U.S. reporters in Iraq face a new realm of difficulty

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2006-12-17-media-mix_x.htm

Reporting from Iraq is always dicey. Dozens of journalists have been kidnapped, injured or killed since the U.S. invasion almost four years ago.

But network and cable news reporters say the escalation in sectarian violence, coupled with uncertainty about the future U.S. role in Iraq, have prompted Iraqis to be more wary of them and have made an already dangerous assignment even more perilous.

Reporters say their ability to paint a full picture of Iraq is increasingly difficult because of safety restrictions that they or their news organizations have imposed.

"We now have the 15-minute rule: We never stay anywhere longer than 15 minutes to reduce the chance of kidnapping or attack, CBS' Elizabeth Palmer says.

[Joe for Clark]

1. I have no sympathy at all for them.

No body forced them to be "reporters" - they chose the job.

And they failed so miserably.

Absolutely - they try and go out and report and they might be killed - guess that is true.

That is part of the job - isn't it?? A lot of people getting killed right now. Many, perhaps, caused they failed so miserably in the first place to do their job.

And the true harm, is they pass along absolute crap as reporting and expect to still be called reporters - that is just wrong.

There are a few that don't - but so very few.

I really don't listen to them seriously anymore.

Joe

[RamboLiberal]

4. I root for a few of them - like Michael Ware of CNN

who IMHO is the most honest reporter there.

[Joe for Clark]

5. There are a few.

I don't see any Ernie Pyles out there, though.

Ware is better than most.

But that is not saying too much, either.

Joe

[stillcool]

2. I don't know what to make of this...

if Dahr Jamail says it's too dangerous for him, am I to believe that Fox news reporters have stuck one toe outside of the Green Zone?

"Today Is Better than Tomorrow" Iraq as a Living Hell By Dahr Jamail
The situation in Iraq has reached such a point of degradation and danger that I've been unable to return to report -- as I did from 2003 to 2005 -- from the front lines of daily life. Instead, in these last months, I have found myself in a supportive role, facilitating the work of some of my former sources, who remain in their own war-torn land, to tell their hair-raising tales of the new Iraq. While relying on my Iraqi colleagues to report the news, which we then publish at Inter Press Service and my website, I continue to receive emails from others in Iraq, civilian and soldier alike.
What I know from these emails is that the articles on Iraq you normally read in your local newspaper, even when, for instance, they cover the disintegration of the Iraqi health system or the collapse of the economy, are providing you, at best, but a glimpse of what daily life there is now like. After all, who knows better what's happening than those who are living it?
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/iraq_dispatches/000506.php#more

[cassiepriam]

3. More karma time. Many of those who supported Bush are now in harm's

way, one of their own making.

If they had done their job before the war
they might not be in one now.

[DemReadingDU]

6. a reporter on MSNBC, a few days ago

He was reporting from Baghdad. He was saying that it is so bad in Iraq, the reporters can't go around like they used to to get their stories. It was very unsafe. Also he remarked that they are not allowed to report as much as they want.

Sounded to me like it is so unsafe they can't get out to report the 'good' stories, yet they can't report the really bad news either.

[Joe for Clark]

7. DU - it is unsafe - no doubt at all.

That is why our kids are dieing right now.

They are not allowed to report as much as they want? - for god's sake - they are not there at all.

Good stories - oh, no.

This build up against the kids was not overnight. It built up over many months. And if they did their job more reporters would probably be dead. But if they did - maybe a lot more young kids would be alive.

You know what combat pay is today for an E-5? - and they have no choice being there at all.
Wonder just what a CNN reporter gets for being there voluntarily?

They are miserable failures - they just are. And their failure kills.

Joe