Frank Schaeffer In Conversation with Christian Stephen, exploring conflict journalism, and his latest venture, the News and Media Website, The Signal.
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Christian Stephen is a Journalist, Filmmaker, Virtual Reality Creator, Writer, and Photographer. Internationally recognized as a pioneer and leader in the field of innovative journalism, as well as a respected investigative reporter, Christian has covered stories in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Gaza, Central African Republic, Nepal, Turkey, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, among others.
He has embedded on the front lines against ISIS with the Kurdish Peshmerga, has broken news in Nepal and Gaza, and reported the bacha bazi story in Afghanistan months before The New York Times. His work, creating multimedia stories for VICE, MSNBC, Vocativ, The Economist, RYOT News, and more, has been featured in over 200 international news outlets including The Associated Press, BBC, WIRED, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Independent, and more. Christian has been profiled by Larry King, NPR, WIRED, and BBC News, among others.
In 2016, he was the youngest ever nominee for the Livingston Award for International Reporting. The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists are the most prestigious honor for professional journalists under the age of 35 and the largest all-media, general reporting prizes in journalism.
In 2013, at age 18, Christian directed, shot, produced, and edited The Vicar of Baghdad, Vice’s award-winning feature-length documentary about life in the Red Zone. His investigative reporting and research into child abuse throughout Afghanistan was a prominent part of evidence that resulted in an independent assembly of the United Nations, A full Defense Department investigation, and a bill introduced in the United States Congress for immediate review and intervention. He was 19 at the time of publication.
In July of 2015, he travelled to Aleppo, Syria to capture the world’s first ever virtual reality footage within a war zone. Following the viral success of the film, Christian covered earthquake-wracked Nepal for former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s TheirWorld charity.
In 2018, Stephen Co-Directed and Produced The Sun Ladies Virtual Reality that was selected for the Sundance Film Festival, South By Southwest (SXSW) and the Cannes International Film Festival. The Sun Ladies tells the story of escaped ISIS sex slaves who created their own military unit to fight ISIS and free their sisters remaining in captivity.