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Deborah Amos

Deborah Amos covers the Middle East for NPR News. Her reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

In 2009, Amos won the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting from Georgetown University and in 2010 was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award by Washington State University. Amos was part of a team of reporters who won a 2004 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of Iraq. A Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1991-1992, Amos returned to Harvard in 2010 as a Shorenstein Fellow at the Kennedy School.

In 2003, Amos returned to NPR after a decade in television news, including ABC's Nightline and World News Tonight, and the PBS programs NOW with Bill Moyers and Frontline.

When Amos first came to NPR in 1977, she worked first as a director and then a producer for Weekend All Things Considered until 1979. For the next six years, she worked on radio documentaries, which won her several significant honors. In 1982, Amos received the Prix Italia, the Ohio State Award, and a DuPont-Columbia Award for "Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown," and in 1984 she received a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for "Refugees."

From 1985 until 1993, Amos spend most of her time at NPR reporting overseas, including as the London Bureau Chief and as an NPR foreign correspondent based in Amman, Jordan. During that time, Amos won several awards, including a duPont-Columbia Award and a Breakthru Award, and widespread recognition for her coverage of the Gulf War in 1991.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Amos is also the author of Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East (Public Affairs, 2010) and Lines in the Sand: Desert Storm and the Remaking of the Arab World (Simon and Schuster, 1992).

Amos is a Ferris Professor at Princeton, where she teaches journalism during the fall term.

Amos began her career after receiving a degree in broadcasting from the University of Florida at Gainesville.

Person Page
  • Syrians carry a large revolution flag and chant slogans during a protest in Aleppo, Syria, where young people and children sang songs against President Bashar Assad and the Syrian regime, Dec. 21, 2012.
    In Ancient Aleppo, Plotting The Future
    Deborah Amos
    In a rare test of democracy, a soft-spoken, 31-year-old aid worker won a seat on the Aleppo provincial council in a vote held on March 3 in neighboring Turkey. Abdul Rahman Kahir won top votes for his work organizing aid distributions in the Syrian city.
  • As Aleppo residents in the Tariq al-Bab district recover from this week's attack by Syrian regime forces, delegates from the city are in Turkey holding an election for local officials.
    Miles From Home, Syrians Vote In Free Elections
    Deborah Amos
    Aleppo, Syria, is holding the first free elections for 25 city council seats and 26 provincial council seats. This election is far from perfect, but those involved say they want to set an example for other Syrian towns.
  • Syrian Rebels: New U.S. Aid Not Helpful Without Weapons
    Deborah Amos
    The top rebel commander in northern Syria was not impressed with Secretary of State John Kerry's announcement of new direct U.S. aid to the rebels and their political leaders.
  • Secular demonstrators, shown at a protest march this month in Aleppo, wave the old Syrian flag (green, white, black and red) that has become the symbol of their opposition movement.
    Syrian Rebels, Secular And Islamist, Both Claim The Future
    Deborah Amos
    Secular activists launched the uprising in Syria two years ago, but ultraconservative Muslims are becoming a more potent force as the war grinds on. The sides have little in common besides their opposition to President Bashar Assad's government.
  • Damascus Dragged Into Syrian War With Latest Wave Of Bombings
    Deborah Amos
    Central Damascus had remained largely on the sidelines of the Syria war, but now the ancient city has been dragged into the battle with a wave of bombings on Thursday that left close to 100 people dead. Many military analysts say President Bashar al-Assad can't win the war, but he's a long way from losing. In the meantime, Syria may cease to function as a state, and the spillover is escalating in Lebanon, as evidence mounts that Hezbollah is playing a larger role in the fighting.
  • Syria's Christians Caught Between Rebels, Regime's Soldiers
    Deborah Amos
    Syria's minority Christians are caught in the middle of the country's 23-month conflict. Many members of one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East are fleeing Syria. Those who stay say they fear they will be targeted by Islamist militants — a growing force among rebels fighting President Assad's regime.
  • Syrian people wait at a customs gate at the Turkey-Syria border near Reyhanli, Turkey, last week. Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing central Syria, heading to southern Turkey.
    Newly Displaced Syrians Head For Turkish Border
    Deborah Amos
    Refugee numbers are swelling again in southern Turkey due to a heavy Syrian army offensive in central Syria. Humanitarian aid groups are becoming overwhelmed.
  • Syrian women walk through a market area in the northern city of Aleppo last November. A new website is documenting the use of rape in the Syrian conflict.
    Tracking Rape In Syria Through Social Media
    Deborah Amos
    Researchers are using data from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media sites. There are, however, questions about the accuracy of the reports coming from Syria.
  • Syrian Opposition Fears Waning Western Support
    Deborah Amos
    After prodding the Syrian opposition to reorganize into a more inclusive organization, the Obama administration has failed to support the group. France, Britain and other allies of the opposition are channeling their humanitarian aid for Syria through the new coalition. There is a legal impediment holding up U.S. action.
  • Maysam Selmo, 8, during her first week at Albashayer School for Syrian Refugee Children in Antakya, Turkey. She and her extended family fled their village in northwestern Syria and now live in a crowded apartment.
    Syria's War Leaves Its Scars On The Children
    Deborah Amos
    Many Syrian children have lost family members and are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Even those who have fled into neighboring Turkey have not been able to leave the trauma behind.
  • A Syrian woman carries a ration of bread on her head in the northern city of Aleppo. The Syrian opposition now runs local councils in many cities, particularly in the north. They often face major challenges in providing basics likes food, water and electricity.
    Amid Food Shortages, Syrian Opposition Now Runs Many Towns
    Deborah Amos
    The Syrian opposition is running many local councils, particularly in the north of the country. They face urgent challenges, such as providing food, and are counting on increased international assistance to help them function.
  • Syrians lift a wounded rebel fighter to take him into a hospital in Aleppo, Syria, in October. Doctors have few supplies to treat wounded fighters in Syria.
    NPR Breaking News
    U.S. Doctors Provide Supplies, Training To Syrians
    Deborah Amos
    After months of revolt, Syria's health care system is collapsing, with half of the country's public hospitals destroyed. Yet Syrian doctors continue to treat patients. Now, a group of Syrian-American doctors is stepping in to help bring crucial supplies and training.