Tom Gjelten
Tom Gjelten reports on religion, faith, and belief for NPR News, a beat that encompasses such areas as the changing religious landscape in America, the formation of personal identity, the role of religion in politics, and conflict arising from religious differences. His reporting draws on his many years covering national and international news from posts in Washington and around the world.
In 1986, Gjelten became one of NPR's pioneer foreign correspondents, posted first in Latin America and then in Central Europe. Over the next decade, he covered social and political strife in Central and South America, the first Gulf War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the transitions to democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
His reporting from Sarajevo from 1992 to 1994 was the basis for his book Sarajevo Daily: A City and Its Newspaper Under Siege (HarperCollins), praised by the New York Times as "a chilling portrayal of a city's slow murder." He is also the author of Professionalism in War Reporting: A Correspondent's View (Carnegie Corporation) and a contributor to Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know (W. W. Norton).
After returning from his overseas assignments, Gjelten covered U.S. diplomacy and military affairs, first from the State Department and then from the Pentagon. He was reporting live from the Pentagon at the moment it was hit on September 11, 2001, and he was NPR's lead Pentagon reporter during the early war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. Gjelten has also reported extensively from Cuba in recent years. His 2008 book, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause (Viking), is a unique history of modern Cuba, told through the life and times of the Bacardi rum family. The New York Times selected it as a "Notable Nonfiction Book," and the Washington Post, Kansas City Star, and San Francisco Chronicle all listed it among their "Best Books of 2008." His latest book, A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story (Simon & Schuster), published in 2015, recounts the impact on America of the 1965 Immigration Act, which officially opened the country's doors to immigrants of color. He has also contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other outlets.
Since joining NPR in 1982 as labor and education reporter, Gjelten has won numerous awards for his work, including two Overseas Press Club Awards, a George Polk Award, and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, he began his professional career as a public school teacher and freelance writer.
-
Cisco Systems warned this week that revenues could fall 10 percent this quarter, partly because disclosures about U.S. government surveillance have created "a level of uncertainty or concern" among customers.
-
Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is believed to have taken 200,000 NSA documents, and the vast majority have yet to be released. -
The government shutdown didn't help the U.S. on the world stage. But when it comes to political dysfunction, the U.S. is far from alone. -
The revelations by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has raised many complicated issues. NPR's national security correspondent Tom Gjelten answers questions submitted by NPR listeners and readers. -
Revelations about the NSA's online surveillance have upset many countries, and some want to exercise greater control over the Internet. But experts say the likely result would be greater surveillance worldwide.
-
The Somalia-based terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the Nairobi mall attack. Until recently, the group has been focused on local issues. After military setbacks and a leadership change, its priorities now seem aligned with the global jihadi agenda. -
Critics of the NSA's secret surveillance hoped the debate that followed Edward Snowden's leaks would prompt the NSA to rethink the operation. Instead, one of the most noticeable effects so far has been a diversion of resources away from intelligence missions toward assessing damage from the leaks.
-
Investigators have a good idea what documents NSA leaker Edward Snowden got and how he got them. Officials now tell NPR that he had access to a file-sharing site on the NSA's internal website, and it was actually his responsibility to move sensitive documents to a more secure location.
-
Ten years after a cascading power outage across a broad section of the U.S. and Canada, utility operators and regulators are concerned about another blackout scenario: a massive cyberattack that could threaten the U.S. electric grid. -
European leaders were outraged over revelations of NSA surveillance. But in many countries, wiretapping by law enforcement agencies is legal and privacy safeguards are weaker. Still, comparisons can be misleading.
