Emma Cowing

2013
Emma Cowing is a journalist for The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. In 2008 while covering the war in Afghanistan she nearly lost her life after collapsing with acute heatstroke during a foot patrol on the front line in temperatures of 52 degrees centigrade. Following her rescue and rehabilitation, she turned her attention to covering the aftermath of war, highlighting issues faced by Scotland's large community of military veterans. She ran a Scotsman campaign, Support Our Troops, and has written extensively about veterans traumatized by their military experiences, and the support available to them. She has spent time with grieving families, and interviewed soldiers about the effects of war. Cowing cut her teeth as a junior reporter for The Sunday Times Scotland and is also a former features editor of The Scotsman. During her 16-year career she has reported from South America and Malaysia as well as across the UK and Scotland, covering topics ranging from the upcoming Scottish independence referendum to the plight of abandoned street children in Peru.