Her Work
Go and see. Then say it plainly.
Serena reported for Press TV from six arenas of the region's hardest decade. Some of her broadcasts survive online; others live on only in the accounts of those who saw them. This archive keeps both — the footage that remains, and the record of what she reported.
Press TV's own video archive was later removed from the public internet, so many of her original packages survive only in descriptions by those who saw them. Where a report survives online it is linked; where it does not, the entry is marked “from the record” — reconstructed from contemporary accounts. All links verified August 2026.
- 01
Lebanon reporting and the Beirut years
A Lebanese-American who moved to Lebanon at eighteen, Serena said witnessing the 2006 bombardment of southern Lebanon drove her into journalism. From Press TV's Beirut bureau she covered Lebanese politics and the spillover of Syria's war from 2011 onward. Her individual Beirut packages have not survived online; she was buried in her ancestral Bourj el-Barajneh on October 22, 2014.
Read — Lebanon reporting and the Beirut years - 02
Reporting on 'Free Syrian Army' fighters and covert militant transit through Turkey
Before the aid-truck story, Serena reported on fighters moving through the Turkish border — obtaining passport stamps and first-hand accounts proving they had been inside Syria “while Turkey was still hiding this,” as she put it on October 17, 2014. She identified this body of border reporting as the reason she believed she had been labeled a spy.
Read — Reporting on 'Free Syrian Army' fighters and covert militant transit through Turkey - 03
'Turkey In Turmoil' — live Press TV special from Istanbul during the Gezi Park protests
A surviving full-length example of her on-the-ground Turkey reporting: Serena as Press TV's correspondent in Istanbul during the 2013 Gezi Park anti-government protests. Her Gezi coverage is one of the strands she later cited when explaining why Turkish intelligence had turned on her.
Watch — 'Turkey In Turmoil' — live Press TV special from Istanbul during the Gezi Park protests - 04
'Arise News Baghdad Serena Shim' — field report from Baghdad
A rare surviving on-camera field report, from Baghdad the day after Iraq's April 30, 2014 parliamentary elections, which she covered along with the army's fight against ISIL. It documents the Iraq chapter of her final year and shows her working style outside the Press TV archive.
Watch — 'Arise News Baghdad Serena Shim' — field report from Baghdad - 05
Eastern Ukraine conflict coverage
Between Iraq and her fatal Turkey assignment, Serena reported on the armed conflict in Ukraine's east for Press TV, and also covered the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna. No individual Ukraine packages could be located online; they are attested by the IFJ obituary and Press TV's remembrances.
Read — Eastern Ukraine conflict coverage - 06
Report on ISIL fighters smuggled into Syria in trucks bearing WFP/NGO markings
Her signature investigation: footage and images of bearded fighters shuttled across the Turkish border into Syria in trucks disguised with World Food Programme and NGO insignia, filmed at the Bab al-Hawa crossing. The original package no longer survives online, but it is described in detail by the investigations listed in the sources below.
Read — Report on ISIL fighters smuggled into Syria in trucks bearing WFP/NGO markings - 07
Kobani siege coverage from Suruc, Turkey
In her final assignment she reported from Suruç on the ISIL siege of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani — the refugee exodus, the fighting visible across the border, and Ankara's posture toward the besieged town. She was killed on October 19, 2014, while returning from this assignment.
Read — Kobani siege coverage from Suruc, Turkey - 08
Final on-air interview: 'Turkey accuses Press TV correspondent Serena Shim of spying'
Two days before her death, live on air from the border: Turkish intelligence had accused her of spying, and she answered with the sentence that outlived her — “I have nothing to hide, I've never done anything aside from my job.” The surviving copy of the broadcast is linked here.
Watch — Final on-air interview: 'Turkey accuses Press TV correspondent Serena Shim of spying' - 09
'Press TV correspondent accused of spying over unbiased reporting' (article version of her final interview)
Press TV's same-day written account of her final broadcast, preserved by the Internet Archive — the fullest surviving primary record of her key claims, in her own words, about the border crossings and the accusation against her.
Read — 'Press TV correspondent accused of spying over unbiased reporting' (article version of her final interview) - 10
'Serena Shim killed near the Turkey Syria border' — Press TV news report on her death
Press TV's initial news package on her death, noting she had reported being threatened by Turkish intelligence days earlier and that the truck driver involved in the collision was initially unnamed by authorities.
Watch — 'Serena Shim killed near the Turkey Syria border' — Press TV news report on her death - 11
'Press TV's moving tribute to correspondent #SerenaShim'
The network's on-air tribute, broadcast the day she was laid to rest in Bourj el-Barajneh — its immediate acknowledgment of her work and of the questions around the crash.
Watch — 'Press TV's moving tribute to correspondent #SerenaShim' - 12
'I Am a Reporter' — Press TV documentary on Shim's life and career
A 49-minute documentary tribute tracing her career in Iraq, Syria and Turkey, incorporating footage of her reporting — one of the few places clips of her lost packages can still be seen.
Watch — 'I Am a Reporter' — Press TV documentary on Shim's life and career
In her own words
I go to do reports at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, and I don't have to ask Turkish security for permission — I have to ask the militants for permission.
On the border, early 2013
I think they want to know why I'm back.
Her final broadcast, October 17, 2014
You know what scares me? Baghdad. Syria. Being killed is scary, Mom. Going to jail is not scary. It sucks, but it's not scary.
Voice message to her mother, October 18, 2014 — the day before she was killed
This is my last trip and I'm done. Because, after that, there's nothing else that I can do — and I want to go out with a bang.
Voice message to her mother, about a week before her death — she was planning to move home to Michigan