Journalists in danger
BBC on journalist deaths
Jon Williams, BBC World News Editor, blogs about the deaths of Abdul Samad Rohani and Nasteh Dahir, the two BBC journalists killed this past weekend, Last year, the International News Safety Institute reported that two journalists had been killed every week over the past ten years – a thousand media workers lost their lives between […]
Abdul Samad Rohani killed in Lashkar Gah
BBC journalist Abdul Samad Rohani was found shot dead in Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand province, Afghanistan today, A BBC statement said Rohani’s “bravery – and that of his colleagues – have allowed us to tell a key story for audiences in the UK, in Afghanistan and around the world”. It added: “His death is […]
Nasteh Dahir killed in Somalia
Nasteh Dahir was killed in Somalia yesterday. The local journalist worked for the BBC and the AP. The National Union of Somali Journalists called it a “targeted assasination”. Our man Rob Crilly has more, Those of us who flit in and out of Somalia owe a heck of a lot to the courage of the […]
Three ‘Sky’ journalists arrested in Zimbabwe
Three South Africans arrested last weekend in Esigodini, Matabeleland South, in alleged possession of broadcasting equipment belonging to television network Sky News, appeared in court yesterday facing charges of contravening provisions of the Post and Telecommunications Act. The three, Bennet Hassen Sono, Resemate Chauke, and Simon Maodi, jointly charged with Craig Mark Ram Edy (42), […]
The case of Trent Keegan
Freelance photographer Trent Keegan was murdered on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. His body was found in a ditch on Wednesday, 28 May. I’m not going to say much more about this at the moment, but I’d like to point you Nairobi-based, Frontline blogger, Rob Crilly who knew Trent and is following the case. As […]
Chronology of journalists killed in Iraq
As an Iraqi cameraman was shot dead by U.S. troops as he walked home on Thursday. Reuters has put together a recent chronology of journalists killed in Iraq. Reporters Without Borders has called the Iraq war the deadliest conflict for journalists since World War Two, with 213 journalists and support workers killed since 2003. link
Kimberley Dozier breathing fire
Kimberley Dozier is interviewed on the Bob Rivers show. She recalls the day she almost died when a roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad. Kimberley took part in the recent Frontline Club event in New York. Her book, “Breathing the Fire: Fighting to Report and Survive the War in Iraq”, has just been published.
Drago Hedl wins award for war crimes journalism
[video:youtube:7f6AyehCFJQ] Croatian journalist Drago Hedl has won the Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism Award for 2008 announced by the Central European Initiative (CEI) and the South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) yesterday. Hedl works as an editor and journalist with the political weekly Feral Tribune in Split, The jury said it based its decision “on […]
From propaganda to the press
The story of Haider Hamza, an Iraqi Ministry of Information teenage propaganda stooge, who eventually became a Reuters reporter soon after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. This American Life produce this fascinating story, well worth a listen, When he was a teenager, Haider Hamza worked in the Iraqi Ministry of Information. He was specially trained […]
Reuters seek truth behind death of Fadel Shana
A month after Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana was killed by an Israeli tank shell in the Gaza strip, the news organisation still has no explanation from Israeli authorities as to why he was targetted, “A month has passed since Fadel Shana was killed by Israeli forces while responsibly going about his professional duties,” said Reuters […]
Blogger Tariq Baiasi sentenced to 3 years
The Global Voices Advocacy group points our attention to the case of Syrian blogger Tariq Baiasi The blogger, who has been in prison for almost one year, has been sentenced to three years for leaving a comment on “suspicious websites”, The State Security Court in Damascus has sentenced Tariq to three years after lessening it […]
CNN man in Burmese chase
CNNs man in Myanmar, Dan Rivers, left the cyclone stricken country last Friday after being pursued by Burmese authorities. He credits his ability to evade capture upon the incompetence of those in hot pursuit. He defaced his passport, hid under a blanket and thinks he may have finally escaped due to the impatience of a […]
Jeremy Bowen comes under fire in Lebanon
“BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen has come under fire whilst reporting in Lebanon. Jeremy Bowen and his team are now safely back in Beirut.” link. Click the image above to see Jeremy in Lebanon
Howard Burditt released
Reuters photographer Howard Burditt was released today after he was detained for three days in Zimbabwe. Burditt, a Zimbabwean national covering the aftermath of the country’s elections, had been in jail since Monday after officials accused him of illegally using a satellite phone to send pictures. “I am extremely relieved that Howard has been released […]
Prepare to be a war correspondent
According to human rights groups and diplomatic sources, Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party intend to hang on to power come what may. In what is something of a scary reflection of the recent post from our Zimbabaloola a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo threatens a journalist with what will happen if Mugabe is not returned to […]
Reporting Cyclone Nargis
DSC05551, originally uploaded by Azmil77. Russell Boyce is in charge of the Asia picture desk at Reuters. Yesterday, he says, was a “tough day”. He is, of course, referring to Cyclone Nargis that ripped through Burma with a final death toll that could reach 100,000. Russell talks about the day on the Asia desk on […]
Mushtaq Yusufzai wins inaugural Kate Webb Award
Pakistani journalist Mushtaq Yusufzai has won the naugural Kate Webb Award for his reports from the Pakistans tribal belt areas home to a number of Al-Qaeda loyalists. The award was presented by Agence France-Presse and was announced today. the 32 year old reporter has previously been wounded by the Taliban and arrested during his work. […]
Andrew Harding deported from Burma
He’d only just arrived, but the Burmese authorities weren’t having any of it. Andrew Harding was hoping to report on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, but he was on the next plane out when ‘irregularities’ were spotted at border control. AFP quotes the state run New Light of Mynamar newspaper, “A journalist who is working […]
The most dangerous places to work as a journalist
[video:youtube:-lOZtc9zXMA] Last week the Committee to Protect Journalists released a list of the most dangerous spots for journalists. Places where journalists are killed and the killers go free. The ranking was produced in advance of World Press Freedom Day on May 3. It is based on the Impunity Index. CNNs Christiane Amanpour talks about the […]
Sarwa Abdul-Wahab gunned down
Sarwa Abdul-Wahab was gunned down in the Bakir district of Mosul on Sunday. The 35 year old freelanced for the Kurdistan Reporters News Agency and worked as a lawyer defending journalists’ rights. The IHT has more, “She was a member of our association which is based in Baghdad but has a branch in Mosul,” said […]
Al-Jazeera journalist Sami al-Haj released from Guantanamo
[video:youtube:qXLDtAYm6SI] Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj was finally released from Guantanamo Bay prison this week after seven years. He spoke with Al-Jazeera about his time in captivity. via Ethan
Welcome to Somalia
I just got off the Skype chat with Alex in Mogadishu. He reckons he’s one of just three foreign reporters in Mogadishu at the moment. I thought of him when I read Janine Di Giovanni’s piece on Comment is free today about arriving at Moghadishu airport, A truckload of Kalashnikov wielding teenagers were waiting for […]
Where next for Zimbabwe?
[video:brightcove:1529447593] The latest debate from the Frontline Club is now online. Following the farcical election in Zimbabwe, the panel discuss the next steps for Zimbabwe. Journalists Patrick Smith from Africa Confidential, Laura Lynch, CBC radio reporter, as well as Tererai Karimakweda of SW Radio Africa and Catherine Phelp who talks live from Zimbabwe talk about […]
Journalist death threats in China
The Foreign Correspondents Club of China released a statement today condemning online death threats received by at least ten foreign correspondents in China following a campaign on the web and in the state-run media following media coverage of protests in Tibet. Melinda Lui, President of the FCCC, talks about the threats in Newsweek Magazine today. […]
Richard Butler on being held hostage
CBS News journalist Richard Butler discusses his ordeal at the hands of kidnappers in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. He was held for two months until the Iraqi Army rescued him. Butler talks with fellow CBS reporter Allen Pizzey, I am standing there, in front of these eight guys with AK-47s, and I am […]
Barry Bearak retells his Harare prison experience
New York Times reporter Barry Bearak was arrested in Harare during the farcical election process that began last month, and that continues with no firm outcome a month after it began. He retells his story in the American press, I’d been caught at it red-handed, my notes spread across my desk, my text messages readable […]
Sydney Saize on trial
Sydney Saize was arrested in the Zimbabwean town of Mutare in January 2006. He is charged under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act for reporting at a school where two teachers were assaulted by pro-government supporters, According to the police, Saize violated Chapter 10.27 of the draconian Access to Information and Protection […]
Yuri Bagrov profiled
Former Chechen war reporter Yuri Bagrov is profiled in the New York Times today. Bagrov worked in Grozny disguising himself as a Russian soldier at one point so that he could report from the frontline in Grozny. His reports didn’t go down well with Russian authorities and he was stripped of citizenship in 2005. Now, […]
“We are going to have to detain you for a little while, sirâ€
Writing in The Times Jonathan Clayton talks about his ordeal at the hands of Zimbabwean authorities as he tried to enter the country through the second city of Bulawayo posing as a golfing tourist. An old passport stamp aroused the suspicion of an immigration officer, [The Senior Immigration Officer Godfrey Kondo’s] meticulous attention to detail […]
Stephen Bevan is back
Stephen Bevan, freelancer for the Telegraph and Barry Bearak from the New York Times left Zimbabwe yesterday. The duo were arrested some two weeks ago, however the law they were arrested under had been scrapped earlier in 2008. The charges didn’t stick. Bevan is now back home in South Africa. He tells of his time […]