Phil Moore / AFP/Getty Images
Congo rebels from the group known as M23 run toward the town of Sake in the eastern part of the country on Thursday. The rebels captured the town as part of their gains this week.
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Originally published on Fri November 23, 2012 7:29 pm

It's a scene that's become wearily repetitive in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo: An uprising drives out poorly trained government troops, creating havoc and sending large numbers of refugees fleeing for their lives.

This time the rebel group is M23, or March 23. Their revolt began this spring, and earlier this week they took Goma, an important town on the country's eastern border, just across Lake Kivu from Rwanda. The rebels then proceeded to take the next town over, Sake.

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World
4:32 pm
Thu November 8, 2012

Elated Kenyans Revel In Obama Win

Credit Ben Curtis / AP
Kenyans dance at a watch party for the U.S. presidential election in Kogelo village, home to President Obama's step-grandmother. Kenyans were elated by the president's re-election.
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Originally published on Thu November 8, 2012 6:02 pm

As the news spread that the son of the late Barack Obama Sr. — a Kenyan government economist — had held on to the most powerful presidency in the world, the elation across this East African nation was contagious.

One Nairobi radio DJ could scarcely contain himself on Wednesday. "How are your feelings this morning, this Obama Day morning? Talk to me and share your feelings with me," he said.

High Hopes For A Long-Expected Visit

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World
5:30 pm
Wed October 24, 2012

As Somalia's War Ebbs, Mogadishu Dares To Rebuild

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Credit Feisal Omar / Reuters/Landov
Somalis chat at a beach-side restaurant earlier this month. After two decades of civil war, Somali's capital, Mogadishu, is beginning to recover.
Credit Dai Kurokwa / EPA/Landov
This building, like many others in Mogadishu, has been gutted by years of street fighting. Rebuilding will be a massive undertaking, but construction companies are returning.
Credit John Burnett / NPR
Somalia isn't attracting visitors yet, but the country's assistant director of tourism, Farah Salad Dharar, believes the country can once again become a destination.
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Originally published on Wed October 24, 2012 7:37 pm

There is a remarkable change going on in Mogadishu, Somalia — often dubbed the world's most dangerous city. For starters, it may not deserve that title anymore.

Last year, African Union forces drove the Islamist militant group al-Shabab out of Mogadishu. Now, Somalia has a new president and prime minister who have replaced the corrupt and unpopular transitional government.

Hope is edging aside despair, and Mogadishu is coming back to life.

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Africa
3:25 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Forest People Return To Their Land ... As Tour Guides

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Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
In 1991, the Batwa forest people of Uganda were evicted from their land when two national parks were created to protect the shrinking habitat of the endangered mountain gorilla. A new program is trying to help them earn money and reconnect with their roots.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
Traditionally, the Batwa used bamboo stalks to carry water and cook food — stuffing them with meat and foliage to steam over a fire. After the formation of the Mgahinga National Park, the Batwa were forced out and prohibited from any hunting or gathering.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
The Batwa Trail, now 2 years old, helps preserve and promote culture by having Batwa guides show tourists their traditional way of life. Batwa guides and musicians earn the equivalent of $3.25 a day. The rest of the money goes to a Batwa tribal trust and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
The Mgahinga National Park provides a much-needed refuge for the mountain gorilla. But the creation of the park also drove the Batwa from their land, and has taken away a big part of their identity.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
Living entirely off the land, the Batwa developed a deep knowledge of the forest's plants and their uses. The benefits of these plants are still known by many of the older generation, but have been largely lost on the youth who have spent their entire lives living outside the forest.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
Intimately tied to the mountains and forests, the Batwa used to perform daily dances in honor of their land. Entering their previous home, men perform a welcoming dance.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
Equipped with two sticks, tinder and a lot of patience, the Batwa make small clumps of smoldering grass to ward off bees and harvest fresh honeycombs. Honey is so valuable that they use it as a bride price.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
Besides finding safety in the forests, the Batwa also took shelter in a local cave they called Garama. The cave is a low-ceilinged lava tube beneath the mountain where the chief used to hold his councils, and where women and children hid during battle.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
This sacred cave housed the Batwa king and was the main venue for celebrations. A choir in the darkness sings a song of sadness about how the Batwa were driven from the forest, and how much they miss it.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
Pushed from their homes without land of their own or compensation, many Batwa have been forced to squat on the land of others and perform menial jobs.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
In 1991, the Batwa forest people of Uganda were evicted from their land when two neighboring national parks were created to protect shrinking habitat for the endangered mountain gorilla. A new program is trying to help them earn money and reconnect with their roots.
Credit Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin for NPR
The forests in which the Batwa lived are rich with flora and fauna. After the formation of Mgahinga National Park, they were forced out and prohibited from hunting or gathering.
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Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 11:55 pm

Like other hunter-gatherers of Central Africa who've been cast out of their jungle homes, when the Batwa forest people of southwest Uganda lost their forest, they lost their identity.

The Batwa were evicted from their rain forest kingdom in 1991, when two neighboring national parks, Mgahinga and Bwindi, were created to protect shrinking habitat for the endangered mountain gorilla.

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Africa
4:41 pm
Mon October 8, 2012

Uganda's Leader: 26 Years In Power, No Plans To Quit

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Credit Ronald Kabuubi / AFP/Getty Images
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled since 1986, speaks in January at Uganda's Makarere University in the capital Kampala. Uganda celebrates a half-century of independence next month, and Museveni has ruled for more than half of that time.
Credit Peter Busomoke / AFP/Getty Images
President Yoweri Museveni inspects Ugandan troops at a ceremony honoring Rwandan President Paul Kagame in January of this year.
Credit Stuart Price / AP
Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, has waged an uprising against Museveni's government for more than two decades. Kony's forces, linked to many atrocities, are far less active today. He is being pursued by several nations in the region, with assistance from the U.S.
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Originally published on Thu October 11, 2012 3:19 am

Rebel leader Joesphy Kony, head of the infamous Lord's Resistance Army, has achieved greater notoriety than any other Ugandan in the world today.

Idi Amin, who ruled the country through most of the 1970s, still stands as a symbol of African dictators who abused power and inflicted gross human rights abuses.

Yet as Uganda celebrated 50 years of independence on Tuesday, the man who has most shaped the country is far less known, at least in the West.

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