WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 -- United Press International on Wednesday named 11-year UPI veteran Jonathan Ferziger as editor of its Asia- Pacific Region. Ferziger was UPI bureau manager in Jerusalem from 1991 to 1995, when he was granted a leave of absence to study at Harvard University under a Nieman Fellowship.
'Jonathan's proven abilities as a hands-on front-line journalist and manager, along with his impressive academic achievements, will make him invaluable in his new post,' said Raphael Calis, executive editor and vice president. Ferziger will be responsible for UPI's news coverage in a vast area from Pakistan in the West to Fiji in the East and Mongolia in the north to New Zealand in the south. 'No area in the world offers greater opportunities for UPI than Asia,' Ferziger said. 'I'm looking forward to the challenge.' Ferziger, 36, began his career at UPI in 1985 as an intern in the news agency's Paris bureau, moving on to New York as a reporter covering state politics. In 1986, he shared first prize in the New York State Bar Association Journalism Awards for an investigative series by UPI's Albany bureau on legislative corruption. As Jerusalem bureau chief, he covered such major news events as the Palestinian Intifada (uprising) and the Oslo peace process. During the Gulf War, Ferziger was UPI's lead correspondent in Saudi Arabia, covering the conflict from a U.S. Marine unit near the Iraqi border. While in the Middle East for UPI, he also reported from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Ferziger is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is married and has two children.
