About – Collecting the News

A little bit about us . . .

I’ve been a collector my entire life. Some of the things I have collected were worth saving, many, many others were not. As a young boy, I would look forward to trash night when I could ride my bike around the neighborhood and search for what I perceived as hidden treasures among the discarded waste of my neighbors. As my life progressed, I became somewhat more particular on what was worthy to collect and what should continue the journey to the landfill. When I began my career in television news, I was determined to document that experience by acquiring items that represented the major events I would cover. As was the case in my youth, some of the items I gathered were worth collecting, some…not so much. This website was crafted by my daughter, Christina, to allow me to digitally display some of the artifacts that survived in my collection and represent stories I’ve been lucky enough to cover. I hope anyone who visits the site will enjoy it and maybe learn a little along the way.

David Rust Biography

David has been a photojournalist at CNN since 1980. During that time he has covered assignments on all seven continents. Domestically, he has traveled through all 50 states while documenting the news. Assignments in war zones have included the first Gulf War, the war in Croatia, the Bosnian war, the war in Kosovo, the war in Lebanon, conflicts in Israel and the West Bank, the first Chechen war, the war in Afghanistan, and the second Iraq war.

David has witnessed almost every type of natural disasters, including earthquakes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico City and Haiti, volcanic eruptions in Hawaii, many hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, an avalanche, landslides, blizzards and floods. He has covered every U.S. presidential election since 1980, and elections around the world, including Russia, England, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition, he has covered every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.

Over the years David has worked on numerous documentaries and was the primary camera for stories on baseball in Cuba, life at the South Pole, and a scientific expedition under the Arctic ice cap in a fast attack nuclear submarine.