Maria Ressa

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Maria A. Ressa (born October 1963 in the Philippines) is a journalist who was the Jakarta bureau chief of CNN International. At CNN, Ressa was lead reporter in East Timor, Indonesia and the Philippines, and was lead investigative reporter for Asia's terror networks in the global war on terror. She is also the writer of the book Seeds of Terror, containing her blow-by-blow account of the hideouts of Al-Qaeda.

She now heads ABS-CBN's News and Current Affairs Department.

Maria Ressa was born in the Philippines and lived in Manila as a young girl. When she was nine, her family moved to Toms River, New Jersey, where she attended public schools. In 1982, Ressa graduated Toms River High School North. She had been active in student government, the school's orchestra, theater, and basketball.

She went to Princeton University, studying biology and English, and graduated in 1986. Upon graduation, Ressa returned to Manila on a Fulbright scholarship to study theater, but soon turned to journalism. She helped start "The Probe Team" with Che Che Lazaro. Ressa was hired by CNN in 1987, continued her work with Probe, and was an active member of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP). In 1995 CNN relocated the bureau to Jakarta, and Ressa lived there for about 10 years before returning to Manila.

[edit] Bibliography

• Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia. The Free Press, 2003. ISBN-10: 0743251334 ISBN-13: 978-0743251334