During Kathy Gannon’s time reporting in Afghanistan and Pakistan for The Associated Press, she was once denied access to the Taliban for “being a woman.” So Gannon sat outside for six hours until she was allowed to speak with a high-ranking official. Eventually, the Taliban let her.

“We argued a lot,” she said of her interactions with senior Taliban members.

Gannon was presented with the Joan A. Tully Award for Free Speech in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium on Monday, earning the honor for a nearly 30-year-long career covering Afghanistan and Pakistan as The Associated Press’s bureau chief and correspondent for the region since 1988.

Kathleen Carroll, senior vice president and executive editor for the AP, introduced Gannon as “tenacious and tough” and “the embodiment of what the Tully award looks to recognize.” Carroll also lauded Gannon’s “devotion to telling stories,” which enabled her to “command respect from warlords” during her distinguished career in the region.

The floor was then handed to Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, to lead the discussion with Gannon. Gannon answered questions on her career and experiences, from starting in Timmins, Ontario to reporting all over the Middle East and Southeast Asia for The Associated Press.

That same determination carried over in her return to Pakistan in early January of this year, with Gannon saying that she refused “to be held hostage by fear” in spite of an attack in April 2014, during which her vehicle was fired upon by a member of the Afghan police. The attack killed her friend and colleague, Anja Niedringhaus, an AP photographer, and severely injured Gannon’s right shoulder and left hand.

The attack occurred while the two journalists and police were helping deliver ballot boxes to eastern Afghanistan during the 2014 election. That election would see the end of Hamid Karzai’s term as president and allow for power to democratically change hands for the first time since the Taliban rose to power.

“I’ll be reporting just like have before,” said Gannon, who rattled off a list of stories she has covered in her time since returning from the attack, including women’s rights and the Islamic State’s recruitment tactics in Pakistan.

The gunman, a police commander identified by authorities as Naqibullah, was originally sentenced to death by Afghan courts. He appealed the verdict and is currently serving a 20-year sentence, the maximum term of imprisonment in Afghanistan.

Speaking to the crowd Monday about the attack, Gannon said she was “fine” that Nabiqullah’s sentence had been reduced.

“Anja and I never believed in the death penalty,” Gannon said, adding that she wants to “see him serve the 20 years.”

The loss of her colleague and friend of six years still weighed on Gannon as she reminisced on a photo taken when they were the first two journalists embedded with the Afghan Army.

“Anja always wanted to show what is was like for (Afghans and Pakistanis) to live and … to show their courage,” Gannon said.

Published on March 8, 2016 at 12:20 am

Contact Daniel: djyarnal@syr.edu