Terrell Jermaine Starr: Our Man in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has highlighted one of the most entrenched challenges in contemporary global journalism: the lack of diversity in foreign correspondence. War and conflict reporters shape our perceptions of the fundamental contours of any conflict: accountability, root political drivers, historical context, wider geopolitics, and the nature of civilian suffering. Please join Global Journalism and the Jordan Center for a conversation with Terrell Germaine Starr, independent journalist and founder of the Black Diplomats podcast, Jessica Pisano, Professor of Politics at the New School, and Azadeh Moaveni, Associate Professor of Journalism, as they discuss Starr’s reporting from Ukraine and the interplay of foreign policy, race, and politics in global reporting today.
Terrell Germaine Starr is a Brooklyn based foreign affairs reporter with over sixteen years of experience. He has covered U.S. domestic politics, racism, Eastern European affairs, among other topics, all with an emphasis on making news relatable to his audience. Terrell is the host of “Black Diplomats,” a podcast aimed at amplifying underrepresented voices in foreign policy, with a focus on Black and non-white experts. He has held significant roles as a national political correspondent at FUSION during the 2016 presidential campaign and later at The Root from 2017 to 2021. Terrell’s journalistic journey also includes substantial on-the-ground reporting, particularly during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, for major television networks such as CNN, MSNBC, and Al Jazeera.
Jessica Pisano is a scholar of contemporary and twentieth century politics in Eastern Europe, with an emphasis on Ukraine and Russia. She is currently a professor of Politics at the New School for Social Research in New York City as well as a trustee of the Kharkiv Karazin University Foundation in Ukraine. She is the author of Staging Democracy: Political Performance in Ukraine, Russia, and Beyond and The Post-Soviet Potemkin Village: Politics and Property Rights in the Black Earth.
Azadeh Moaveni is a writer and journalist who has covered women’s rights and women’s participation in conflict for over two decades. She directs the Global Journalism program at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU, and is the author of Lipstick Jihad and Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS. Last year she reported on the exodus of Ukrainian refugees into Europe for the London Review of Books.