Paula Schmitt

Brazilian journalist, Middle East correspondent, TV reporter, author, translator, researcher

paulaschmitt@gmail.com

1 – Web links to some works

Latest international TV stand-up and editing work here, demonstrations in Spain:http://rt.com/news/protest-austerity-cuts-spain-653/

Hassan Nasrallah in his only exclusive interview for a Latin American journalist (remaining pages behind paywall)http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/mundo/ult94u58882.shtml

Recent book: Iran – Ally or Enemy. Lightning Guideshttp://www.amazon.com/Iran-Persian-Nuclear-Partner-Lightning/dp/194241160X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Interview with Fernando Gabeira, one of the kidnappers of US Ambassador Charles Elbrickhttp://www.brasilwire.com/fernando-gabeira/

Interview with Leila Khaled, hijacker. http://972mag.com/interview-with-leila-khaled-bds-is-effective-but-it-doesnt-liberate-land/91000/

Rolling Stone piece on Lebanon, Portuguesehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6cttf9MGnQGVFREOURsaFRkdVU/view?ths=true

Rolling Stone piece on CERN and the Large Hadron Collider https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6cttf9MGnQGSzNjanBkVDNCM3M/view?ths=true

Vogue piece on Hezbollah, profile pagehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6cttf9MGnQGV3p2RjgyS0pVenc/view?ths=true

Summary

Political analyst, investigative reporter, international correspondent, researcher; news producer; news editor; author of a best-selling book on Lebanese and Middle Eastern politics and the novel Eudemonia.http://www.amazon.com/Eudemonia-ebook/dp/B006E5JI0S

Languages:Portuguese (mother tongue)English (proficient, second language and the language in which she authored four books)Arabic, colloquial (passable, useful for haggling and extricating from Hezbollah detention)Spanish (very good; reading, speaking)French (reading, speaking, enough to conduct an interview)Italian (reading and speaking, enough to conduct an interview)

Fields: Middle East politics (with a Master’s in Middle East Studies and Arabic from AUB, American University of Beirut), Brazilian and Latin American affairs, US politics, political analysis, quantum physics (occasionally), features. First student to write op-ed articles for O Estado de S.Paulo (one of the 20 most respected newspapers in the world, according to Columbia University)

Only Latin American journalist to interview with exclusivity Hezbollah’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, and one of the ten best international TV correspondents in Brazil according to Prêmio Imprensa 2006, a news award voted by peers; winner of the country-wide Premio Nacional Radio Bandeirantes with best radio news feature on crack consumption inside penitentiaries.

Employment history:

Writer for Callisto Publisher, San Francisco, of a non-fiction book on Iranian politics and another on espionage.

Translator of English books, among them the classic Before Their Diaspora, by Walid Khalidi

News producer, writer and director for Ruptly, Berlin. From January to February 2013

Radio France Internationale correspondent in Beirut and Italy, from July 2006 to 2011;

Articles published in Rolling Stone magazine, Middle East Trends, Vogue, Executive Magazine, +972Mag; photos published in several news outlets, including the Financial Times and Rolling Stone; videos broadcast worldwide through RT news agency;

Middle East TV correspondent for SBT, the second-largest TV network in Brazil, from 2005 until the Middle East desk was closed in 2008;

Middle East radio correspondent for Radio France Internationale in Lebanon (from 2006 to 2009) and then RFI’s correspondent in Rome (2009 to 2011);

Middle East TV correspondent for TV Gazeta, from December 2004 to July 2005;

Researcher and Project Coordinator for documentary series “Walking the Edge”, National Geographic;

Writer on Lebanese and Middle Eastern economy and politics for Executive Magazine, from January 2002 to October 2003;

Stringer in Beirut and Cairo for Folha de S.Paulo, the best-selling newspaper in Latin America, from 1999 until July 2003;

Executive Director and Chief Editor of Pharaohs Magazine, business and politics monthly magazine published in Egypt; Senior Editor and Content Developer of Middle Eastern website bayt.com, based in Dubai with offices in Cairo, New York and Jeddah; Author of the weekly column Brazil This Week, published on the internet by O Estado de S.Paulo, the oldest national newspaper in Brazil and, according to Columbia University, one of the 20 best dailies in the world; Special Reporter for Jornal da Tarde – Sao Paulo 1998, and author of what was said to be the year’s biggest political scoop (the scoop became a topic covered in every national newspaper and was as popular as to feature in two comedy programs); International radio reporter and editor of the entertainment news for Radio Bandeirantes, the largest news radio in Brazil; Author of the weekly column “Elections on Line” for Folha de S.Paulo; Director and producer of the first political debate on the internet with the major candidates for Sao Paulo’s mayoralty for Folha de S.Paulo; Reporter for Dinheiro Vivo, then the most subscribed-to news agency on finance, investment and legislation; Special Investigative Reporters in the political campaign of candidate Mario Covas, subsequently elected as Sao Paulo’s governor; First student in the history of the oldest Brazilian national newspaper, O Estado de S.Paulo, to ever write on its op page.

 Education:

Master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic, American University of Beirut, Lebanon;

BA in Journalism from Casper Libero, the first University of Journalism founded in Brazil (in Brazil, a BA in Journalism was until recently compulsory for journalists);

Other courses on History of Art, Politics, Economics, Philosophy, Law, New Journalism, Arabic, Photography. Etc.

 

 

 

Professional highlights:

Author of Advertised to Death – Lebanese Poster Boys, a book on Lebanese politics, religion and philosophy, for over eight consecutive months on the best-selling list of Virgin Megastore Beirut;

 

Author of the only exclusive interview conceded by Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah to a Latin American newspaper;

 

Author of what is deemed by some journalists “the biggest scoop in the 1998’s elections in Sao Paulo”, a 12-day investigation which took ex-governor Paulo Maluf to the police precinct and thus helped ruin his campaign for the 1998 elections (further information upon request);

 While still a student, author of the first exclusive interview for a Brazilian newspaper with writer Salman Rushdie.

 In 1998, one of 25 Latin American journalists chosen to work in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Taller de Nuevo Periodismo” in Buenos Aires;

In 1997, winner of the Radio Bandeirantes National Award for her report on drug-trafficking and corruption inside penitentiaries, including exclusive access to areas forbidden to journalists like the so-called “seguro” cells, where prisoners have no sunlight for up to eight months (despite legislation limiting incarceration in those cells to 20 days). 

 

 

Other skills

Professional photographer. Proficient knowledge of most professional Sony movie cameras. Excellent research capabilities and able to beat almost anyone at searching the web for accurate, well-sourced, verified information (FAS.org over DebkaFile; Jstor over American Scientist; peer-reviewed journals over Wikipedia). Also a not-so-good chess player, and a brown-belt karate fighter (shotokan), as well as a certified open-water diver. Volunteering work since the age of 10, mostly for the homeless and the handicap.