About
Steven L Herman was the White House bureau and subsequently chief national correspondent of the Voice of America. He is now the executive director of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy & Innovation and an assistant professor of practice in the School of Journalism & New Media at the University of Mississippi.
Steve spent more than a quarter of a century in Asia, including years of reporting from Tokyo and subsequently as a VOA correspondent and bureau chief in India, South Korea and Thailand. Steve also served in 2016 as VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, based at the State Department and traveling to numerous countries with Secretary of State John Kerry. He has now covered in the field three consecutive U.S. presidential elections.
Steve was one of 18 journalists from around the world who composed the Kiplinger Fellowship in Climate Change Reporting. He was the 2022-23 JURIST Journalist in Residence (headquartered at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law) and is now on the board of directors of the award-winning non-profit news service mostly run by law students.
Steve was a First Cohort of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. He is also a East West Center media alumnus.
Among the major news stories Steve has covered on scene over the decades include the Baneberry nuclear federal court trial (1979), MGM Grand Hotel fire (1980), Thai April Fool's coup (1981), Squeaky Fromme's prison escape (1987), the Kobe earthquake (1995), the Tokyo subway sarin attack (1995), handover of Hong Kong (1997), end of the Sri Lanka civil war (2009), the Fukushima nuclear disaster (2011), Typhoon Haiyan (2013), Thai coup (2014), the Erawan Shrine bombing (2015) and the Gorkha earthquake (2015).
Steve has reported from dozens of other countries and territories, including Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, Colombia, England, Fiji, Finland, the Gaza Strip, Guam, Israel, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Macau, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, North Korea, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Saipan, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Steve has been one of the most active Washington journalists on social media with more than 350,000 followers on various platforms.
Steve appears frequently on such networks and channels as the ABC (Australia), ABS-CBN News (Philippines), Arirang TV (South Korea), BBC, Buckmaster Show (KVOI Tucson), CBC, CBS, Channels TV (Nigeria), Citi FM (Ghana), CNN, Euronews, KBS Radio (Korea), Money FM 89.3 (Singapore), MSNBC, NBS (Uganda), Newzroom Afrika (South Africa), NewstalkZB (New Zealand), Radio New Zealand, RTHK Radio 3, tbs Efm (Seoul), Times Radio (UK), TRT World (Turkey), TVC News (Nigeria), TV Romania and numerous TV news channels in India, including CNBC TV18, CNN-News18, Doordarshan, India Ahead, India Today, NewsX, Republic TV, Times Now and World Is One News. He also was featured prominently in a 60 Minutes (CBS) segment about the silencing of the Voice of America.
His articles, columns and reviews have been published in numerous newspapers and magazines including the Far Eastern Economic Review, Foreign Service Journal, Harvard Summer Review, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Japan Quarterly, Japan Times, On the Air, Popular Communications, Proceedings (U.S. Naval Institute), Radio World, Shukan Bunshun, Shukan Gendai, South China Morning Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Steve has given presentations on such subjects as geo-politics, broadcast journalism and news literacy at numerous universities, media organizations and other institutions, including in Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. Recent guest lecture appearances have included classes at Claremont McKenna College, Fordham University, National Intelligence University, Ohio State University School of Communication, OLLI/George Mason University, Seattle Central College, University of Mary Washington and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
In addition to years of reporting for AP, including as the wire service's state broadcast editor in West Virginia, Steve's career has also included stints as a media executive in Asia, launching Discovery Channel and Animal Planet in Japan. He was an executive producer of the 2004 documentary The History of America's Secret Casinos.
Steve is a life member of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, of which he was elected president for the 1997-98 term. He also served as president of the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club and the Japan-America Club of The American University. Steve was previously on the board of governors of the Overseas Press Club of America.
Steve served for eight years on the board of governors of the American Foreign Service Association and was vice president for broadcast of the DC chapter of AAJA. He is currently on the board of governors of the National Press Club and is also a member of the SAJA, SPJ and the WHCA.
A native of Cincinnati, Steve began his media career in Las Vegas before moving to Asia.
A lifelong learner who completed undergraduate or graduate level coursework at UNLV, The New School, University of Bath and the Harvard Extension School, Steve earned a B.A. at Thomas Edison State University, an M.A. in Public Diplomacy from Mountain State University and was awarded a journalist fellowship by the LMU Loyola Law School.
Featured Work
Behind the White House Curtain: A Senior Journalist’s Story of Covering the President―and Why It Matters
Going behind the scenes with a veteran member of the White House press corps
Steven L Herman, chief national correspondent for the nonpartisan, government-funded Voice of America (VOA), weaves together memoir and history to pull back the curtain on the inner workings of the White House press corps, giving readers a rare glimpse into the historic and current relationship between the president and the press.
Other Works
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Bhutan in Color 2007: A Himalayan Kingdom through the Lens of an American Journalist
2007
Press and Media Mentions
- Behind the scenes in the White House: Author tells tale of covering presidents - The Columbus Dispatch
- MSNBC - Voice of America journalist speaks out as China and Russia celebrate Trump silencing news outlet
- The New Republic - Trump’s Crackdown on This Key Agency Is His Most Chilling Yet
- The Desk - Voice of America places top correspondent Steve Herman on leave over social media posts
- CBS 60 Minutes Overtime - The History of the Voice of America
- CBS 60 Minutes - Voice of America journalists speak out after Trump administration shuts down network
- #NYTReadalong | Steven Herman
- ‘Red carpet’ president: Veteran journalist’s lessons from four years of covering Donald Trump - The Straits Times
- What was it like covering the Trump and Biden administrations? - It's All Journalism podcast
- Former White House correspondent takes readers “Behind the White House Curtain” - The Buckmaster Show (KVOI)
- Reporter says he thrived in chaos of covering the president - National Press Club
- Steve Herman interview on ABC's (Australia) 'The World'
- Steve Herman on C-SPAN Book TV
- Steven L. Herman: Behind the Scenes & Untold Stories from the White House - Some Things Considered podcast
- Staying scrupulously neutral - Columbia Journalism Review
- CBC News Network's Andrew Nichols talks with Steve Herman
- 'On the front line of reporting' - The Northern Virginia Daily
- Wheels Up - No. 1 Shimbun (FCCJ)
- Behind the White House Curtain with Steve Herman - Democracy Nerd podcast
- Behind the White House Curtain - American Diplomat podcast
- VOA’s Steve Herman takes readers ‘Behind the White House Curtain’ - WVXU
- Uncovering covering the White House - Texas Public Radio
- Foreword reviews 'Behind the White House Curtain'
