Samuel Vidal Flanagan, Grade 11
UWC Dilijan
Aris Roussinos is a journalist. At present, he works for VICE News, an online media company which reports on a variety of topics, ranging from the Syrian civil war to the best weed experience in Amsterdam. Roussinos focuses on issues in the Middle East and Africa. Notably, he spent a long time with anti-government groups during the Arab spring, covering their struggle during that time [1]. I wouldn't say he's my "idol", but he is a person who I admire and, to a certain extent, whose work I would like to take as an example of what I would like to do in the future.
After a short Wikipedia search (which is fine for basic searches, don't judge me), I discovered that he was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, which is a British public school for rich kids. This was surprising, I thought he would be a state schoolboy, as public schools are generally associated with posh British people, and he is definitely not that. According to an article by the 'Evening Dispatch', he is the son of "a greek farmer from Corfu, and an Irish mother who worked for the BBC". After this, he studied BA Anthropology in Durham and MSc Social and Cultural anthropology in Oxford. He also trained to become an army officer (with Prince Harry, who he apparently describes as dull).
The reason I admire him, however, is not his classy education or his interaction with "royalty". It's for his reporting. His style, like that of VICE in general, is very informal. His short films and documentaries capture everything that is happening. Roussinos shows the good, like the cause that liberation fighters are aiming for or the brotherhood moments that people share. He shows the bad, like when protestors get shot by government forces. He shows the ugly, like the bombings and the suffering of people who have lost someone. I like that he is also brutally honest: "I'm standing on a rooftop, stoned, watching a city burn around me.", from his time in Libya. The thing that I most admire about his reporting, though, is that he, to a certain extent, becomes a part of the group which he is covering. He doesn't come from abroad, interviews a couple of people, stands in front of a camera and waffles to middle-class westerners about what is happening in some far off country before the weather comes on. He lives with them, spends lots of time with them, takes the risks that they are taking and, by doing that, he is able to show their humanity in his work. He said to the Evening Dispatch that 'with traditional news, "Arab insurgents are scary bearded figures screaming, firing shots in the air. In reality, their banter is the same as British squaddies'. They take the piss out of each other. They have tender moments; they dust each other off when a grenade has landed too close." [2] As proof of his brilliance, he was awarded The Rory Peck Award in 2013 for his work in Mali.[3] It is an award aimed to "to give freelance journalists the recognition they deserve, rewarding the most outstanding work produced each year and highlighting the significant contribution by freelancers to the international media industry.[4]"
I hope to be able, if I do become a reporter some day, to be able to portray things as well as he does and show reality as well as he does. I find his work truly inspiring, and he is one of the reasons, amongst other reasons and other reporters like Isobel Yeung, that I want to be a reporter.
After a short Wikipedia search (which is fine for basic searches, don't judge me), I discovered that he was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, which is a British public school for rich kids. This was surprising, I thought he would be a state schoolboy, as public schools are generally associated with posh British people, and he is definitely not that. According to an article by the 'Evening Dispatch', he is the son of "a greek farmer from Corfu, and an Irish mother who worked for the BBC". After this, he studied BA Anthropology in Durham and MSc Social and Cultural anthropology in Oxford. He also trained to become an army officer (with Prince Harry, who he apparently describes as dull).
The reason I admire him, however, is not his classy education or his interaction with "royalty". It's for his reporting. His style, like that of VICE in general, is very informal. His short films and documentaries capture everything that is happening. Roussinos shows the good, like the cause that liberation fighters are aiming for or the brotherhood moments that people share. He shows the bad, like when protestors get shot by government forces. He shows the ugly, like the bombings and the suffering of people who have lost someone. I like that he is also brutally honest: "I'm standing on a rooftop, stoned, watching a city burn around me.", from his time in Libya. The thing that I most admire about his reporting, though, is that he, to a certain extent, becomes a part of the group which he is covering. He doesn't come from abroad, interviews a couple of people, stands in front of a camera and waffles to middle-class westerners about what is happening in some far off country before the weather comes on. He lives with them, spends lots of time with them, takes the risks that they are taking and, by doing that, he is able to show their humanity in his work. He said to the Evening Dispatch that 'with traditional news, "Arab insurgents are scary bearded figures screaming, firing shots in the air. In reality, their banter is the same as British squaddies'. They take the piss out of each other. They have tender moments; they dust each other off when a grenade has landed too close." [2] As proof of his brilliance, he was awarded The Rory Peck Award in 2013 for his work in Mali.[3] It is an award aimed to "to give freelance journalists the recognition they deserve, rewarding the most outstanding work produced each year and highlighting the significant contribution by freelancers to the international media industry.[4]"
I hope to be able, if I do become a reporter some day, to be able to portray things as well as he does and show reality as well as he does. I find his work truly inspiring, and he is one of the reasons, amongst other reasons and other reporters like Isobel Yeung, that I want to be a reporter.
Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aris_Roussinos
www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-hidden-awful-truth-about-war-is-how-much-
fun-it-is-vice-news-s-aris-roussinos-on-jihad-and-peace-9786837.html
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/21/freelance-rory-peck-news-award-mali-film
rorypecktrust.org/awards/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aris_Roussinos
www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-hidden-awful-truth-about-war-is-how-much-
fun-it-is-vice-news-s-aris-roussinos-on-jihad-and-peace-9786837.html
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/21/freelance-rory-peck-news-award-mali-film
rorypecktrust.org/awards/
www.unitedworldwide.co