Navigating through Forty Under Forty:

Klaus Abels
Jeanne Allgood
Jennifer Barnhart
Keith Bellizzi
Scott Case
Swin Cash
Kevin Clarke
Stacey Violante Cote
Margaret Drozdowski
Bryan Dumont
Stefanie (Pratola) Ferreri
Lani Fortier
Chunlei Guo
Christopher Hattayer
Tabitha Hitchcock
Kristin Hoffman
Scott Holcomb
James Hormuzdiar
Rebecca Lobo
Brett McGurk
Mikki Meadows-Oliver
Kevin Molloy
Irina (Tsikhelashvili) Moore
Christopher Murphy
Ilia (Rodriguez) O’Hearn
Emeka Okafor
Eric Owles
Jonathan Plucker
Althea Marshall Richardson
Craig Rodner
Carlos Rodrigues
Richard Ruiz
Christine Sansevero
Elizabeth Flynn Scott
Matthew Small
Peter Tesei
Anthony Uliano
Fahd Vahidy
Marcela de Jesús Vergara-Jiménez
Alicia Young

Eric Owles, 34

Multimedia Journalist

While working as a reporter for The Daily Campus and studying both journalism and political science, Eric Owles '98 (CLAS) had ambitions of covering state government in the seemingly comfortable environment of the Capitol press room in Hartford.

“I never imagined that I would be writing my blood type on my body armor in the Iraqi desert,” says Owles, the chief multimedia producer for The New York Times Web site and lead contributor to the blog “Baghdad Bureau: Iraq from the Inside,” which he launched in February 2008.

At a critical time of transition in the newspaper industry, Owles is among those leading the way at arguably the nation's most important newspaper.

“I live in our Baghdad compound outside the Green Zone,” Owles explains.

“I write about life inside the country. I carry a video camera everywhere I go, whether that is embedded with U.S. troops, reporting on a car bombing or traveling into Sadr City. My goal is to provide new ways of engaging readers in news about the war.”

“Baghdad Bureau” attempts to convey the daily challenges confronting the city's inhabitants, such as the difficulties of traveling around the country and the experience of going through security checkpoints.

The blog invites Iraqis to write about their personal journeys, such as deciding whether to leave the country or their thoughts about the aftermath of a car bomb explosion or suicide bombing. The blog also features videos and slideshows from staff living in Iraq.

His work with new media technologies began in the summer of 1996 when he served as an intern with Politics USA, an innovative Web site that was the first to generate original news stories, as it was taken over by ABC News and The Washington Post and renamed PoliticsNow.

At PoliticsNow, Owles learned a great deal about computers, including how to format and maintain Web sites which eventually led to a position with the online edition of The New York Times, where he was the senior producer of the Web site's national, science, Washington, and metropolitan desks.

He assumed his duties in the Iraqi capital in January 2008, after overseeing foreign news coverage for the Times Web site since 2002.

“I feel a responsibility to share as many stories as I can from the Iraqi people and U.S. soldiers,” he says.

“It is impossible to say what will happen to Iraq in the future, but by charting the daily developments over time you can see which direction it is headed.”