Doug Johnson

More than 20 years of professional experience across Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, and the United States. A seasoned development communicator and former journalist. 

My Recent Work

The New York Times •

The Disease Detectives Trying to Keep the World Safe From Bird Flu (Published 2024)

When she arrived at the airy yellow children’s ward at the provincial hospital in Kratie, she immediately asked the child’s father if the family had had contact with any sick or dead poultry. He admitted that their rooster had been found dead a few days before and that the family had eaten it.Dr. Luch told her colleagues her theory. Their responses ranged from dubious to incredulous: A human case of avian influenza had never been reported in their part of eastern Cambodia. They warned her that i...
Embassy Gaborone •

Have It All Documentary

"Have It All" is a documentary produced by the U.S. Embassy in Botswana in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to bring attention to Botswana’s Treat All program, reduce stigma related to HIV, and strongly encourage Batswana citizens to know their status and enroll on ARVs immediately if positive. The 42-minute documentary highlights the triumphs of five Batswana citizens living well on treatment and includes interviews with government officials, including former U.S. President George W. Bush and Botswana President Festus Mogae, and technical experts to chart Botswana's progress in responding to the HIV epidemic.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels
CBS News •

Who Killed The Horses?

The dunes just north of this remote community on North Carolina's Outer Banks look like a scene from another world.

Shells of abandoned cars dot the landscape between weather-beaten homes on stilts. Coarse grass and thorny shrubs grow out of sandbars. Unpaved roads are accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles.

It is here that a herd of wild horses roams freely across 1,700 acres (680 hectares) of private and public land. The Corolla wild horses, believed to be descended from Spanish mustan...
Photo by Linken Van Zyl on Pexels

Cockfighting: A Way Of Life - And Death - In New Mexico | The Seattle Times

CHAPARRAL, N.M. - A sign outside the Otero Private Game Club on the outskirts of town reads, "No Drinking, No Drugs and No Gambling." The rusty-metal barnlike structure is surrounded by an ominous 10-foot barbed-wire fence.

It's no ordinary barn.

It's a cockfight pit, an arena where feathered gladiators fight to the death. Every other week, men, women and children pack the pit to participate in a sport that is banned in 44 states and considered a felony in 17 of those.

Strangers are rarely we...