{{Short description|English journalist (born 1987)}} {{Infobox person | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|4|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Hereford, England | alma_mater = Durham University | occupation = | employer = | years_active = 2010–present }} '''Ruth Sherlock''' (born 28 April 1987)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lippman |first=Daniel |date=2017-04-28 |title=BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Ruth Sherlock, U.S. Editor for the Daily Telegraph and former Middle East correspondent |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/28/playbook-birthday-ruth-sherlock-237730 |website=Politico}}</ref> is an English journalist. She is currently an international correspondent for NPR.
==Early life and education== Sherlock is from Hereford and grew up in King's Thorn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.muchbirchparish.org.uk/docs/news_newsletters/2012/ktn_1205.pdf|title=Local News|work=Newsletter for King's Thorn, The Birches & Aconbury|date=May 2012|accessdate=7 November 2024|p=2}}</ref> She is of partial Italian descent.<ref name=":0" /> She attended the Hereford Waldorf School and completed her A Levels at Hereford Sixth Form College.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/5717828.ruths-living-her-american-dream/|title=Ruth's living her American dream|work=Hereford Times|date=20 February 2006|accessdate=7 November 2024}}</ref> After taking a gap year, she went on to study at Durham University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/university-front-line-arab-spring/|title=From university to the front line of the Arab Spring|work=Press Gazette|date=23 October 2012|accessdate=7 November 2024}}</ref> During her undergraduate studies she received a travel award from Hatfield College that allowed her to visit the Middle East for work experience and complete a course in Arabic.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Director of Hatfield Trust's Business |journal=Hatfield Record |date=2015 |page=152 |url=https://hatfield-association.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Hatfield-Record-2015-Redacted-Copy.pdf |access-date=14 November 2024 |publisher=Hatfield College, Durham}}</ref>
== Career == Sherlock began her journalistic career as a freelancer, and has spoken on the importance of building community with locals when working as an on the ground freelancer.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Helena |title=How to become a freelance foreign correspondent |url=https://www.frontlineclub.com/how_to_become_a_freelance_foreign_correspondent/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Frontline Club |language=en}}</ref> She was working in the West Bank and Israel when she received word of unrest in Egypt. She traveled to Cairo, and reported from there on the 2011 Egyptian revolution before moving on to cover Libya's civil war.<ref name=":0" /> Her work in Libya was her first time working in a conflict zone. During her time in Libya, she filed stories with the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''The Sunday Times.''<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Topol |first=Sarah A. |date=2012-10-08 |title=Young And Broke On The Frontlines |url=https://www.newsweek.com/rookie-freelancers-risking-their-lives-cover-arab-spring-65383 |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> She also collaborated with Zoe Lafferty and Paul Wood on the 2012 play ''The Fear of Breathing: Stories from the Syrian Revolution''. The trio clandestinely traveled to Syria to conduct interviews and collect research.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/japan/article/Zoe-Lafferty-PresentsThe-Fear-of-Breathing-Stories-from-the-Syrian-Revolution-1111-20130909|title=Zoe Lafferty Presents: The Fear of Breathing – Stories from the Syrian Revolution, 11/11|work=BroadwayWorld|first=Arielle|last=Ozery|date=9 September 2023|accessdate=15 August 2025}}</ref>
In 2012, she won The Press Awards' Young Journalist of the Year award<ref name=":2" /> and was hired by ''The Daily Telegraph''<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> as their Middle East Correspondent.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Ruth Sherlock |url=https://www.npr.org/people/576542412/ruth-sherlock |website=NPR}}</ref> While working for ''The Daily Telegraph'', Sherlock covered the Syrian civil war. She reported on the Queiq River Massacre in January 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wallace |first=Vaughn |date=2013-01-29 |title=Behind the Picture: Aleppo’s River of Death |url=https://time.com/3796316/behind-the-picture-aleppos-river-of-death/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> She met American aid worker Kayla Mueller in 2013, and followed her work up until Mueller was kidnapped by the Islamic State in August 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKinnon |first=Shaun |title=How family, community kept Mueller's capture a secret |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/10/family-kept-kayla-mueller-capture-secret/23171661/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2014, Sherlock survived an attempted kidnapping herself while working in Yabrud.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Darrach |first=Amanda |title=The reporter seeking shades of gray in the Islamic State |url=https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/ruth-sherlock-isis-syria-npr-islamic-state.php |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}</ref>
In early 2015, Sherlock was made a U.S. editor for ''The Daily Telegraph''. During her time that position, she covered the 2016 presidential election.<ref name=":3" />
By 2019, Sherlock was working as an international correspondent for NPR. Her work with NPR has included covering stories relating to the Islamic State, and specifically relating to the women and children left behind by the group.<ref name=":4" />
In 2019, Sherlock's reporting was used for the short series "How it Ends" on NPR podcast ''Embedded''. The short series covered four families searching for members who had joined the Islamic State.<ref name=":4" /> The series was shortlisted for the Livingston Award in 2020.<ref name=":3" />
== Personal life == Sherlock lived in Beirut up until 2023, but is now based in Rome. <ref name=":4" />
== Awards ==
* 2012 The Press Awards, Young Journalist of the Year<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Urquhart |first=Conal |date=2012-03-21 |title=Guardian wins Scoop of the Year at Press awards |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/21/guardian-scoop-of-the-year-press-awards |access-date=2024-10-30 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> * 2014 British Journalism Awards (shortlisted), for coverage of chemical weapons use by the Syrian regime<ref name=":3" /> * 2020 Livingston Award (shortlisted), for "How it Ends" on ''Embedded''<ref name=":3" /> * 2024 Hard News Edward R. Murrow Award (Radio Television Digital News Association), shared with Awadh Altaie, Ahmed Qusay, and Larry Kaplow, for the story "20 Years after Abu Ghraib"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-15 |title=NPR wins 8 Edward R. Murrow Awards |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-extra/2024/08/15/g-s1-17200/npr-wins-8-edward-r-murrow-awards |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=NPR}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherlock, Ruth}} Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century English women journalists Category:21st-century English journalists Category:British women war correspondents Category:English people of Italian descent Category:English war correspondents Category:The Daily Telegraph people Category:NPR people Category:People from Hereford Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham