'How I Did It': The Story Behind The New York Times’ 'Civilian Casualty Files' 

The Li Center, in collaboration with the Overseas Press Club of America, goes behind the scenes of “The Civilian Casualty Files” in a conversation with Azmat Khan, the lead reporter, and Luke Mitchell, her New York Times Magazine editor.

The event will be held in person and online. Register here to attend the Zoom. Registrants will receive a link to join the Zoom call about an hour before the program on Sept. 13.

Columbia University is committed to protecting the health and safety of its community. To that end, all visiting alumni and guests must meet the university requirement of full vaccination status in order to attend in-person events. Vaccination cards will be checked upon entry to all outdoor and indoor venues. Masks are strongly recommended but not mandatory.

Based on thousands of pages of previously unreported Pentagon reports and five years of painstaking reporting from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, Khan’s stories painted a damning portrait of American warfare. The reporting exposed the systemic intelligence failings that resulted in countless civilian casualties from U.S.-led airstrikes. And it described the web of impunity that provided cover to those responsible. The series won numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, a National Magazine Award, an Overseas Press Club Award, and a Polk Award. This talk is part of an OPC series, called, 'How I Did It,' which convenes freelance journalists and their editors or producers to break down a major feat of reporting. It will be moderated by OPC Governor Ginger Thompson, who is the chief of correspondents at ProPublica and the winner of multiple journalism awards for her reporting from Latin America and from the U.S.-Mexico border.