Curriculum Vitae
Career & Experience
Nov. 2015 – Present · 10 yrs
Special Correspondent
Los Angeles Times · Freelance
Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region
Freelance journalist regularly contributing articles on international affairs, culture, and sports. Not a staff employee but a contracted contributor.
Jan. 2022 – Present · 4 yrs
Freelance Columnist
WELT · Freelance
Berlin, Germany
Regularly analyze and explain U.S. politics for German all-news television network. Also write op-ed articles for Welt newspaper.
Mar. 2025 – Present · 1 yr
Parliamentary & Civic Education Guide at the Reichstag
Deutscher Bundestag · Freelance
Berlin, Germany · On-site
Leading 90-minute educational tours on the history, symbolism, architecture, and democratic role of the German parliament in the Reichstag building.
Oct. 2016 – Mar. 2024 · 7 yrs 6 mos
Executive Director
RIAS Berlin Commission
Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region
Managed a venerable German-American exchange program for broadcast journalists with 4 to 5 transatlantic exchanges of 2 to 3 weeks each year, and oversaw a growing network of some 1,500 alumni.
Jan. 2017 – 2022 · 5 yrs
Freelance Contributor
South China Morning Post (SCMP) · Freelance
Oct. 1990 – Sept. 2017 · 27 yrs
Correspondent
Reuters News Agency / Thomson Reuters
Berlin
Foreign correspondent for Reuters news agency in Berlin, writing about politics, general news, economics, sports and entertainment. Also worked on temporary assignments in Athens, Tehran, Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Tirana, London, Paris, Warsaw, Madrid and Los Angeles. Covered the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Prior to Berlin, worked in Bonn (1996–99), Vienna (1994–95), Berlin (1993–94), and Frankfurt (1989–93).
Aug. 2015 – Dec. 2015 · 5 mos
Book Author — Soccer Without Borders
Author
Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region
Wrote “Soccer Without Borders: Jürgen Klinsmann, Coaching the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team and the Quest for the World Cup.”
2014 – 2015 · 1 yr
Book Author — Burning Beethoven
Author
Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region
An illuminating exposé on a dark chapter of American history: how the flourishing German culture in the United States was wiped out by anti-German hysteria during World War I. German was eradicated from schools, churches, and newspapers; once America’s largest and proudest ethnic group faced hate, persecution, and even vigilante hangings, and sauerkraut was renamed “liberty cabbage.”
2013 – 2015 · 2 yrs
Commissioner
RIAS Berlin Commission
Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region
Board member of the RIAS Berlin Commission, a German-American organization promoting understanding in broadcasting. Founded in 1992 in recognition of RIAS Berlin as a “free voice of the free world” (1946–1993). More than 1,200 American and German broadcast journalists have taken part in the exchange program. Also served on the jury for the annual Media Prize awards.
2012 – 2013 · 1 yr
Author — Rocking the Wall
Author
Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region
“Rocking the Wall: Bruce Springsteen — The Berlin Concert That Changed the World” explores the epic July 19, 1988 concert in East Berlin. Kirschbaum interviewed fans and organizers on both sides of the Wall, including Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau, drawing on eyewitness accounts, press clippings, TV recordings, and even Stasi files to tell the story of a record-breaking crowd of more than 300,000.
2009 – 2014 · 5 yrs
Chairman / Deputy Chairman / Board Member
German Foreign Press Association (VAP)
Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region
Served as chairman (2013–14), deputy chairman (2011–13) and board member (2009–2014), organizing and moderating news conferences and events for a group of more than 200 print, radio and TV journalists from over 140 countries.