We walked into a trap, a killing zone of relentless gunfire and rocket barrages from Afghan insurgents hidden in the mountainsides and in a fortress-like village where women and children were replenishing their ammunition.
posted by Joe Beese on Sep 12, 2009 - 58 comments

Prisoners of their Bureaus--the Besieged Press of Baghdad What it's like to be a journalist in Iraq now--and especially relevant given the current attacks on the media for not reporting all the good that's happening in Iraq-- ... an ever-widening gulf between official language and the reality of the actual situation in Baghdad. While official language is relentlessly upbeat, the already nightmarish reality has been getting worse with each passing day. ... the insurgent attacks on the US forces and Iraqi government and the sectarian fighting between Sunnis and Shiites have become destructive beyond what most journalists have been able to convey ... (NY Review of Books)
posted by amberglow on Mar 25, 2006 - 35 comments

Unembedded reporters in Iraq: Fadel al-Badrani, Dahr Jamail, Nir Rosen, Christopher Allbritton. Where they go, what they see, and what they report on gives words to the photographs at Crisis Pictures (warning: some photographs may upset you, and the site has an obtrusive agenda) .
posted by iffley on Feb 3, 2005 - 6 comments

Chris Hedges on war. The long-time war correspondent explains why it will be years before we have any idea what's been going on in Iraq, and describes the gulf between here and there:

One of the Marines in the book returns to California and is invited to be the guest of honor in a gated community in Malibu, a place where he could never afford to live. The residents want to toast him as a war hero. "I'm not a hero," he tells the guests. "Guys like me are just a necessary part of things. To maintain this way of life in a fine community like this, you need psychos like us to go out and drop a bomb on somebody's house."

posted by languagehat on Dec 2, 2004 - 45 comments

Journalism is an increasingly deadly profession. Statistics vary. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports 36 deaths in 2003 while the International Press Institute documents 64 deaths. Iraq was the most life-threatening country, but the Philippines and Columbia remain some of of the most dangerous places to be a reporter. Four media deaths at the hands of US military in Iraq continue to spark controversy, and a Global Day of Mourning and Protest over the U.S. "abject failure" to probe the Palestinian Hotel deaths is scheduled for April 8. This year, Haiti appears to be another hotspot. The International News Safety Institute offers safety tips and member advice on how to stay alive.
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 13, 2004 - 5 comments

BBC News reporters' weblog on the war is closed. It was a great example of how the idea of weblog can be used in mainstream media. (Although it lacked hyper-links) In it's last instalment, reporters record some final impressions and look back at what it was like reporting the war. The daily archives are available on the right column of the page.
posted by hoder on Apr 18, 2003 - 3 comments

Though you won’t hear about them , there are dozens of Pentagon P.R. officers embedded with reporters in Iraq.
posted by cornbread on Apr 2, 2003 - 21 comments

Not All Iraqis Dancing in the Streets. To watch the neutered embedded reporters, you would think that every Iraqi is overjoyed to see America in his or her country. But the reality seems to be quite different: "Why are you here in this country? Are you trying to take over? Are you going to take our country forever? Are the Israelis coming next? Are you here to steal our oil? When are you going to get out?"
posted by owillis on Mar 22, 2003 - 35 comments

The idea of weblogs has defenitely inspired BBC Online news for making the following pages:

• BBC reporters' collective weblog on Iraq
• Iraq at a glace

posted by hoder on Mar 20, 2003 - 4 comments

"We're press! Don't shoot!" Isn't PRESS on a flak jacket like painting bullseyes on your butt? The Israel Defense Forces have declared Bethlehem, Qalqiliya and Ramallah officially off-limits, and journalists will either be forcibly removed or in some cases shot on sight. The Committee to Protect Journalists is just one of many organizations speaking out against the unethical treatment of First Ammendment fighters throughout the world. Like this is gonna help. Should enemies of freedom be expected to 'play fair' or should we just accept that some journalists are going to die? Is it possible to investigate the truth right now in the West Bank, or are journalists needlessly putting their lives on the line for nothing?
posted by ZachsMind on Apr 3, 2002 - 37 comments

"DO NOT USE wire stories which lead with civilian casualties from the U.S. war on Afghanistan. They should be mentioned further down in the story. If the story needs rewriting to play down the civilian casualties, DO IT. The only exception is if the U.S. hits an orphanage, school or similar facility and kills scores or hundreds of children...Failure to follow any of these or other standing rules could put your job in jeopardy."

from a memo re war coverage by Ray Glenn the chief copy editor of the Panama City News Herald in Florida.

Good to see that the media is doing its bit for the war effort.
posted by lagado on Dec 18, 2001 - 34 comments