John Fisher Burns facts for kids

John Fisher Burns, born on October 4, 1944, is a famous British journalist. He won two Pulitzer Prizes, which are very important awards for journalism. He used to lead The New York Times news office in London. There, he reported on big international events until 2015. You might also see him on PBS, a TV channel. Many people call him one of the best foreign reporters ever.

John Burns's Career Journey

From 1998 to 1999, John Burns studied Islamic history at King's College, Cambridge. He can speak French and German. His father was from South Africa and worked in the Royal Air Force.

Early Reporting Days

In the early 1970s, Burns wrote for The Globe and Mail in Canada. He started as a local reporter and later covered the Canadian Parliament. During this time, he earned a master's degree in political science. In 1971, he went to China. He was one of the few Western journalists there during the Cultural Revolution.

Joining The New York Times

John Burns joined The New York Times in 1975. He first reported on city news. Since then, he has worked in many different roles for the newspaper. He has led several of the Times' foreign news offices.

Reporting from Around the World

In 1978, Burns and two other Times journalists won an award for their reporting on Africa. From 1981 to 1984, he was the Times main reporter in Moscow. In 1986, while leading the Times office in Beijing, the Chinese government held him. They thought he was a spy. The charges were dropped, but he had to leave the country.

Winning Pulitzer Prizes

John Burns won his first Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1993. This was for his brave reporting on the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He covered the destruction of Sarajevo and the terrible killings there.

In the early to mid-1990s, Burns led the New York Times' office in New Delhi. He covered news across the Indian Subcontinent, from Afghanistan to Myanmar. He traveled often to places like Kabul and Islamabad. His reporting on events in Afghanistan led to his second Pulitzer Prize in 1997. This award was for his brave and insightful coverage of the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan.

Burns was in Baghdad before the Iraq war in 2003. He wrote many articles about the war and what happened afterward. In July 2007, he became the main reporter in London. He received an honorary degree from Colby College in September 2007.

Later Career and Recognition

John Burns often appeared on PBS. He was on shows like Charlie Rose and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He would connect by satellite from Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2009, Michael Barone called Burns "one of the great foreign correspondents of our time." In 2010, Christopher Hitchens called him "the greatest war correspondent of our time."

On March 26, 2015, The New York Times announced that an article about the burial of Richard III would be Burns's last for the newspaper.

John Burns's Family Life

John Burns married Jane Peque Gnat in 1972. They divorced in 1989. In 1991, he married Jane Scott-Long. She manages The New York Times' office in Baghdad. John Burns has two children from his first marriage, Jamie and Emily. He also has a stepchild named Toby from his second marriage.