Editing Raymond Bonner

{{Short description|American journalist}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Raymond Bonner
| image         = 
| birthname     = 
| birth_date    = 
| birth_place   = [[Jefferson City, Missouri]],  United States
| death_date    = 
| death_place   = 
| occupation    = journalist, author, bookstore owner
| agent         = Gloria Loomis
| notable_works = ''Weakness and Deceit''<br/>
''[[Waltzing with a Dictator]]''<br/>
''At the Hand of Man''<br/>
''Anatomy of Injustice''
| awards        = [[Pulitzer Prize]], 1999; Emmy, 2022, Investigative Documentary, "The Forever Prisoner"
| website       = [http://www.raymondbonner.net/ raymondbonner.net]
}}
'''Raymond Bonner''' is an American lawyer, journalist, author and bookstore owner. He has been a staff writer at ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[The New Yorker]]'' and has contributed to ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''. He received an Emmy for a documentary  he produced with Alex Gibney about the CIA's torture program for 9/11 suspects. He is an owner of a bookstore, Bookoccino, in Sydney, Australia.

==Early life==
Bonner grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, graduating from St. Louis Park High School in 1960. He earned a J.D. degree from [[Stanford University Law School]] in 1967. In 1968 he joined the [[U.S. Marine Corps]], was a Judge Advocate, including a tour in Vietnam. Before taking up journalism, Bonner worked as a staff attorney with [[Ralph Nader]]'s Public Citizen Litigation Group; was the founder and director of the West Coast advocacy office of [[Consumers Union]]; and director of the consumer fraud/white collar crime unit of the [[San Francisco]] District Attorney's office.<ref>[http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/1996/05.02/LyonsAwardGoest.html ''Lyons Award Goes to American Journalist.''] ''The Harvard University Gazette.'' May 2, 1996. Retrieved July 19, 2007.</ref> 

==Legal career==
Prior to his career in journalism, Bonner worked as an attorney with the [[Public Citizen Litigation Group]], the [[Consumers Union]] (establishing its West Coast Advocacy office), and as head of the [[white collar crime]] division of the [[San Francisco District Attorney's Office]].

He taught at the [[University of California, Davis]] School of Law.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Raymond Bonner |url=https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/author/?authorid=2766 |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=Penguin Random House Higher Education}}</ref> He was a founder, along with Trin Ostrander, of the Public Interest Clearing House at Hastings College of Law, which is today One Justice, the state-wide organization providing legal services to the rural poor.

==Journalism career==

===Reporting on El Salvador===
Bonner is best known as one of two journalists (the other being [[Alma Guillermoprieto]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'') who broke the story of the [[El Mozote massacre]], in which some 900 villagers, mostly women, children and elderly, at [[El Mozote]], [[El Salvador]], were slaughtered by the [[Atlácatl Battalion]], a unit of the Salvadoran army in December 1981. A ''[[New York Times]]'' staff reporter at the time, Bonner was smuggled by Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front ([[FMLN]]) rebels to visit the site approximately a month after the massacre took place.

When the ''Post'' and ''Times'' simultaneously broke the story on January 27, 1982, the US government and its allies at the editorial page of the [[Wall Street Journal]] dismissed its central claims as exaggerations. This whitewashing effort was initiated because Bonner's report seriously undermined efforts by the [[Reagan administration]] to bolster the human rights image of the right-wing Salvadoran regime, which the US government was supporting with large amounts of military aid in an effort to destroy the FMLN. The Atlacatl Battalion that perpetrated the massacre was an elite Salvadoran army unit that had been trained in the US at US military bases, and armed and directed by US military advisors operating in El Salvador.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_c8umnadLwkC "A Year of Reckoning: El Salvador a Decade After the Assassination of Archbishop Romero"] Human Rights Watch, 1990, pp. 224-225</ref><ref>[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_multi=PI|&p_product=PHNP&p_theme=phnp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=Title%28HOW%20U.S.%20ADVISERS%20RUN%20THE%20WAR%20IN%20EL%20SALVADOR%29%20AND%20date%28all%29&p_field_advanced-0=title&p_text_advanced-0=%28%22HOW%20U.S.%20ADVISERS%20RUN%20THE%20WAR%20IN%20EL%20SALVADOR%22%29&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no "HOW U.S. ADVISERS RUN THE WAR IN EL SALVADOR"] Philadelphia Inquirer, May 29, 1983</ref><ref>[http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html "LETTER DATED 29 MARCH 1993 FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL"], S/25500, Report of the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador, 1 Apr. 1993</ref> This was part of a larger US effort to conceal from the public the human rights abuses of the Salvadoran regime and its role in supporting it.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/21/world/how-us-actions-helped-hide-salvador-human-rights-abuses.html?pagewanted=all "How U.S. Actions Helped Hide Salvador Human Rights Abuses"] New York Times, March 21, 1993</ref> As a result of the controversy, escalated by the ''Wall Street Journal'', the ''New York Times'' removed Bonner from covering El Salvador and assigned him to the financial desk, and he eventually resigned. Also as a result of the controversy, according to journalists like [[Anthony Lewis]] and [[Michael Massing]] writing in the [[Columbia Journalism Review]], "other newspapers worried about looking soft on Communism and toned down their reporting from El Salvador."<ref>quoting Lewis, {{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/changing-times-the-vindication-of-raymond-bonner/Content?oid=881757|title=Changing Times: The Vindication of Raymond Bonner|author=Michael Miner|date=April 15, 1993|publisher=Chicago Reader|accessdate=28 December 2014}}</ref> A forensic investigation of the massacre site years later confirmed the accuracy of his reporting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/changing-times-the-vindication-of-raymond-bonner/Content?oid=881757|title=Changing Times: The Vindication of Raymond Bonner|author=Michael Miner|date=April 15, 1993|publisher=Chicago Reader|accessdate=28 December 2014}}</ref>
Bonner revisited El Mozote in 20, the subject of a documentary with RetroReport and Frontline. ..As Massacre Survivors Seek Justice, El Salvador Grapples With 1,000 Ghosts, by Retro Report https://www.retroreport.org/video/as-massacre-survivors-seek-justice-el-salvador-grapples-with-1-000-ghosts

===Later work as journalist===
Starting years later, Bonner has written on contract for the ''New York Times'', covering the [[Rwanda genocide]], the [[Bosnian War]], and the [[2002 Bali bombings|two terrorist bombings in Bali]], [[Indonesia]]. He was also a staff writer at ''[[The New Yorker]]'' from 1988 to 1992, writing from [[Peru]], [[Sudan]], Indonesia, [[Kuwait]], and [[Kurdistan]]. From 1988 to 2007, Bonner lived in [[Nairobi]] and then [[Warsaw]], [[Vienna]], and [[Jakarta]].

Since 2007, he has written book reviews, principally about international security, for ''The New York Times'', ''[[The Economist]]'', ''[[The Australian]]'', ''[[The National Interest]]'' and ''[[The Guardian]]''. He has also been a regular contributor to ProPublica and the atlantic.com
 
In 2018, Bonner purchased a Bookoccino, a bookstore in Avalon Beach, Australia, about an hour north of Sydney, which was on the verge of closing. He was joined in the venture by Sally Tabner, a local bibliophile. Under their ownership, Bookoccino has become a favourite coffee shop for the community, and drawing international lovers of books and ideas. Its events have become legendary, attracting some of the biggest names in literature, politics, and journalism, along with public intellectuals -- Geoffrey Robertson; Richard Flanagan; Geraldine Brooks; Lionel Shriver; Julia Baird; Richard Fidler; Ben Quilty; Leigh Sales; Mike Cannon-Brookes; Jill Abramson; David Sanger; Kathy Lette; Kate Legge; Samantha Power; Richard McGregor; Hugh White. (www.bookoccino.com.au)

===Illegal surveillance by FBI===
In 2008 the ''Washington Post'' reported that Bonner had been one of the four journalists whose telephone call records had been illegally obtained by the [[FBI]] between 2002 and 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/08/AR2008080803603.html|title=FBI Apologizes to Post, Times|work=Washingtonpost.com|accessdate=21 December 2014}}</ref> During that time Bonner had been based in Jakarta, Indonesia, filing reports on detainee abuse and illegal surveillance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/fbi-j20.shtml|title=FBI illegally obtained thousands of phone records - World Socialist Web Site|author=Andre Damon|date=20 January 2010|publisher=Wsws.org|accessdate=21 December 2014}}</ref>

==Pro bono work==
Bonner is the co-founder of OneJustice (formerly Public Interest Clearinghouse), an organization that expands the availability of legal services for Californians in need through innovative partnerships with nonprofits, law schools, and the private sector.<ref name="Atlantic website">{{cite web |title=Raymond Bonner |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/raymond-bonner#bio |accessdate=21 December 2014 |work=The Atlantic}}</ref>

==Awards==

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, 2022, Outstanding Investigative Documentary, "the Forever Prisoner."

* '''[[Robert F. Kennedy Book Award]]''' (1985)
::for ''Weakness and Deceit: U.S. Policy and El Salvador''.<ref> [https://archive.today/20201013015007/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/03/books/raymond-bonner-wins-kennedy-award.html "Raymond Bonner Wins Kennedy Award."] ''[[The New York Times]]'', May 3, 1985, p. C28. Archived from [https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/03/books/raymond-bonner-wins-kennedy-award/ the original.]</ref>
* '''[[Overseas Press Club Award]]''' (1994)
::for coverage of [[Rwanda]].
* '''[[Louis M. Lyons Award|Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism]]''' (1996)
::Awarded by the [[Nieman Foundation for Journalism]] at [[Harvard University]] for "passionate, principled journalism ... in Central America, the [[Philippines]], Central Europe and Africa." 
* '''[[Pulitzer Prize]]''' (1999) 
::Team award while with ''The New York Times''.<ref>[https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staff-45 The 1999 Pulitzer Prize Winner in National Reporting: "Staff of ''The New York Times'', notably Jeff Gerth]." ''The Pulitzer Prizes''. Archived from [https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staff-45 the original.]</ref>
* '''[[Cornelius Ryan Award]]''' (1988)<ref>"Gannett News Service Wins Top Overseas Press Club Award." ''[[The Associated Press]]'', April 19, 1988. Archived from [https://apnews.com/article/d6fa45986827318df06d3850abda01e4 the original].
:"The Cornelius Ryan Award for best book on foreign affairs: Raymond Bonner, Times Books, for ''Waltzing With a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy''." </ref>
::Awarded by the [[Overseas Press Club]] for his book, ''Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy''.
* '''[[The Hillman Prize]]''' (1987)
::Awarded by [[The Sidney Hillman Foundation]] for his book, ''Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy''.
* '''[[Edward R. Murrow Award (Radio Television Digital News Association)|RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award]]''' (2015)
::for "A Search for Justice."<ref>Wilson, Sianne. [http://www.retroreport.org/video/a-search-for-justice/ A Search for Justice]. ''[[Retro Report]]''. Accessed December 15, 2016.</ref>

'''Nominations'''
* '''[[Pulitzer Prize]]''' (2001)
:: Nominated by ''[[The New York Times]]'' for coverage of the [[death penalty]] with Sara Rimer.

==Books==
* [https://archive.org/details/weaknessdeceitus00bonnrich ''Weakness and Deceit: U.S. Policy and El Salvador'']. New York: [[Times Books]], 1984. {{ISBN|978-0812911084}}.
* ''[[Waltzing with a Dictator|Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy]]''. New York: [[Times Books]], 1987. {{ISBN|978-0333457641}}.<ref>[[Donald S. Zagoria|Zagoria, Donald S.]] [https://archive.org/download/review-by-donald-s.-zagoria-foreign-affairs-vol.-66-no.-1-fall-1987-p.-205/Review%20by%20Donald%20S.%20Zagoria%20%28Foreign%20Affairs%2C%20Vol.%2066%2C%20No.%201%2C%20Fall%201987%29%20p.%20205.pdf Review of ''Waltzing with a Dictator: The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy'', by Raymond Bonner]. ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', Vol. 66, No. 1, Fall 1987, p. 205. Archived from [https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/1987-09-01/waltzing-dictator-marcoses-and-making-american-policy-rebuilding the original].</ref>
* [https://archive.org/details/athandofmanperil00bonn ''At the Hand of Man: Peril and Hope for Africa's Wildlife'']. New York: [[Knopf]], 1993. {{ISBN|978-0679400080}}.
* [https://archive.org/details/anatomyofinjusti0000bonn ''Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong'']. New York: [[Knopf]], 2012. {{ISBN|978-0307700216}}.

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120316053831/http://www.raymondbonner.net/ Raymond Bonner's website]
* [https://www.c-span.org/person/?raymondbonner Appearances] on [[C-SPAN]]
* [http://www.one-justice.org OneJustice], which Bonner co-founded
* [https://www.nytimes.com/by/raymond-bonner Articles by Bonner] at [[The New York Times]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonner, Raymond}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American war correspondents]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:International Herald Tribune people]]
[[Category:MacMurray College alumni]]
[[Category:Stanford Law School alumni]]
[[Category:The New York Times journalists]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:UC Davis School of Law faculty]]