NYT Journalist Ethan Bronner to Speak on Middle East Experiences

By Miriam Berger, Assistant News Editor

Courtesy of CFR.org Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner (left) discusses the current struggles in Gaza with the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ethan Bronner ’76 P’10 has survived gun battles in Gaza, firefights in the South of Lebanon, and comprehensive exams in the College of Letters (COL). As Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the New York Times, Bronner will return to campus tomorrow, Oct. 7, to discuss current Middle East affairs from a journalistic perspective. 

 

Despite having amassed decades of experience as a reporter for Reuters, the Boston Globe, and the New York Times, Bronner did not foresee a future in journalism when he graduated from Wesleyan. With foresight, however, he noted how the content of his courses in college provided a strong foundation for the field.    

 

“The way that I learned how to read, how to write, and how to think at Wesleyan has been most important,” said Bronner. “I feel very linked to Wesleyan as that is what I do all day.” 

 

While he was studying in France at the University of Leon after graduation, a Spanish Professor encouraged Bronner to consider the field of journalism. By the 1980s, Bronner was reporting from the Middle East for Reuters and later in the 1990s for the Boston Globe. His return to Jerusalem two years ago provided an opportunity to combine these two decades of experience. 

 

 “One of the ways I can measure my different times here is the level of hostility at each border,” Bronner said. 

 

He described the ease with which he once drove across the border to Gaza or hailed a cab to Beirut in the 1980s—a stark contrast to the massive barricades along the border today.

 

Another sign of change in the region, Bronner recalled, is the shift in regional sentiments, from the belief in the 1990s that peace was imminent between Israel and the Palestinians to the widespread disbelief over the feasibility of diplomacy only a decade later.

 

“The sense and disillusions on both sides is a very powerful force [today],” Bronner said.  

 

In his opinion, the current clashes over Israeli settlements and the question of Iran’s nuclear program have factored into this shift. 

 

His many years of experience continue to provide a valuable vantage point from which to view these regional affairs. This familiarity with issues has allowed Bronner to distinguish between continuous events and recent nuances.

 

“History moves in slow and then sudden ways,” said Bronner. “I really don’t know how to predict what is going to happen. That’s part of what makes the job interesting is that it can surprise you in big ways.” 

 

As a foreign correspondent, however, Bronner has found himself at times in situations beyond the confines of a newspaper column. 

 

“I have been in several situations during the course of my career that my life was in danger,” said Bronner. “Then there are those occasions when you are sitting on a floor listening to someone with extreme ideologies, and you are reminded of Danny Pearle’s situation. There’s always an element of risk.” 

 

Bronner attributes his ability to delve into the crux of interactions between different people to the truth-seeking structure of the COL. 

 

“I loved College of Letters as I thought it was a great way to examine the world by combining history, philosophy, and literature,” he said. “Howard Needler, Herb Arnold, Paul Schwaber were my sort of stalwarts when I was there.” 

 

Bronner has applied his interdisciplinary background to teaching at Boston College and Princeton University, to graduate work at Columbia Journalism School, and to other work experiences abroad.

 

A high point of recognition for Bronner occurred in 2001, when he co-edited a series of New York Times articles, whose authors received the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism for their investigation of al-Qaeda’s role in the September 11th attacks. According to Bronner, following the World Trade Center attacks, the New York Times compiled a team of reporters to explore the history, ideology, and ongoing work of the Terrorist organization.   

 

“It was very powerful and it was draining,” said Bronner. “For me being part of a team of people investigating these people was emotionally calming, even though we were working late into the day and on the weekends.” 

 

Additionally, Bronner has written a book entitled, Battle for Justice: How the Bork Nomination Shook America, which the New York Public Library designated as one of the twenty-five best books of the year. 

 

Although the current newspaper industry is vastly different than it was in earlier decades, Bronner still considers work experience abroad a vital component to preparing for the field.  

 

“I believe strongly that to be a good journalist is to put yourself in new different cultures and situations,” he said. “When you are a student abroad you can be in some sort of cocoon, but when you work abroad it’s another thing.”

 

As a parent of Eli Bronner ’10 and a member of the Board of Trustees, Bronner recognizes the value of a liberal arts education.

 

“The four years of a liberal arts residential college like Wesleyan are so special in this world as the vast majority of people don’t have this right of passage to grow up intellectually,” he said. “I urge people to treasure it for what it is.”