Why Journalists Risk Their Lives to Cover Iraq (B&C)

Seven war-zone vets on coping, surviving and telling the great tale

Reported by John M. Higgins and Allison Romano Edited by Rob Edelstein -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/5/2006
 
"Journalists Killed on Duty: 73." This is how the independent Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sums up the casualties of war among the print and electronic press in Iraq.

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We spoke to several of those who have been most affected: the members of the press who risk their lives in Iraq. While their experiences differ, they remain united in one thing at least: a strong sense of duty to report this most vital of news stories.
 
Michael Ware
CNN correspondent; previously Time magazine’s Baghdad bureau chief
 
Michael Ware: I was once grabbed by an al-Zarqawi organization and readied for execution. [Covering a story in September 2004, Ware was pulled from his car. A gun was held to the back of his head, and, after the pin was pulled, a live grenade was held against him. After a 15-minute negotiation between opposing forces, he was released.] It happened in the short course of an afternoon, but it felt like a lifetime. Fortunately, I was able to get out of that situation and return. That took a long time to get over. [But] I stayed in-country.

Ware: Clearly, it’s very hard to distill into one story the reality of life on the ground. Many of the soldiers I was with recently in Ramadiyah feel that people back home are turning off to an extent. They feel they’re fighting this war in a vacuum. That’s where you see the true strength of these men. They continue to do their jobs professionally and bravely.

Ware: It’s being able to watch history unfolding. It’s as though we’ve been given a front-row ticket to history. Take the battle of Tall ’Afar, on the Syrian border. That’s where the Iraqi and U.S. forces took back the city. I was one of two fortunate journalists to see that take place.