thedrifter
12-05-07, 06:58 AM
Stories of reporting in Iraq make a riveting read
By Bruce Ramsey
Special to The Seattle Times
"Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists Who Covered It"
edited by Mike Hoyt, John Palattella and the staff of the Columbia Journalism Review
Melville House, 187 pp., $21.95
News organizations have been sending reporters to Iraq for nearly five years now. Many Americans ignore what they say, having grown bored with the war; others criticize them. In "Reporting Iraq," the press answers back.
Mike Hoyt, executive editor of Columbia Journalism Review, and John Palattella, literary editor of The Nation, interviewed war reporters for the November 2006 issue of CJR. This book is an expansion of that project. It is an excellent oral history that, notwithstanding one editor's affiliation with a left-wing political magazine, is free of political spin. It is readable, colorful and believable.
These are not news stories. A news story is a packaged narrative, and the journalist is supposed to keep his life out of it. If Anne Garrels, of National Public Radio, goes into combat with a battalion of Marines, she is not likely to admit on the air that she is still having nightmares about it. In this book she admits it.
Journalists are insurgent targets, and have had to travel (when they travel at all) as Iraqis. James Hider, of the Times of London, talks about dyeing his hair black to reduce his chances of being shot. Liz Sly, of The Chicago Tribune, talks about dressing up in a head scarf and long skirt, and learning not to meet people's eyes when walking with a man, because an Iraqi woman in that role is assumed to be married, and is not to look or be looked at.
The book is illustrated with color photos, including one of a U.S. Army captain lying in a puddle of his blood in a busted-up kitchen, with the caption, "This photo did not appear in any mainstream U.S. newspapers except in a handful of stories about self-censorship."
Several of the journalists have complimentary things to say about the U.S. military and their experience as "embedded" reporters. "I have been struck by how essentially humane a lot of the soldiers are," says Elizabeth Palmer, of CBS. Martin Smith, a "Frontline" (PBS) producer, recalls captains and colonels who "were really straight-shooters." But others note that soldiers rotate in and out, so that always many are green. They feel and act scared, and they don't know the Iraqi culture. Borzou Daragahi, of the Los Angeles Times, recalls wanting to say to some soldiers conducting a weapons search, "You guys are really, really making a bad name for yourself here by storming into this guy's house with your shoes on."
This book will not be welcomed by those who believe the media are purveying false bad news to the American people. Its message is that the good news stories are rose petals in a hurricane. Says Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, a photographer for Getty Images, "We are not actually conveying how horrible the situation is." Says freelance writer Andrew Lee Butters, "I think a good question is how accurate a picture of Iraq Americans actually want."
Being conversational, "Reporting Iraq" is much easier to read than a long news story. It is also blunt, and the reader may be thankful that it is organized so it can be taken in small doses.
Bruce Ramsey is a Seattle Times editorial writer.
Ellie
By Bruce Ramsey
Special to The Seattle Times
"Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists Who Covered It"
edited by Mike Hoyt, John Palattella and the staff of the Columbia Journalism Review
Melville House, 187 pp., $21.95
News organizations have been sending reporters to Iraq for nearly five years now. Many Americans ignore what they say, having grown bored with the war; others criticize them. In "Reporting Iraq," the press answers back.
Mike Hoyt, executive editor of Columbia Journalism Review, and John Palattella, literary editor of The Nation, interviewed war reporters for the November 2006 issue of CJR. This book is an expansion of that project. It is an excellent oral history that, notwithstanding one editor's affiliation with a left-wing political magazine, is free of political spin. It is readable, colorful and believable.
These are not news stories. A news story is a packaged narrative, and the journalist is supposed to keep his life out of it. If Anne Garrels, of National Public Radio, goes into combat with a battalion of Marines, she is not likely to admit on the air that she is still having nightmares about it. In this book she admits it.
Journalists are insurgent targets, and have had to travel (when they travel at all) as Iraqis. James Hider, of the Times of London, talks about dyeing his hair black to reduce his chances of being shot. Liz Sly, of The Chicago Tribune, talks about dressing up in a head scarf and long skirt, and learning not to meet people's eyes when walking with a man, because an Iraqi woman in that role is assumed to be married, and is not to look or be looked at.
The book is illustrated with color photos, including one of a U.S. Army captain lying in a puddle of his blood in a busted-up kitchen, with the caption, "This photo did not appear in any mainstream U.S. newspapers except in a handful of stories about self-censorship."
Several of the journalists have complimentary things to say about the U.S. military and their experience as "embedded" reporters. "I have been struck by how essentially humane a lot of the soldiers are," says Elizabeth Palmer, of CBS. Martin Smith, a "Frontline" (PBS) producer, recalls captains and colonels who "were really straight-shooters." But others note that soldiers rotate in and out, so that always many are green. They feel and act scared, and they don't know the Iraqi culture. Borzou Daragahi, of the Los Angeles Times, recalls wanting to say to some soldiers conducting a weapons search, "You guys are really, really making a bad name for yourself here by storming into this guy's house with your shoes on."
This book will not be welcomed by those who believe the media are purveying false bad news to the American people. Its message is that the good news stories are rose petals in a hurricane. Says Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, a photographer for Getty Images, "We are not actually conveying how horrible the situation is." Says freelance writer Andrew Lee Butters, "I think a good question is how accurate a picture of Iraq Americans actually want."
Being conversational, "Reporting Iraq" is much easier to read than a long news story. It is also blunt, and the reader may be thankful that it is organized so it can be taken in small doses.
Bruce Ramsey is a Seattle Times editorial writer.
Ellie