Monica Campbell
East Bay
As seen in:
BBC,
British Journal of Cancer,
Post Reports,
The Guardian,
The Washington Post,
USA Today,
SFGate,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
Marie Claire,
The World from PRX
and
Covers:
immigration, latin america, california, refugees, mexico, us-mexico border
Now: California Local News Fellowship @ucbsoj
Prior: @washingtonpost ~ PRX's @theworld
~ @NAHJ ~ @Niemanfdn ~ (im)migration
Articles by Monica Campbell
How Trump resurrected TikTok
Last week, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sold to an American buyer. On Sunday, the popular video-sharing app went dark, only to come back later that night. And on Monday, Trump signed an executive order to halt the ban.
Grief (and love) in L.A.
Will I get cancer from drinking alcohol?
How ISIS became 'the easiest club' to join
|
By Monica Campbell, Elana Gordon, Ariel Plotnick, Rennie Svirnovskiy Verified, Reena Flores Verified, Sam Bair
|
Post Reports
Verified
Club raids, influencers: How Putin's playbook is pushing young Russians toward ultranationalism
|
By Elana Gordon, Monica Campbell, Rennie Svirnovskiy Verified, Emma Talkoff Verified, Jennifer Amur Verified, Paul Schemm, David Herszenhorn Verified
|
Post Reports
Verified
A surprising turn in Syria's civil war
|
By Peter Bresnan, Savannah Robinson, Ariel Plotnick, Rennie Svirnovskiy Verified, Monica Campbell, Reena Flores Verified, Lucy Perkins
|
Post Reports
Verified
Can Trump really deport millions of people?
|
By Rennie Svirnovskiy Verified, Laura Benshoff Verified, Ariel Plotnick, Monica Campbell, Maggie Penman Verified
|
Post Reports
Verified
How the election changed abortion access
When it comes to abortion, the results of last week’s election were decidedly mixed. Abortion protections passed in New York, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Missouri but failed in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota. This means that 2 million more women now have access to abortion services across the country.
The border city where Trump is gaining Latino voters
San Luis, Arizona, has a population of around 40,000 people. Most still vote for Democrats, if they vote. But in the 2020 presidential election, Democrats saw their advantage drop by 36 percentage points here since 2016. This swing is one indicator of the inroads Republicans have made in recent years in traditional Democratic strongholds, gains that former president Donald Trump hopes will propel him back into the White House. That strategy relies on winning over young, non-college-educated men.
How Trump would fight a 2024 election loss
|
The morning after the 2020 election, then-president Donald Trump prematurely declared victory and claimed that a “fraud” was being perpetrated on the American public. He would go on to wage a campaign against the 2020 results, which culminated in rioters storming the U.S. Capitol. Now, with Trump back on the ballot, experts are concerned that Trump and his allies may use the same playbook they did in 2020 to challenge the 2024 results.
By Peter Bresnan, Monica Campbell, Emma Talkoff Verified, Ariel Plotnick, Sean Carter, Martine Powers
|
Post Reports
Verified
Israel, one year after Oct. 7
|
Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip awoke on Monday, the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks, in the same way they were roused on Oct. 7, 2023: to the sound of air-raid sirens. At 6:32 a.m. – almost to the minute of the surprise assaults last year – militants in Gaza launched four rockets toward those same towns and kibbutzim, sending Israelis into shelters and highlighting how the battle continues to rage 12 months after that fateful morning.
By Monica Campbell, Peter Bresnan, Rennie Svirnovskiy Verified, Emma Talkoff Verified, Reena Flores Verified, Sean Carter
|
Post Reports
Verified
Exploding pager attacks in Lebanon, and fears of a wider war
Hezbollah fighters carry the coffins of comrades killed by exploding mobile devices in a funeral procession Wednesday in Beirut's southern suburbs. (Bilal Hussein/AP) Thousands of people were injured across Lebanon this week in back-to-back explosions of electronic devices – pagers, mostly – used by the militant group Hezbollah.
The promise and peril of ketamine
A makeshift memorial for actor Matthew Perry, co-star of the 1990s television sitcom “Friends,” on Bedford Street in Manhattan on Oct. 30. (Mike Segar/Reuters) Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, there has been a big uptick in the use of the powerful anesthetic ketamine to treat anxiety and depression.
The poison in school water fountains
Elmwood Elementary School, located in a largely working-class community about an hour north of New York City, is one of the New York schools affected by high lead levels in drinking water. (Natalie Keyssar for The Washington Post) When the state of New York became the first in the nation to require public schools to test their drinking water for lead in 2016, students learned that dozens of water fountains across the district were contaminated.
The strategy behind Ukraine’s move into Russia
|
A Ukrainian soldier walks past a building hit by shrapnel in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Sudzha, Russia, recently. (Ed Ram for The Washington Post) As Ukraine continues to lose ground to Russia in the east of the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky has quietly moved Ukrainian forces into Russia. Post correspondents have documented the operation and witnessed the Russian soldiers taken captive by Ukrainian forces in this surprise incursion.
By Monica Campbell, Reena Flores Verified, Sean Carter, Rennie Svirnovskiy Verified, Ali Bianco, Emma Talkoff Verified
|
Post Reports
Verified
The student revolution that toppled a government
Lawyers and students demand the resignation of Bangladeshi Chief Justice Obaidul Hasan in a protest outside the high court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Aug. 10. (Fabeha Monir for The Washington Post) On Aug. 5, following weeks of student protests and police violence that left hundreds dead, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India.
Meet the organizers trying to reverse Florida’s abortion ban
|
Voter registration organizer Sasha Hernandez from the organization Mi Vecino talks to Francisco Roman in Kissimmee, Fla., on June 17. (Saul Martinez for The Washington Post) Florida is just one of a number of states where abortion rights will be on the November ballot. In Florida, voters will decide whether to pass Amendment 4, which would reverse Florida’s six-week abortion ban and put abortion protections in the state constitution.
By Monica Campbell, Ali Bianco, Elana Gordon, Elahe Izadi Verified, Peter Bresnan, Sean Carter, Lucy Perkins, Reshma Kirpalani
|
Post Reports
Verified
The story behind a landmark prisoner swap
|
A Russian plane leaves Ankara, Turkey, after a major prisoner swap between the United States, Russia and other countries on Thursday. (AP Photo) On Thursday, the biggest exchange of prisoners since the height of the Cold War took place. The quiet negotiations took months between the U.S., Russia and several European nations. Among the at least two dozen people freed was Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia on charges of espionage in 2023.
By Rennie Svirnovskiy Verified, Savannah Robinson, Emma Talkoff Verified, Monica Campbell, Reena Flores Verified
|
Post Reports
Verified
When it’s too hot to work
This month, Earth hit its hottest days recorded in history. But even on the warmest days, millions of workers in the U.S. labor in heat that is increasingly hazardous to their health. This month, the Biden administration proposed a rule that, for the first time, would protect such workers, whether their jobs are indoors or outdoors. The proposal sets out two heat index triggers that would apply nationally and require employers to offer drinking water, among other safeguards.
Will Democrats stand behind Biden?
President Biden prepares to begin the first 2024 presidential debate on June 27 at CNN's studios in Atlanta. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) As of Tuesday afternoon, nine congressional House Democrats have called on President Biden to step aside. At the same time, influential liberals like Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have publicly announced their support for Biden’s candidacy. Biden himself has been defiant about remaining in the race.
She's a U.S. citizen, he's undocumented: A love story.
Javier Quiroz, the immigrant husband of a U.S. citizen, at his home in Texas on March 31, 2021. A new policy announced this month by President Biden will allow people like Quiroz, who is undocumented, to apply for legal U.S. residency. (Callaghan O’Hare/The Washington Post) Once again, immigration is a big focus on the presidential campaign trail. President Biden’s recent policies restricting asylum aim to decrease migration at the southern border.
A farm on the edge of Gaza
Left: Ashraf Omar Alakhras harvests strawberries on his family farm in December 2022 in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Right: A view of Alakhras’s farm on Jan. 30, after it was demolished in Israel’s ground invasion. (Courtesy of Ashraf Omar Alakhras) Since Israel’s invasion of Gaza more than seven months ago, Gaza’s food and agricultural system is on the brink of collapse.
Why Netanyahu is facing an ultimatum
Eight months into Israel’s war in Gaza, a string of standoffs, schisms and ultimatums have brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet to the brink of collapse and raised the prospect that his own coalition could follow, possibly leading to new elections. Externally, the embattled prime minister is under growing pressure from the public to bring home Israel’s remaining hostages and from the Biden administration to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas.
A gun, a memoir and the trial of Biden’s son
In Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” he writes: “I’ve bought crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, DC, and cooked up my own inside a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles.
India’s historic election
For more than a month, people across India have been voting in this year's general election. It’s the largest the world has ever seen, and Prime Minister Nerendra Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party are ahead in polls by a wide margin. A lot of Modi’s support is coming from women – largely because they are in favor of his Hindu nationalist platform and because his party has encouraged women to work. He has also been able to reach young voters through his social media campaigning.
The death of Iran’s president
Iranian rescue workers operate near the wreckage of the helicopter that crashed May 19 carrying Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, and other top officials. Iran’s state news agency confirmed the deaths of all passengers and crew members abroad. (Azin Haghighi/Moj News/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) The deaths of two of Iran’s top officials brought shock and celebrations from within Iran and among the country’s diaspora.
India's secret assassination plot on U.S. soil Original
Protesters upset over the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., hold a cutout of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they rally outside the Indian Consulate in Toronto last September.
What students say about the protests rocking their campuses
As pro-Palestinian protests spread to college campuses across the country, the lives of many students have been upended. Some have jumped into protesting for the first time, while others are watching on the margins, their own thoughts about the war in Gaza still evolving. Many say feelings of unease and fear have settled in as bucolic campuses are transformed into ideological battlegrounds.
What students say about the protests rocking their campuses
As pro-Palestinian protests spread to college campuses across the country, the lives of many students have been upended. Some have jumped into protesting for the first time, while others are watching on the margins, their own thoughts about the war in Gaza still evolving. Many say a feeling of unease, and fear, has settled in as bucolic campuses are transformed into an ideological battleground.
America’s toxic tap water problem
Joseph Monge fills a jug at a water station in El Paso, Tex., on March 27. Monge drives to buy water roughly twice a week, spending about $30 a trip, to provide clean water for his family and dogs so they don’t have to ingest arsenic from the tap water in New Mexico. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Fifty years after the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is supposed to limit toxins in Americans’ water, many people around the country cannot safely drink from the tap.
How a narco revolt pushed a peaceful nation to the brink
Ecuador has long been an ecotourism hub and a safe haven, mostly immune from the guerilla violence endured for decades in neighboring Colombia and Peru. But the country has experienced a shift in recent years, becoming a center for drug trafficking and organized crime, as global demand for cocaine surges to new levels. On Jan. 9, this new reality came into full focus through coordinated attacks that shook the country to its core, culminating on live TV for all of Ecuador and the world to witness.
How will O.J. Simpson be remembered?
|
Simpson grew up in a poor neighborhood in San Francisco, and eventually rose to NFL stardom playing for the Buffalo Bills and later the San Francisco 49ers. He was one of the most well- known and well-liked personalities off the field, too, and was a sports commentator and appeared in more than 20 movies. But his private life was much darker. During his marriage to Nicole Brown Simpson, his wife repeatedly called 911 asking for protection.
By Ted Muldoon Verified, Monica Campbell, Lucy Perkins, Rennie Svirnovskiy Verified, Emma Talkoff Verified, Elana Gordon, Maggie Penman Verified, Krissah Thompson Verified
|
Post Reports
Verified
The improbable U.S. plan to revitalize a Palestinian security force
The Palestinian Authority security forces, which report to President Mahmoud Abbas, are at a pivotal moment. The group, estimated to be 35,500 members strong, is regarded by the Biden administration as central to its goal to stabilize a post-war Gaza. However, despite two decades of reforms, the Palestinian Authority remains chronically underfunded and widely unpopular; many think its security force is ill-equipped to take on the massive responsibility that its Western backers are envisioning.
Why El Salvador elected a self-proclaimed 'coolest dictator'
President Nayib Bukele speaks Sunday from the National Palace in San Salvador alongside his wife, Gabriela Rodriguez de Bukele, after winning reelection. (Bienvenido Velasco via EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) Nayib Bukele first took office in 2019 as an independent, becoming El Salvador’s – and Latin America’s – youngest president. He made a name for himself through his alleged crackdown on gangs and savvy use of social media to market his efforts.
A famine looms in Gaza
As Israel continues to wage its military campaign against Hamas, we break down why it has blocked humanitarian aid — including food — into Gaza. Hunger and disease now threaten hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza.
The U.S., Yemen and the risk of regional escalation
In the wake of Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, Houthi rebels based in Yemen have been carrying out attacks on U.S. and British commercial ships. Last week, President Biden authorized airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. In response, Houthi fighters targeted more ships on Monday. On Tuesday, the United States launched more airstrikes against the Houthis.
The global stakes of Taiwan’s election Original
With Beijing military planes at times looming, Taiwan’s ruling party’s candidate, Lai Ching-te, contends democracy itself is on the ballot this weekend. Opposition candidate Hou Yu-ih warns that voters face a choice between war and peace. And a new third party candidate, Ko Wen-je, has been drawing a younger, anti-establishment base.
Biden and the tale of the $16 McDonald's meal
The internet has been awash with social media rants lately about the high cost of fast-food. One video in particular keeps making the rounds, nearly a year on. Jeff Stein, The Post’s White House economics reporter – and self-proclaimed fast-food connoisseur – joins “Post Reports” to break down what these reactions do and don’t tell us about the actual state of the economy, and what it may foreshadow for President Biden’s 2024 reelection bid.
Trump on the witness stand
Former president Donald Trump waits to take the witness stand at the New York Supreme Court on Monday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) It has been more than a century since a former U.S. president has testified, under oath, as a defendant in a court trial. That all changed on Monday, when former president Donald Trump took the witness stand in a civil trial brought by the New York attorney general’s office.
A breakthrough in Tupac Shakur’s case – 27 years later
An image of Tupac Shakur for the 32nd annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York on July 4, 2017. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) It’s been nearly three decades since hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at the age of 25. Now, police have charged a man in his death: Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who has publicly claimed to have witnessed the killing.
A year of protests and repression in Iran
One year ago, the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran’s morality police sparked what analysts have described as the longest-running, anti-government protest in Iran's recent history. In the months since, Iranian security forces have unleashed a harsh crackdown, killing at least 530 protesters, according to human rights groups.
The future of college without affirmative action
|
A decision this summer on the future of affirmative action was one of the most anticipated cases on the Supreme Court’s docket. In a 6-3 decision Thursday, the court overturned decades of precedent by restricting affirmative action policies. They declared that considering race in college admissions violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. The decision has sparked outcry and celebration across the nation.
By Monica Campbell, Elana Gordon, Tanya Chawla, Jordan-Marie Smith, Sean Carter, Janel Davis Verified, Reena Flores Verified
|
Post Reports
Verified
Monica Campbell - The Washington Post
California Audio editor for the "Post Reports" daily news podcast and longer-term audio projects. Education: San José State University, BA in journalism; New York University, MA in Latin American and Caribbean studies Monica Campbell is an editor on The Washington Post's audio team, helping shape the "Post Reports" daily news podcast and longer-term projects. Campbell has more than 20 years of reporting and editing experience.
Debt ceiling deal leaves older women at risk of losing benefits
While the congressional battle over raising the debt ceiling was covered extensively for weeks, barely any outlet focused on a key demographic at threat: women, particularly older women. Women are more likely than men to rely on government assistance in the form of programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, known more colloquially as food stamps. The National Women’s Law Center estimates that 63% of SNAP recipients are women.
How Erdogan won after a close call in Turkey
How Erdogan won after a close call in Turkey Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won reelection, beating a challenge from a united opposition movement and cementing his tenure at the country’s helm into a third decade. Erdogan’s victory affirmed his political survival and his support among loyal supporters, many of them conservative Muslims.
Conservative Muslim Women Helped Erdoğan Win Previous Elections. Now Some Are Turning Against Him
Şeyma Çetin is bursting with color: bright blue and pink eye shadow, a green half-sleeved shirt with jeans, a tie, and an orange headscarf. Her clothes and makeup stand out among other Turkish women in headscarves, and that’s Çetin’s goal: to show that it’s okay to be different. It’s a statement of defiance. The headscarf was for a long time a controversial symbol in Turkey, where it was seen as a threat to the modern republic’s secular origins. For Çetin, though, it symbolizes freedom of choice.
Fighting Detention — palabra.
Private prisons are closing, but private immigration detention is not. One Virginia town has a decision to make about where it stands In the middle of Virginia, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a privately-run immigration detention center that is designed to confine over 700 people per day, now has at most 11 detainees at a cost of about $2 million per month to the federal government. Luis Oyola never wanted the detention center to exist in the first place.
Haitians deported from the US face a stark reality back home. Some are making plans to migrate again.
It’s been less than two months since thousands of Haitians were encamped under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, just at the Mexico border. Some migrants were eventually let into the US. But most were deported to Haiti — often having lived away from the country for years. Related: Meet the trusted guide to Port-au-Prince’s streets The Biden administration says it had to move fast to deport the large number of Haitians who arrived at the border in September — to deter more from coming.
Meet the trusted guide to Port-au-Prince’s streets
It’s still dark outside on a Tuesday morning in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. But Mackenson Rémy, a well-known reporter, has been up for a while already, roaming the streets before most people are even awake. Related: Haiti’s rival gangs hold a firm grip on fuel supply, testing life at every level Rémy is also known by his nickname, Kat pa Kat, which is Creole for “four by four” — “because 4x4 is a Jeep. A Jeep can go everywhere. And I’m going everywhere,” he said.
Haiti’s rival gangs hold a firm grip on fuel supply, testing life at every level
At one gas station in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, this week, a large crowd gathered around pumps, hoping for fuel delivery. Some people sat and waited, holding empty yellow jugs. It was hot and humid and tense. Haiti is running out of gas — which is being called “liquid gold.” Related: Thousands of Haitians trying to reach the US are in limbo in Tapachula in southern Mexico Gangs are blockading fuel supplies at the ports, which are located in areas they control.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Monica
Contact Monica, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack