March 27, 2003
The News Infantry
While I am often critical of newspapers as institutions, I have great admiration for editors, reporters and photographers who take risks in their work - both creative and physical. Many of these journalists are in Iraq today. Here's an update on some of them:
Newsday: Iraq Expels 2 Newsday Journalists; Whereabouts Unknown
Newsday has lost contact since Monday with its two journalists assigned to cover the war in Baghdad, after they and a small group of Western journalists were rounded up by Iraqi officials and apparently ordered to leave the country, according to other reporters in the Iraqi capital.
Editor & Publisher: Group Asks for Investigation on British Deaths
PARIS -- (AP) A journalists' watchdog group Wednesday asked U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks, the top commander in Iraq, to order an investigation into the death of a British reporter in the war and the disappearance of his two colleagues.
Newsday: Reporters Strike Out Alone
The unilaterals face more pronounced dangers than journalists traveling with troops, including greater risks of being attacked by hostile Iraqis, being misidentified by allied troops or getting caught in crossfire.
Washington Post: Unembedded Journalist's Report Provokes Military Ire
Phil Smucker, who writes for the Christian Science Monitor, told his paper yesterday that military police were going through his belongings and were concerned that he had disclosed too much information in an interview.
Editor & Publisher: 'Chicago Trib' Reporter Offers Chilling Account
Unilaterals who are up closer to Baghdad are having to abandon their vehicles as they cannot source gasoline to keep them running.
And don't forget these newspaper-related war blogs:
Christian Science Monitor: Daily journal from Kuwait by reporter Ben Arnoldy.
Minneapolis Star Tribune: Audio, video, photo coverage; bios of reporters.
Raleigh News & Observer: A daily journal by reporter Jay Price
Poynter Institute, Coverage Diary: Stories about media coverage or issues.
Jeff Jarvis: War in Iraq weblog (runs on 10 Advance.net sites).
Seattle P-I: Reporter aboard aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
Seattle Times: War blog by editor Tom Brown.
San Jose Mercury News: War Watch blog by two editors.
USA Today: Daily blog by Angela Gunn.