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Military Veterans in Journalism was founded in 2019 by U.S. Marine Corps veteran Russell Midori and U.S. Navy veteran Zack Baddorf.

Clyde Gunter

Team Member

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).

Devon Lancia

Partnerships Manager

Devon Lancia is an Army brat from Savannah, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Florida with a B.A. in Classical Studies in 2015. She has spent much of her life volunteering with veterans' organizations to make a difference in veterans' lives.

Drew F. Lawrence

Sword & Pen Host

Drew Lawrence is an Army veteran, reporter, and producer of Military.com's Fire Watch podcast. He is a graduate of The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, where he studied journalism. He hails from Massachusetts and is a proud New England sports fan.

Lori King

Sword & Pen Host

Lori King is a retired military journalist, with 18 years of service in the Active Army and Army National Guard and three years in the Air National Guard. She retired from the 180th Fighter Wing (Toledo, Ohio) in 2000. She is also a retired Toledo Blade newspaper photojournalist, hanging up her cameras in August 2021 after 26 years.

King is currently an adjunct multimedia/media writing instructor at three universities: Kent State University (Ohio), University of Toledo (Ohio) and Wayne State University (Detroit).

She is also the host/producer of our podcast Sword & Pen and of the Ohio News Photographer Association’s The Buckeye Visualist podcast.

King is a graduate of DINFOS and has a B.S. in photojournalism and an M.A. in journalism education from Kent State University.

Marcy Bach

Membership Coordinator

I’m a native New Yorker where I worked for a nonprofit community agency in Brooklyn for over 11 years as a UPK teacher and later as Family Service Coordinator.
During my time there I earned a Family Development Credential from the University of Connecticut.
Two years ago, I married my husband, who is an Army veteran and we relocated to sunny Florida. I continued my focus in community services working at a foster agency for the Department of Family and Children services.
With the firm belief of the importance of giving back to the community, I currently volunteer at our local hospital. My husband and I also enjoy taking time to discover new places in Florida.

Rich Dolan

Program Manager

Rich Dolan is a former U.S. Army infantry officer who served on active duty for just over six years. During that time he served in various leadership positions and deployed twice to Afghanistan. Rich exited active duty and joined the National Guard in 2020 where he now serves as a Platoon Training Officer at New York State Officer Candidate School. Rakkasan!

Rich enjoys freelance writing and has been published in The Points Guy, Military Times, U.S. Veterans Magazine and the Maneuver Center of Excellence Donovan Research Library on a variety of topics.

Russell Midori

President / Founder

Russell Midori spends his days driving a news truck around New York City - shooting and editing stories for broadcast on WPIX Channel 11 - and his nights connecting veterans with journalism mentors. He 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 has produced prime-time documentaries, features, and breaking news for CBS News in Iraq, Kurdistan, Korea, India, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and all around the U.S. He worked as a cinematographer and researcher for VICE News on HBO, and he has produced independent investigative documentaries in Haiti, Standing Rock, and New York City.

Midori used the post-9/11 GI Bill to earn a master’s degree in investigative journalism from Columbia University, and is the recipient of an Emmy award, an Overseas Press Club Foundation 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.

Sara Feges

Operations Manager

Sara Feges is a native of Slovenia, a small country in Central Europe. She moved to the United
States with her husband in 2017 and now lives in Texas, San Antonio. She earned a Bachelor's
degree in Business Administration in 2015 and wrote her thesis on Media and Politics in the
United States of America. Since then she worked in Sales Operations and Event Management.
Mother of two boys enjoys spending time with her family, taking walks in nature and reading.

Zack Baddorf

Executive Director / Founder

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 worked as director of video 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.

Email me at [email protected] .