Military Veterans in Journalism was founded in 2019 by U.S. Marine Corps veteran Russell Midori and U.S. Navy veteran Zack Baddorf.
Team
I’m a journalist and filmmaker with more than 15 years of experience producing award-winning stories from more than 30 countries, including Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the West Bank, and Kashmir, as well as rebel-held territory in Sri Lanka and Burma.
My work has been published by the New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters, AP, The Guardian, CBS, ABC, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Newsweek, VICE, RYOT, Al Jazeera English, and other publications in video, radio, photo, and print formats. My videos on social media alone have more than 30 million views.
While based in the Central African Republic, I broke the news of the American military ending its mission against the Lord’s Resistance Army. My in-depth reporting on the Syrian town of Moadamiyah contributed to humanitarian access being granted to besieged people there. Weeks before Russian troops invaded Crimea, my reporting from the peninsula highlighted its political importance in the conflict.
I work as a video producer for the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, crafting anti-ISIS videos. For a year in Afghanistan, I worked on rural, remote bases for the U.S. Special Operations Command as a civilian videographer, alongside Green Berets, Navy SEALs and Afghan security forces.
I have also worked as an adjunct professor at New York University and New York Film Academy, teaching public relations and broadcast journalism. I've got a master of fine arts degree in documentary studies, a master of arts degree in international relations, another master’s in public relations and a bachelor's in journalism.
Babee Garcia is an award-winning multimedia journalist with experience in print, digital, and broadcast television reporting. She has covered a wide range of stories involving LGBTQ+ rights, politics, body image acceptance, and military-related issues.
She used the post 9/11 GI Bill to earn a bachelor's degree in journalism at Montclair State University and completed the certificate program at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. She is now working towards her master's in Communication and Media Studies with a concentration in digital media at Rutgers University.
During spring break 2018, she traveled to Puerto Rico with student and faculty journalists to document recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria impacted the island. Her mini-documentary ``Meals with Love`` was featured for the special half-hour edition of ``Montclair News Lab: Hurricane Recovery Mission to Puerto Rico.`` She and her team earned prestigious awards, including a collegiate Emmy from the Television Academy Foundation, Bricker Humanitarian Award, and a student Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Video Reporting from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA).
Babee served on active-duty in the Marine Corps from 2013- 2016 as an Aviation Supply Specialist in MCAS New River, NC.
Clyde Gunter is a United States sailor turned multimedia journalist who is currently completing his studies in Documentary Filmmaking at The New York Film Academy. Clyde served on active duty in the United States Navy from 2013 - 2018 as an Operations Specialist. He initially served three years in Sasebo, Japan, where he deployed with two amphibious warfare ships as his department's career counselor. Then he concluded his final two years of service in San Diego, California on board the guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73). During his enlistment, in a matter of two years, Clyde was promoted from the apprentice ranking of E1 to the supervisory ranking of E5 for his exemplary performance along with several recommendations from his senior officials. As a result of his tenacious work ethic paired with heavily-praised leadership abilities, he is a two-time recipient of The Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2016, 2017) as well as the Humanitarian Service Medal (2014).
Russell Midori has worked in multimedia production for ten years, both as a freelancer and on newsroom staffs. He has held a staff position as a journalist and cinematographer for CBS News network since 2017, traveling overseas and around North America to produce breaking news, character-driven features and the occasional long-form broadcast. He relies on his documentary background to influence storytelling on CBS This Morning, Evening News, 48 Hours, and CBS Sunday Morning.
Russell is an Overseas Press Club Foundation board member, a frequent guest lecturer at colleges and universities, and he volunteers as an alumni mentor for students in the Brooklyn College Radio and Television department.
He used the post-9/11 GI Bill to earn a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Brooklyn College and a dual master’s degree in investigative journalism and documentary production from Columbia University. He has done field work in Iraq, Kurdistan, Korea, India, Mexico, Haiti and Standing Rock. He produced several segments for an Emmy-winning broadcast, and received an OPC award and a Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
He served on active-duty in the Marine Corps from 2008 - 2012, and was twice named an honor graduate of courses at the Defense Information School. During his enlistment he held the rank of sergeant and served as the NCOIC of the Parris Island Public Affairs Office. In 2014 he did a six-month tour at Marine Forces Europe and Africa as a reservist, working as the director of photography and editor for Marine Corps video content shot across both continents.