For release: February 9, 2012
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

Tony Zumbado

Independent photojournalist and videographer Tony Zumbado will present a lecture and panel discussion at the University of Memphis Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in the University Center Theatre. The program is free and open to the public.

Parking is available in the Zach Curlin garage adjacent to the University Center.

Zumbado’s work during the past 30 years has frequently appeared on NBC and MSNBC. He came to international attention during the 2005 post-Hurricane Katrina flooding of New Orleans, when he was the first journalist to discover the desperate condition of victims at the Convention Center. Later he documented 45 bodies left behind in the belated evacuation of Memorial Hospital.

In the presentation, Zumbado will explore his work in disaster and crisis-ridden environments, particularly his coverage of New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. The focus will be on the various levels of censorship, the effects of censorship on viewers’ understanding of the crisis, the ethical and professional conflicts that arose during weeks of filming in the Gulf region, and the gap between what American audiences saw at home and what journalists witnessed but could not broadcast.

 Zumbado has covered a wide range of breaking stories for both NBC and al-Jazeera English, including the O. J. Simpson trial, the Elian Gonzalez controversy, the Casey Anthony trial and release, the pope’s visit to Cuba, uprisings in Gaza, the rescue of 33 Chilean miners, and the 2011 earthquake in Japan.  

While working for NBC in August 2011, Zumbado filed numerous stories from Afghanistan during the most violent month of U.S. combat operations there; in October he covered the death of Moammar Gaddafi and subsequent liberation celebrations; and in November he again will be reporting on the war in Afghanistan. Zumbado has appeared several times as a guest on Keith Olbermann's Countdown.

For more information, call 901-678-2350 or visit ccfa.memphis.edu