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NABJ's "Emerging Journalist" Is Eager for More

By Titus Ledbetter III
Black College Wire

On duty in Iraq, Theola Labbé said, her role was to show readers what she saw and to be their ears.

When Theola Labbé, the 2004 NABJ Emerging Journalist of the Year, was preparing to cover the war in Iraq for the Washington Post, her colleagues talked to her about the culture and the language and the perceptions of Americans overseas.

They didn't mention race.

She was the only African American daily newspaper reporter in Iraq for 3 1/2 months, from Aug. 1, 2003, to a few days before Thanksgiving. (Hannah Allam, also African American, covered Iraq for Knight Ridder’s news service.)

Before she arrived in Iraq, Labbé didn't know some Iraqis had African ancestry. Once there, she wrote a front-page story, "Iraqis of African Descent Are a Largely Overlooked Link to Slavery," which examined the history of African slaves in Iraq and the experiences of present-day Afro-Iraqis.

During the 2004 Unity convention, Labbé planned to address high school students on journalism. She receives the NABJ Emerging Journalist of the Year award on Oct. 9, at an awards ceremony in Washington. The honor is given to an outstanding journalist with less than five years in the industry, excluding internships. Labbe, who is in her fourth year, now covers social services for the city desk at the Post.

Kevin Merida, a Post associate editor and a past NABJ Journalist of the Year, said he was was "elated" when he learned that Labbé would receive the honor.

"She really distinguished herself in Iraq, and she is the perfect candidate for that award. It's nice to get an honor on your way up," he said.

Merida said that Labbé is inspiring because she is eager.

He also said he believes that there is a shortage of young, aspiring journalists, and said Labbé's Iraq coverage was a transitional moment for her.

"At a time when we are not seeing as many people as we want to pursue our craft, it's nice to see someone so enthusiastic about what journalism can do and the power it has," Merida said.

Although Labbé was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., her parents immigrated from Haiti, a country Labbé says is filled with a lot of joy and hardships.

Her background prepared her for the journey to Iraq.

She said she wants to encourage other young black journalists to consider working abroad. She said she is concerned that some might feel they wouldn't be accepted.

"There are few African Americans in journalism and even fewer who go overseas. The surprise for me, and something that needs to be shared, is we actually travel well," Labbé said.

One could say that Labbé is well-traveled. She went to Japan for a summer after taking only one year of introductory Japanese. In Mexico, Labbé volunteered in an orphanage, even though she hadn't spoken Spanish in nine years. She did not know the native language in Iraq and relied on a translator.

At the Post, Labbé is known as a reporter who loves to venture out of the office and rush right to the scene.

"I'm absolutely restless," Labbé said. "I'm just real interested in people: who they are, where they come from, the stories that make up their lives. I feel alive if I'm walking and talking to people."

Merida said that Labbé's desire to cover events has given her an advantage.

"What has happened is it has given her the best commodity you can have," Merida said. "It's given her confidence. The truth is a lot of us are nervous or scared, and you don't know you can do it until you have done it."

Merida has also been a big advocate for Labbé at the Post.

"I tease her that every time I see her she has a new hairstyle. It all looks good," Merida said. "She is a very hip person. You can't help but to like her: she has a very infectious personality."

A defining moment in her career was at a job fair at the 1999 convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. She sat down with Milton Coleman, now deputy managing editor of the Post, and he was impressed with the way Labbé approached her stories.

"So much of journalism is your thinking and your approach and how you attack the story," she said.

The journey from that convention to Emerging Journalist of the Year took only five years.

"It always helps to have people in the crowd cheering for you and I guess that's what this award feels like," Labbé said.

One of Labbé's biggest stories, "Facing the Horrific Every Day," captures the scene of the largest U.S. Army hospital in Iraq. She said she came up the idea after writing for three months about wounded and injured soldiers in the 28th Combat Hospital from the news releases she received.

"A lot of times in journalism you get impatient and you want to write a certain kind of story right now," Labbé said. "That story is an example of a very natural kind of progression and how nothing comes before its time. I did this story right when I was leaving. In fact, I delayed my departure by a couple of days so I could do the story."

Labbé said that foreign dispatches read "so richly" because many times you are required to be on the scene.

"The average citizen can't get to the ER of the main military hospital in Baghdad," Labbé said. "I need to show them. I need to be their ears."

Her saga might be even more remarkable because she could not work for her school paper in college; she had to complete the work-study program that funded her Princeton education.

She said she was impressed with how NABJ is empowering young people, and she has some advice for them.

"Lots of people are going to have opinions about what you should do and what you shouldn't do," Labbé said. "Only you know that. It's critical for young journalists to realize that they always have a choice and you need to choose your job as much as you want to be chosen."

Labbé said she is not scheduled to return to Iraq, but said she is more than willing to continue to experience life abroad.

"I'd love to live overseas," said Labbé. Her coverage of Iraq was like "the marriage of two loves: journalism and travel."

Titus Ledbetter is a student at Hampton University.

Posted Aug. 8, 2004