War Coverage: Grim But Realistic
But a new Project for Excellence in Journalism survey of American reporters covering Iraq says that correspondents over there overwhelmingly believe the picture being painted for us here is accurate – with some even thinking it, yes, "too rosy."
According to the Reuters story:
Nearly 90 percent of U.S. journalists in Iraq say much of Baghdad is still too dangerous to visit, despite a recent drop in violence attributed to the build-up of U.S. forces, a poll released on Wednesday said.Before going any further, it's critical to note that the actual percentage of the respondents who consider the coverage unrealistically positive was 15 percent, with 70 percent saying that the coverage, while admittedly negative, is accurate.The survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center showed that many U.S. journalists believe coverage has painted too rosy a picture of the conflict…
"Eight in 10 journalists believe conditions have deteriorated for reporters since their own first posting in the country," the survey's authors said.
But much of the study's other findings are jarring and disturbing.
Nobody knows the grim reality and risk over there better than CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier, who lost two colleagues and nearly died herself due to a car bomb while trying to cover Iraq.
I tracked her down here at the DC bureau and asked her about the dangers over there.
Her response?
All of our Iraqi staff has had close calls – most have had death threats. Many of our original Iraqi staffers have had to flee, with CBS's help, to nearby countries.
And yet, despite our precautions, one of our Baghdad bureau translators has recently been captured and killed – he is one of the 90 – (that's nine-zero) Iraqi journalists killed there since 2003. With my colleagues Paul Douglas and James Brolan, 13 Europeans have been killed, and two Americans.
But most of the Iraqi journalists killed were not working with foreigners. They were targeted…because of what they were reporting, or simply the fact that they were trying to get a message out at all.
Whoever the killers are, it's as if they think by murdering the Iraqi journalists (or any of us), they murder our ideas, and stop the message.
And yet, Iraqi reporters keep doing their job. Like the doctors and the teachers who keep going to work, despite being targeting by the hundreds since 2003, they set an example for all of us in courage, faith and sheer stubbornness. You've just got to salute them.
This won't stop the debate over bias in war coverage, but it illuminates the day-to-day risk and stress that journalists are dealing with. And it's interesting to hear the views of the people who are face-to-face with the story and crafting our perception.
It's difficult for this writer, however, to imagine how a reporter would exert the energy to inject a slant in a story when they're just trying to stay out of harm's way.