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The CMES Middle East Forum presents
Reese Erlich
Peabody Award-Winning Journalist
Reese Erlich's history in journalism goes back over 40 years. He first worked in 1968 as a staff writer and research editor for Ramparts, a national investigative reporting magazine published in San Francisco. His book The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of US Policy and the Middle East Crisis was published in 2007. San Francisco Chronicle book reviewer Ruth Rosen said, “Some people are treated as pariahs when they tell the truth; later, history lauds them for their courage and convictions. Reese Erlich is one of those truth tellers.” His other books include, Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect (Foreword by Noam Chomsky - 2016), Conversations with Terrorists: Politics, Violence and Empire (2010), Dateline Havana: The Real Story of US Policy and the Future of Cuba (2009), and Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You (co-authored with Norman Solomon in 2003).
He reports regularly for a variety of radio networks, including National Public Radio, CBC, ABC (Australia), and Radio Deutche Welle. Erlich's newspaper articles have appeared in over 20 daily papers in the United States and around the world, including the Christian Science Monitor, the San Francisco Chronicle, St. Petersburg Times, The New York Times Syndicate, Dallas Morning News, and the Chicago Tribune.
In 2001, he produced a one-hour public radio documentary "The Struggle for Iran," and in 2002 he produced a two-hour documentary, "The Russia Project," both hosted by Walter Cronkite. The specials were independently distributed to more than 200 public radio stations throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. “Children of War,” hosted by Charlayne Hunter Gault, aired in 2003. The radio documentary “Reaching for Peace in the Holy Land,” hosted by Walter Cronkite aired on Public Radio International stations in 2004. “Lessons from Hiroshima 60 Years Later,” a one-hour documentary was hosted by Walter Cronkite (2005 – PRI).
In June 2005 he traveled to Iran with Norman Solomon and Sean Penn. Erlich’s photos accompanied Penn’s five-part series about the trip that appeared in the SF Chronicle, and later appeared in an A&E biography of Penn. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors declared Sept. 14, 2010, to be “Reese Erlich Day” in honor of his investigative journalistic work. The resolution read, in part, “Investigative reporters are under attack in the U.S. and around the world. Mr. Erlich exhibits the finest qualities of such reporters willing to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
Contact: Liz Flanagan