RANDALL PINKSTON 2013 SILVER EM RECIPIENT
By Leah Gibson
A
fter more than 30 years as a correspondent with CBS News, Randall Pinkston has moved to a new venue, freelance reporting as a national correspondent for the Al Jazeera America team. “It’s a lot of fun,” said Pinkston, a native of Yazoo City. “It’s invigorating. “They truly are an international newsgathering operation. None of the networks cover the world the way Al Jazeera does.” Pinkston worked for the network many Americans consider the gold standard in journalism. He produced more than 7,700 reports for CBS NEWS and WCBS-TV, the network’s flagship station in New York City, on topics that ranged from the Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan to the beginning stages of the trial of George Zimmerman for his role in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. His assignments also included a stint as White House correspondent during the last two years of the administration of President George H. W. Bush. The Meek School recognized his professional achievement in 2013.
42 MEEK SCHOOL
Pinkston was presented the Sam Talbert Silver Em Award. “This is the most prestigious honor the Meek School awards journalists who are from the state and/or have worked in the state, and in my instance it’s both,” Pinkston said. When he covered the war in Afghanistan, Pinkston knew he was in danger, but he said he really did not feel it. “For the most part, when you’re covering a story you’re trying to find information,” he said. “You’re trying to find someone, where to do your standup, what to write. … I was just doing the things that a reporter does on a daily basis.” He explained that every now and then they would find themselves in a sticky situation, like the time his crew found themselves in a convoy with an Afghan leader. “I look out of the window of the vehicle we were traveling in, and I see this big gun aimed in our direction,” Pinkston said. “I see these guys … and all of a sudden the gun goes off, BOOM! “I duck, and then the Afghan guys that we have with us began to laugh, and I say, ‘Why are you laughing? They’re shooting at us.’
