Obit

 

Sydney Schanberg, 82

AWARD-WINNING REPORTER Sydney Schanberg died after suffering a heart attack Saturday, July 9 at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was 82.

Schanberg  was a foreign correspondent for The New York Times where he started as a copy boy in 1959. He became known for his coverage of the fall of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge which eventually earned him and his assistant, Cambodian photojournalist Dith Pran, a Pulitzer Prize.

While covering the Cambodian genocide in the 1970s, The Khmer rouge captured Schanberg and Dith were captured by the Khmer Rouge and threatened with death. The two were able to take refuge in the French Embassy compound but were later separated when Dith, along other Cambodians, was expelled from the compound. It was only after four years that the two were reunited. Schanberg recounted their experience in an article which was later published as the book, “The Death and Life of Dith Pran.” The book then became the inspiration for the 1984 movie, “The Killing Fields.” (“Sydney H. Schanberg Is Dead at 82; Former Times Correspondent Chronicled Terror of 1970s Cambodia,” NYTimes.com, July 9, 2016)

Schanberg left the Times in 1985, after his column was discontinued for criticizing Time’s coverage of the propose Westway highway in Manhattan. He joined Newsday, where he served as an associate editor and columnist for 10 years (“Sydney Schanberg, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Who Inspired The Movie ‘The Killing Fields,’ Dead At 82,” HuffingtonPost.com, July 11, 2016).

Friends and colleagues mourned the passing of Schanberg. Dean Baquet, Executive Editor of the Times, described Schanberg as a historic and courageous correspondent. “He was part of a generation of war correspondents who made America understand what was truly happening in Vietnam and Cambodia,” Baquet said in a statement (“Former New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg dies at 82,” TheGuardian.com,  July 9, 2016)

Schanberg is survived by his wife.

 

 

Toni Randolph, 53

RADIO REPORTER Toni Randolph died July 3, Sunday while undergoing surgery for cancer . She was 53.

Randolph, a native of Buffalo, New York, was a reporter for  Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) News in 2003. She covered issues on homelessness, immigration and politics. She became news editor in June 2010.

Randolph also served as a journalism mentor for the University of St. Thomas’ Three Sixty Journalism program in which she  trained high school and college journalists through MPR News’ Young Reporters Series.

In 2014, University of St. Thomas recognized her with the Widening the Circle Award, which she dedicated to her mother. She also received a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media in 2015 for her Young Reporters Series (“MPR reporter and news editor Toni Randolph dies at 53,” StarTribune.com, July 4, 2006).

Randolph was also an active member of the national and local chapters of the National Association of Black Journalists – for voices unheard and voices that need lifting up.

Colleagues mourned the passing of Randolph. American Public Media Group president and CEO Jon McTaggart described how passionate she was in her profession. “She was a gifted and dedicated journalist whose great joy was working with aspiring writers and mentoring the young,” Mctaggart said. (“Veteran MPR News journalist, mentor and teacher Toni Randolph dies,” MPRNews.org,  July 4, 2016)

She was laid to rest Saturday, July 9th.