Paula Schmitt

Brazilian
paulaschmitt@gmail.com
Latest TV stand-up and editing work here, demonstrations in Spain,
for RT:
http://rt.com/news/protest-austerity-cuts-spain-653/
Recent writing samples:
An effective mechanism to improve the world, one penny at a time.
http://972mag.com/a-proposal-a-simple-effective-mechanism-toimprove-the-world-one-penny-at-a-time/89072/
Article on the Herzliya counter-terrorism conference and interview
with ex-head of Mossad:
http://972mag.com/109-definitions-of-terrorism/
A story on Palestinian refugees and the right of return
http://972mag.com/sentenced-to-life-at-birth-what-do-palestinianrefugees-want/86902/
Interview with Leila Khaled, the TWA hijacker (N.B. The heavy
deletion in this particular piece took its rhythm away.)
http://972mag.com/interview-with-leila-khaled-bds-is-effective-butit-doesnt-liberate-land/91000/

News producer (shooting, editing, script-writing, broadcasting);

news editor; expert at Avid, LiveU; political analyst, TV
correspondent, reporter, writer, author of book on Lebanese and
Middle Eastern politics and the novel Eudemonia. Review by Gary
Kamiya here: http://www.amazon.com/Eudemoniaebook/dp/B006E5JI0S

Fields: Most fields that do not involve obscure trigonometry;

Brazilian and Latin American affairs, Middle East politics, political
analysis, quantum physics, entertainment, features.
Only Latin American journalist to interview with exclusivity
Hezbollahs secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, and one of the ten
best international TV correspondents in Brazil according to Prmio
Imprensa 2006, a news award voted by peers; winner of the
country-wide Premio Nacional Radio Bandeirantes with best radio
news feature; author of Advertised to Death Lebanese Poster
Boys.

Languages:
Portuguese (mother tongue)
English (proficient, second language)
Arabic, colloquial (good)
Spanish (very good)
French (reading and speaking)
Italian (reading and speaking)

Employment history:
Translator and editor of the Portuguese version of Before Their
Diaspora for the Institute for Palestine Studies in Washington, May
to October 2014.
News producer, writer and director for Ruptly, Berlin. From January
to February 2013
Radio France Internationale correspondent in Beirut, from July
2006 to 2011;
Articles published in Rolling Stone magazine, Middle East Trends,
Vogue, Executive Magazine, 972Mag; photos published in several
news outlets, including the Financial Times and Rolling Stone;
videos broadcast worldwide through RT news agency;
Middle East TV correspondent for SBT, the second-largest TV
network in Brazil, from August 2005 to 2008, when the Middle East
desk was closed;
Middle East radio correspondent for Radio France Internationale in
Lebanon (from 2006 to 2009) and then RFIs correspondent in
Rome (2009 to 2011);

Middle East TV correspondent for TV Gazeta, from December 2004

to July 2005;
Researcher and Project Coordinator for documentary series
Walking the Edge, National Geographic;
Writer on Lebanese and Middle Eastern economy and politics for
Executive Magazine, from January 2002 to October 2003;
Stringer in Beirut and Cairo for Folha de S.Paulo, the best-selling
newspaper in Latin America, from 1999 until July 2003;
Executive Director and Chief Editor of Pharaohs Magazine,
business and politics monthly magazine published in Egypt; Senior
Editor and Content Developer of Middle Eastern website bayt.com,
based in Dubai with offices in Cairo, New York and Jeddah; Author
of the weekly column Brazil This Week, published on the internet
by O Estado de S.Paulo, the oldest national newspaper in Brazil
and, according to Columbia University, one of the 20 best dailies in
the world; Special Reporter for Jornal da Tarde Sao Paulo 1998,
and author of what was said to be the years biggest political scoop
(the scoop became a topic covered in every national newspaper and
was as popular as to feature in two comedy programs); International
radio reporter and editor of the entertainment news for Radio
Bandeirantes, the largest news radio in Brazil; Author of the weekly
column Elections on Line for Folha de S.Paulo; Director and
producer of the first political debate on the internet with the major
candidates for Sao Paulos mayoralty for Folha de S.Paulo; Reporter
for Dinheiro Vivo, then the most subscribed-to news agency on
finance, investment and financial legislation; First student in the
history of the oldest Brazilian national newspaper, O Estado de
S.Paulo, to ever write on its op page.

Education:
Masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic, American
University of Beirut, Lebanon;
BA in Journalism from Casper Libero, the first University of
Journalism founded in Brazil (in Brazil, a BA in Journalism was
until recently compulsory for journalists);
Other courses on History of Art, Politics, Economics, Philosophy,
Law, New Journalism, Arabic, Photography.
Etc.

Professional highlights:

Author of Advertised to Death Lebanese Poster Boys, a book on

Lebanese politics, religion and philosophy, for over eight
consecutive months on the best-selling list of Virgin Megastore
Beirut;
In 2003 got first exclusive interview ever given to a Latin American
journalist with Hezbollahs Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah;
Author of what has been deemed by some journalists the biggest
scoop in the 1998s elections in Sao Paulo, a 12-day investigation
which took ex-governor Paulo Maluf to the police precinct and thus
helped ruin his campaign for the 1998 elections (further information
upon request);
In 1995, while studying in London, got the first exclusive interview
for a Brazilian newspaper with writer Salman Rushdie.
In 1998, one of 25 Latin American journalists chosen to work in
Gabriel Garcia Marquezs Taller de Nuevo Periodismo in Buenos
Aires;
In 1997, winner of the Radio Bandeirantes National Award for her
report on drug-trafficking and corruption inside Carandiru, the
biggest prison in Latin America; the first journalist ever to be
allowed inside the high-security cells known as seguro, where
prisoners have no sunlight for up to eight months (despite
legislation forbidding incarceration in those cells for more than 20
days).

Other skills
Professional photographer with pictures published in several
publications, including The Financial Times, Rolling Stone, Vogue.
Proficient knowledge of most professional Sony movie cameras.
Excellent research capabilities and able to beat almost anyone at
searching the web for accurate, well-sourced, verified information
(FAS.org over DebkaFile; Jstor over American Scientist; peerreviewed journals over Wikipedia). Also a reasonably good chess
player, and a brown-belt karate fighter (shotokan), as well as a
certified open-water diver. Volunteering work since teen years,
mostly for the homeless but also for the blind and the handicap
through New York Cares and for Palestinian refugees in Jordan.
Etc.