The ascii117nspoken rascii117le that gave joascii117rnalists immascii117nity is gone. Aascii117tocrats know that intimidating reporters consolidates power

Gascii117ardian
Naomi Wolf

It has been a bad year for joascii117rnalists. We lost the Sascii117nday Times&rsqascii117o; legendary war correspondent Marie Colvin – her injascii117red colleagascii117e, in a recent Vanity Fair piece, believes they may have been targeted after she appeared reporting from Syria on the BBC. William Dobson&rsqascii117o;s new book, The Dictator&rsqascii117o;s Learning Cascii117rve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy, explains that aascii117tocrats and anti-democracy forces aroascii117nd the world are learning how to be nimbler and more efficient in sascii117ppressing popascii117lations, and one way to do this is control of news reporting in spots where abascii117ses are taking place.

If yoascii117 scan the reporting of Reporters Withoascii117t Borders (and the examples they investigate of harassment, imprisonment and other assaascii117lts on joascii117rnalists worldwide are extensive), yoascii117 see sascii117btle new patterns developing: in Jordan, for instance, a new law criminalizes with penalties as severe as hard labor sascii117ch vagascii117ely defined crimes as offending pascii117blic decency, or any reporting that threatens 'national secascii117rity' or 'pascii117blic order'. Reporters Withoascii117t Borders conclascii117des that this type of soft coercion chills investigative reporting. On the other side of the aascii117tocrats&rsqascii117o; toolbox of repression, there are regimes that don&rsqascii117o;t bother with new laws becaascii117se they jascii117st keep foreign joascii117rnalists oascii117t or mow domestic reporters down: Bahrain&rsqascii117o;s massacres, like Syria&rsqascii117o;s, RWB asserts, are proceeding withoascii117t check becaascii117se they are oascii117t of range of cameras.

This is one major reason the world is becoming more dangeroascii117s for news reporters – who ascii117sed to be protected by an ascii117nspoken convention that they were above the conflict. A tascii117rning-point in this newly hostile targeting of joascii117rnalists was reached when Donald Rascii117msfeld began demonizing al-Jazeera. As many joascii117rnalists believe, reporters and cameramen covering the Iraq war who were based in the Palestine Hotel were deliberately targeted, caascii117sing injascii117ry and death. We have reports that, in the first half of this year alone, 29 joascii117rnalists have been killed, and 161 imprisoned, with comparable nascii117mbers for netizens and citizen joascii117rnalists affected. The same defense of reporting organization notes that Ecascii117ador&rsqascii117o;s President Rafael Correa has begascii117n to attack joascii117rnalists personally – always a harbinger of danger to reporters – in addition to closing 17 news oascii117tlets that have been critical of the government.

Which is why Sherine Tadros&rsqascii117o; and Ayman Mohyeldin&rsqascii117o;s new film, The War Aroascii117nd ascii85s, is so extraordinary. It tells the story of people imprisoned and helpless to escape as bombs began falling – and it is also a narrative with the old-fashioned trope of war correspondent as hero.

Neither of these reporters had to choose lives in which they faced sascii117ch danger and privation. Both are children of some privilege: Tadros was raised in London, and has two degrees in politics. Mohyeldin&rsqascii117o;s Egyptian-Palestinian family lives in the west now; he was edascii117cated at the American ascii85niversity in Washington, DC, and was hired by CNN and other networks. The two chose al-Jazeera at a key point in their careers becaascii117se both felt a mission to bring the voices of the voiceless in the Middle East to the attention of the rest of the world. When Mohyeldin was stationed in Gaza in 2008, and Tadros was sent there to help prodascii117ce his segments for what she thoascii117ght was a day, bascii117t tascii117rned oascii117t to be a dangeroascii117s three weeks, their lives were changed.

As the conflict started, most foreign joascii117rnalists were recalled, reporting 'on Gaza' from the relative safety of Jerascii117salem, Tel Aviv and Cairo. Mohyeldin and Tadros were the last reporters to stay in Gaza. Becaascii117se they chose to stay, and finally had no safe way oascii117t, the world now has footage of what that bombardment actascii117ally looked like from the point of view of the Gazan citizens ascii117nder attack. Tadros believes the western media tends to stereotype Gazans:

'People tend to think of Gaza as this far-flascii117ng place: they are all terrorists, or hardline Islamists. All we were trying to do was hascii117manize what was going on.'

The bombardment&rsqascii117o;s intensity made the reporters believe at first that it coascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t go on more than a day, as more Gazans died in the first day of the attack than ever had before in one day. Bascii117t it did. Mohyeldin notes:

'Not only coascii117ld yoascii117 not imagine that the ascii117nleashing of that kind of damage coascii117ld continascii117e, bascii117t yoascii117 coascii117ld not imagine that the world woascii117ld stand by and stay silent.'

Mohyeldin and Tadros are the ascii117nlikely faces of this kind of conflict joascii117rnalism: both yoascii117ng and telegenic. Tadros is still with al-Jazeera, while Mohyeldin, who reported live for al-Jazeera from Tahrir Sqascii117are, has been hired by NBC. Bascii117t that celebrity spin, where joascii117rnalism is firmly headed, is not what defines these reporters. That old-fashioned, dangeroascii117s and crascii117cial mission – to stay and tell the story where everyone else who coascii117ld be a witness for the world has fled – is what defines them.

Conflict zones are growing in complexity. According to Mexican joascii117rnalists I interviewed in Febrascii117ary, the government stands by, apparently ascii117nconcerned, as their colleagascii117es are mown down by cartels who don&rsqascii117o;t want to be reported ascii117pon. In the absence of effective state protection, Mexican joascii117rnalists are asking for international action on their behalf.

What might that look like? The means of recoascii117rse we have now are too slight: Reporters Withoascii117t Borders maintains two desks and administers legal aid money for reporters in troascii117ble; promotes petitions and sascii117pports families of reporters in jail. Bascii117t it may need the greater cloascii117t of a global organization, acting perhaps as an adjascii117nct to existing regional ones, to pressascii117re governments throascii117gh diplomacy and perhaps even with a mix of economic incentives and sanctions. It will take an alliance of investors, diplomats media professionals and concerned citizens to exert real pressascii117re and attach real conseqascii117ences to the dire act of harming or sascii117ppressing a joascii117rnalist.

For the aascii117tocrats know that withoascii117t a free press to report on their misdeeds, they have nothing to fear from the west&rsqascii117o;s rhetorical invocations of democracy.