Journalists in danger
Al-Arabiya bureau chief escapes car bomb
AFP reports that Jawad Hattab, the Baghdad bureau chief for Al-Arabiya, narrowly escaped a car bomb today, “An explosive device was placed in the car of Al-Arabiya’s bureau chief Jawad Hattab near his home in the Al-Salihyah district of central Baghdad,” the Dubai-based satellite channel said. link Hattab and a number of Al-Arabiya colleagues have […]
Stop the War on Journalists in Sri Lanka
The recently launched CPJ blog highlights the plight of Sri Lankan journalist J.S. Tissainayagam. Tissa, as he is known, was detained in March by Terrorist Investigation Division forces and charged in August for "promoting terrorism through a magazine he published for a brief period in 2006". The International Federation of Journalists and Sri Lankan […]
South Korea filmaker banned from Iraq
Kim Young-me, a South Korean filmaker has been banned from travelling outside South Korea by the South Korean government. She could also go to prison for violating a (slightly bizarre) year-old law banning Koreans from traveling to Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, “They don’t want journalists working in Iraq,” she said… “I wanted my own independent […]
$2.5 million ransom for Somalia hostages
The kidnappers of the three journalists and two drivers kidnapped in Somalia two weeks ago have finally submitted their demands, “The kidnappers demanded 2.5 million dollars and we are trying to secure their release,” said Dahir Farah, who has been participating in negotiations to free the three abducted in Somalia last month. Another person claiming […]
Into Danger
Katie Adie promotes her new book Into Danger, which was published yesterday, in The Telegraph. She discusses why people like her choose to go to war and other dangerous places to work, One of the questions I am frequently asked is: ”What is the most dangerous thing that’s happened to you?” But I find it […]
Andrew Berends “temporarily released”
The filmmaker Andrew Berends has been temporarily released for the weekend along with his Nigerian translator, Samuel George. The two were arrested earlier this week while working on a film about the oil business in the Niger Delta, “Nigeria’s democratic government has made enormous strides since the days of dictator Sani Abacha, when dozens of […]
Journalists detained in Iraq
The Wired Danger Room blog does a good job rounding up the number of journalists who have been detained by US forces in Iraq. In late August, for example, Ali al-Mashhadani — a freelance cameraman working for Reuters, the BBC, and NPR — was released by the U.S. military in after 26 days in detention. […]
Iraqi snapper Ibrahim Jassam arrested
Ibrahim Jassam, an Iraqi photographer working for Reuters, has been arrested by US forces south of Baghdad. He “posed a threat to security” an army officer told AFP by email. Reuters demand he is either charged or released, “We are concerned to hear about Jassam’s detention, and urge the US military to either charge or […]
Film maker Andrew Berends arrested in Nigeria
Andrew Berends and his Nigerian fixer Samuel George were arrested in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt at the weekend. Berends has been working in the Niger Delta since April making a film about the oil-producing area that has been riven with conflict between government forces and armed separatists since the early 1990s, “Berends was […]
13 journalists killed in August
The Press Emblem Campaign says it has registered 13 journalists killed in the month of August. This is the highest recorded toll since October 2007. A total of 61 journalists have been killed since the beginning of 2008, Iraq remains the deadliest country for media coverage with 10 media workers killed since the beginning of […]
Somalia kidnap: “Things are moving positively”
Leonard Vincent, head of the Africa desk for Reporters Without Borders, talks to Canwest News Service about the plight of journalists Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan who were kidnapped in Somalia earlier this week, “Things are moving positively,” said Vincent. “It is a crucial moment and it would be very dangerous to disclose more than […]
The forgotten victims in Somalia
By now the whole newspaper reading world has heard of the Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout who was kidnapped in Somalia earlier this week. Some of the world is also aware that Australian snapper Nigel Brennan was also kidnapped at the same time. Google search on ""Amanda Lindhout" Somalia" and you get 4,070 results, there are […]
Reporting – a danger to Kurdish journalists
Reuters report on the dangers faced by Kurdish journalists working in the enclave in northern Iraq. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists about 60 Kurdish journalists “were killed, threatened, attacked, or taken to court in the first half of 2008” “In Kurdistan there is no freedom for journalists. I have proof of that — […]
Freelancing on the frontline
[video:youtube:WGTKFqcyfk0] Vaughan Smith, Frontline Club founder, talks to Press TV Iran about the dangers of freelancing on the frontline in the light of the recent kidnapping of Amanda Lindhout, Nigel Brennan, their Somali driver and two Somali guards. Vaughan makes the point that most journalists who are kidnapped or killed are from the countries they […]
Embedded reporter shaken up in Kandahar IED
Scott Deveau, a journalist with Canwest News Service and the National Post, was travelling in the back of an armoured vehicle with a Canadian Press reporter Tobi Cohen and a group of soldiers when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kandahar this morning, “The strike hit about five feet from me,” Deveau […]
Foreign journalists abducted in Somalia
Frontline Club on Dipity. Bloomberg is reporting that two foreign journalists are among five people who were kidnapped in Somalia today, The two journalists, an Australian man and Canadian woman, had been staying at the Shamo Hotel and were scheduled to visit a refugee camp at Elasha, 17 kilometers (10 miles) south of Mogadishu, Ahmed […]
Video blogger arrested in Beijing
Friend of Frontline, Brian Conley has been arrested in Beijing. Brian is the brains behind the Alive in Baghdad blog and has helped us promote the Frontline Club live video channel. In an email his wife Eowyn tells us Brian was among 6 people recently arrested in Beijing, China while traveling to cover pro-Tibet demonstrations, […]
Thai Rath reporter Charlee Boonsawat killed
Two bombs exploded in the the southern Thai town of Sungai Kolok today. Charlee Boonsawat, a reporter on the Thai Rath newspaper, was among the dead. The first bomb, which caused minimal damage, is believed to have been planted on a motorcycle. The second bomb exploded as onlookers, police and journalists attended the scene of […]
Israeli investigation into the beating of Mohammed Omer
Mohammed Omer, winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn prize for journalism was beaten by Israeli security guards upon his return home to Gaza in June. We blogged about it at the time. Stuart Littlewood, author of Radio Free Palestine, writes in The People’s Voice that he has received an explanation “of sorts” for the treatment […]
Three killed, dozens injured and arrested
Reporters Without Borders catalogues the deaths and injuries to journalists in Georgia since the war began less than two weeks ago. Turkish cameraman Levent Öztürk working for the NTV station was severely injured in attack which he and his colleagues caught on video, “When I was hit, my eye went and I knew something bad […]
Busted in Beijing
Kevin German gets his collar felt while shooting the arrest of a "scalper" in Beijing. Scalpers sell tickets for inflated prices to punters wanting a seat at the Olympics, Once the man was on the ground the other officer lunged at me again. He pushed me and hit me in the head. I don’t think […]
Crossing the frontline
[video:youtube:wmGl5FACJ2o] This dramatic footage purports to show journalists crossing the frontline in Georgia because… well, it doesn’t look as if there is anywhere else to go.
No longer safe
Daniel Lak from CBC News talks about the changing status of journalists in conflict zones. No longer just bystanders, as Michael Holmes refelected in the previous post, but targets, “In the ’60s and ’70s, reporters were somehow regarded by all sides as tellers of the story, people who got out their version, and were allowed […]
Michael Holmes on shooting journalists
CNN correspondent Michael Holmes reflects on a week in which an alarming number of journalists have been either killed, injured and/or targetted in Georgia. Michael wasn’t stuck in a car in Georgia like the Turkish reporters he empathises with, but he’s experienced a imilar situation in Iraq, On January 27, 2004, our two-car convoy was […]
Reporters under fire
[video:youtube:So07TMHRJ7E] CNN reports on the recent spate of journalist shootings and deaths in South Ossetia and Georgia.
FOX news reporters shot at in Gori
[video:youtube:UQXUW_ks8ls] FOX News reporter Steve Harrigan says he and a group of journalists were shot at in the Georgian town of Gori by “irregular, undisciplined, angry” Georgian forces with pistols. However, this appears to have happened at the same location we previously posted and both EuroNews and The Guardian reported the incident saying the man […]
Another Georgian journalist shot
Euronews captures what it is says is a Russian military official shooting a female Georgian journalist in the arm in or near the Georgian town of Gori. This appears to be a seperate incident from the one mentioned in the previous post where another female Georgian journalist was shot in the arm while broadcasting live […]
Footage of Georgian TV journalist fired upon during report
[video:youtube:-ETQpCsvrIY] A Georgian TV journalist is apparently fired upon by a Russian sniper and injured while delivering a piece to camera. Fortunately, she’s soon patched up and back on with the job. UPDATE: I see Reuters have now picked up on the video: A correspondent working for Georgian state television was injured in a shooting […]
Footage of Dutch cameraman killed in Gori
[video:youtube:B-epO3SDVYg] Disturbing footage of what appears to be the aftermath of an attack on the centre of the Georgian town of Gori. It’s difficult to ascertain the veracity of the footage, although this appears to be the attack that killed the Dutch cameraman Stan Storimans during the Russian bombardment of the town. An edit of […]
Footage of Turkish journalists under attack in Gori
[video:youtube:mp6hB5RvYoM] Footage has surfaced of NTV journalists coming under fire in Gori, the Georgian town 30km from South Ossetia. It aired on the Turkish NTV channel. I think it is from the attack first reported on Sunday, Russian NTV producer Peter Gassiyev was injured in an attack by unidentified forces outside Tskhinvali, the news Web […]
