Pepe Escobar

Who is Pepe Escobar?

Pepe Escobar is a Brazilian investigative journalist.

He initially became famous in Brazil during the 80s, writing cultural criticism for the Folha de São Paulo newspaper. His distinctive style proved to be popular and he is still an influence among many Brazilian journalists. His employment in the newspaper ended when André Singer, then a journalist in this newspaper and a Beatles fan, noted that Pepe had lifted entire paragraphs from articles in the European media. Singer pointed out the plagiarism in the newspaper and other instances of plagiarism were discovered - like a review of a David Bowie album that was lifted from a Rolling Stone book. Pepe said that the articles were like mirrors, a homage to the Rolling Stone Book, and that it was also a homage to David Bowie, the so-called "Chameleon". Soon afterward, he was be accused of lifting an interview with Bryan Ferry for a Brazilian rock magazine.

Escobar has worked as a foreign correspondent since 1985, living in Los Angeles, Paris, Milan, Singapore, Bangkok, and Hong Kong. He has focused on Central Asia and the Middle East since the late 1990s. He writes a column- The Roving Eye- for Asia Times Online, as well as regular pieces for Al Jazeera, and Tom Engelhardt's TomDispatch.com. His columns have been mirrored at Michael Moore.com, The Nation, and The Huffington Post.