Pulitzer Prize‑winning war correspondent Peter Arnett, whose reporting from Vietnam to Iraq helped define modern conflict journalism, has died at the age of 91. He passed away on Wednesday in Newport Beach, California, surrounded by family and friends while receiving hospice care for prostate cancer.
Arnett became one of the world’s most recognisable war reporters through his fearless coverage of the Vietnam War, where he worked for the Associated Press from 1962 until the fall of Saigon in 1975. His vivid frontline dispatches earned him the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting and established him as a defining voice of the conflict.
Born in Riverton, New Zealand, in 1934, Arnett began his journalism career at small local newspapers before moving to Southeast Asia. His early reporting from Laos and Thailand led to his recruitment by AP, launching a career that would take him to some of the most dangerous battlefields of the 20th century.
During the Vietnam War, Arnett frequently accompanied U.S. and South Vietnamese troops on missions, witnessing combat at close range. He later recalled moments of extreme danger, including standing beside a colonel who was shot dead as bullets tore through a map the officer was reading—a memory he said stayed with him for life.
After leaving AP in 1981, Arnett joined CNN, where he became a household name during the 1991 Gulf War. He was one of the few Western journalists to remain in Baghdad as U.S. airstrikes began, broadcasting live amid explosions, air‑raid sirens and missile strikes. His reports offered rare real‑time insight into the opening hours of the conflict.
While in Iraq, Arnett conducted a high‑profile interview with President Saddam Hussein, pressing him on the war despite the risks. He later wrote that he refused to be intimidated, saying the dangers of the bombing campaign already overshadowed any threat posed by the Iraqi leader.
In 1997, Arnett became the first Western journalist to interview Osama bin Laden at a secret location in Afghanistan. During the conversation, bin Laden hinted at future attacks, telling Arnett that the world would “see them and hear about them in the media,” a remark that gained chilling significance after the 9/11 attacks.
Arnett later worked for NBC but was dismissed in 2003 after giving an interview to Iraqi state television in which he was perceived as criticising U.S. military strategy. He defended his remarks as accurate reporting from Baghdad and was hired hours later by a British newspaper, saying he was stunned by the controversy.
Colleagues remembered Arnett as fearless, relentless and deeply committed to telling the truth from the world’s most dangerous places. Fellow journalists described him as a gifted storyteller whose work set a benchmark for war reporting and inspired generations of correspondents who followed him into conflict zones.
Arnett, who became a naturalised U.S. citizen and had lived in Southern California since 2014, is survived by his wife Nina Nguyen and their children, Andrew and Elsa. His legacy endures as one of the most influential war correspondents of his generation, a reporter whose work shaped public understanding of conflicts across five decades.
