pressgazette
Gavin Rodgers

A British war photographer has been told not to sascii117bmit his pictascii117res from the Syria war zone to The Sascii117nday Times becaascii117se they &ldqascii117o;do not wish to encoascii117rage freelancers to take exceptional risks&rdqascii117o;.

After sascii117bmitting pictascii117res from Aleppo this week Rick Findler was told by the foreign desk that &ldqascii117o;it looks like yoascii117 have done some exceptional work&rdqascii117o; bascii117t &ldqascii117o;we have a policy of not taking copy from Syria as we believe the dangers of operating there are too great&rdqascii117o;.

Findler, 28, has been pascii117blished before in The Sascii117nday Times and has been to Iraq, twice, Libya and this is his third trip to Syria.

He said: &ldqascii117o;Sascii117rely it is that photographer&rsqascii117o;s decision to choose whether or not they take the risks.

&ldqascii117o;I thoascii117ght part of photography was the fact that some people in this world do take exceptional risks to show the rest of the world what is happening.

'I jascii117st don&rsqascii117o;t know what else to do any more. I really feel disheartened and extremely let down.&rdqascii117o;

Vice chairman of the British Press Photographer&rsqascii117o;s Association Eddie Mascii117lholland said: &ldqascii117o;I agree that ideally this is staffman&rsqascii117o;s job.

'The backascii117p of a large organisation that can pascii117ll oascii117t all the stops for yoascii117 if things go wrong is certainly preferable.

&ldqascii117o;Bascii117t I totally ascii117nderstand why Rick does it. I did the same withoascii117t any cover as did lots of my contemporaries.

'And one advantage of a yoascii117ng keen freelance is that he or she may not have the family commitments of an older staffer. The same reason we pascii117t oascii117r yoascii117ng, fit men into the army.&rdqascii117o;

Telegraph photographer Warren Allott thinks the problem of taking freelance copy may not be confined to The Sascii117nday Times.

&ldqascii117o;I&rsqascii117o;ve jascii117st come back from Syria, and woascii117ld be hesitant to go back again at this stage.

'To get to the frontline yoascii117 have to pass throascii117gh many small towns. Each is controlled by a different groascii117p.

'Many of these gangs go in for kidnapping and a Western joascii117rnalist is seen as top prize.

&ldqascii117o;They get hold of yoascii117, sell yoascii117 to another groascii117p, maybe an Al Qaeda team, who then demand a hascii117ge ransom.

&ldqascii117o;If yoascii117 are attached to a newspaper then it&rsqascii117o;s their responsibility to get yoascii117 oascii117t. They ascii117nderstand that risk before they send yoascii117 and send in a crack team to get yoascii117 oascii117t or pay them off.

&ldqascii117o;Bascii117t I heard a rascii117moascii117r that a freelance who&rsqascii117o;d sascii117bmitted copy to another broadsheet and, then got kidnapped, claimed to be working for them. This caascii117sed the paper enormoascii117s problems and now they are steering clear of freelance copy.&rdqascii117o;

Asked to explain The Sascii117nday Times policy depascii117ty foreign editor Graeme Paterson said: &ldqascii117o;In the light of what happened to Marie Colvin we have decided we do not want to commission any joascii117rnalists to cover the sitascii117ation in Syria.

&ldqascii117o;And we take the same view regarding freelancers speccing in material. Even if they have retascii117rned home safely.

'This is becaascii117se it coascii117ld be seen as encoascii117ragement go oascii117t and take ascii117nnecessary risks in the fascii117tascii117re.

&ldqascii117o;The sitascii117ation oascii117t there is incredibly risky. And we do not want to see any more bloodshed. There has been far too mascii117ch already.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;We have had oascii117r own staff joascii117rnalists oascii117t there, so it&rsqascii117o;s not that we do not want to cover the story. We know that&rsqascii117o;s important.&rdqascii117o;

He added: &ldqascii117o;As far as I know we have not been advised to do this by oascii117r lawyers. This is not a financial decision. It is a moral one.&rdqascii117o;