America’s media failed

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, who recently relocated from the UK to the US, was recently interviewed by former TV man Marvin Kalb at the National Press Club. Amanpour said the profession “failed to do our duty” in the run up to the Iraq war. She also touched on the leading cause of death in journalism these days,

“Today the leading cause of death among journalists … is deliberate. We are murdered. We are silenced because people don’t want to hear the truth. It’s as simple as that and as terrible as that,” she said. Amanpour said war reporting “is an extreme profession” but she does it because she loves it. Becoming a mother eight years ago, she said, changed some things for her – for instance, taking prudent steps for her personal safety, such as always wearing her helmet or bulletproof jacket. link

Kim Dozier was in the audience and added her tuppenceworth when Christiane talked about her near death in Iraq two years ago,

“We make a choice. I chose a difficult physical and psychological job. The real tragedy is today people, like Kimberly (Dozier) and others in the field… are deliberately targeted,” Amanpour asserted. “We are murdered. We are silenced because people don’t want to hear the truth…”
…Dozier said she “(misses) the adrenaline of being a foreign news correspondent” and looks forward to returning to her old job as soon as possible.
“The danger a journalist faces in the combat zone is no different from that of a soldier…It’s a choice and it comes with the territory,” Ravi Alfreds, a GW graduate student who is currently pursuing a M.A. in security policy studies. “It is a certain calling that not everyone has.” link