Documentarian and Photojournalist Appointed Visiting Professor

Photo Submitted

Juan Arredondo

The Center for Ethics in Journalism at the School of Journalism and Strategic Media welcomes Visiting Distinguished Professor of Ethics in Journalism Juan Arredondo to campus. Arredondo is a Colombian-American visual journalist and filmmaker whose work has appeared in National Geographic, the New York Times, Vanity Fair and the Wall Street Journal. 

Arredondo is scheduled to give a public lecture about his international reporting from 2:30-4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Chi Omega Greek Theatre on campus, as part of the Government and the Media Honors Colloquium taught by Gina Holland Shelton, an advanced journalism instructor. Arredondo will talk about his coverage of the war in the Ukraine, where he was shot and his colleague Brent Renaud was killed earlier this year when the two photojournalists came under attack. Renaud, who taught at the U of A in 2019 while also serving as a visiting distinguished professor of ethics in journalism, had nominated Arredondo as a candidate to succeed him in the position.

"Juan was the only candidate Brent suggested," said Raymond McCaffrey, the director of the Center for Ethics in Journalism. "It seemed like the best way to honor Brent was to bring Juan to the university to teach students about the importance of the work that both journalists took such great risks to bring to the world."

Arredondo and Renaud met when they both served as Nieman fellows at Harvard University in 2019. Arredondo joined Craig Renaud, the late filmmaker's brother and professional collaborator, on Saturday in Conway for a public conversation sponsored by Arkansas PBS and the Brent Renaud Journalism Foundation.  

Arredondo is one of two veteran journalists serving as a visiting distinguished professor of ethics in journalism this semester at the School of Journalism and Strategic Media. Veronica Molina, a senior vice president overseeing news standards and practices at CNN Worldwide, is serving in that capacity for a second time, after her first term was interrupted by the advent of the pandemic in 2020.

Arredondo is scheduled to be on campus through Friday. He will be mentoring students and giving lectures to a variety of journalism classes. These lectures will focus on his work in photojournalism and the stories he has covered involving war and human rights. Arredondo also will discuss ethical issues he has faced while covering these international stories.

Arredondo won a World Press Photo award in 2018 for his profile of former Guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and their efforts to rejoin of society by competing to form the La Paz FC (Peace FC) football team also comprising Colombian soldiers and victims of a decades-old conflict. Arredondo was a 2019 Knight Latin America Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He was honored with the Overseas Press Club Scholar Award in 2020.

Arredondo earned a master's degree from the Columbia Journalism School, where he also served as an adjunct professor. In 2021, Arredondo was the first Buffett Foundation visiting professor of visual journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.