A Press Pullout In Iraq?
My friend and former colleague Paul McLeary has been in Iraq and Kuwait this month for Columbia Journalism Review covering what it's like for the press covering the war. His latest dispatch, out today, ends with this riff on his hotel in Baghdad:
Getting a room wasn't a problem; while the hotel used to be full of journalists, many either left the country after the December elections or were pulled out by their publications, which have been cutting back on Baghdad staff as things have gotten progressively more dangerous. The day I checked in, the only people I saw were a few middle-aged Iraqi men in leather jackets forlornly smoking by the front desk, and a lonely cafeteria attendant, sitting at his cash register watching a soap opera.McLeary's dispatches – there are five of them so far, and they can be found here – offer an invaluable window into what it's like for reporters in Iraq. Many so far have focused on his inability to get around, which has itself been telling. Here's part of one from Jan. 19:
In fact, I didn't see any Westerners at all until my second day, when I contacted the acting bureau chief for an American paper who was staying in my hotel. As we were discussing the state of reporting in Baghdad and Iraq in general, he told me that I was a little late to the game. These days, more American reporters are leaving Iraq than arriving. In large part, for the U.S. press, "The party's pretty much over."
