Where To Follow The News About Vogt and Woodruff
Like most everyone in journalism, we're particularly saddened by the serious injuries suffered by ABC News cameraman Doug Vogt and co-anchor Bob Woodruff, who are now being treated in Germany after their convoy was attacked in Iraq yesterday. We 'll have more later, but in the meantime we wanted to point you to a few places where you can get continuing coverage.
Jim Romenesko's Poynter institute website has an excellent roundup of links to stories here. In one of the stories he links, former foreign correspondent Donatella Lorch discusses how the "danger that journalists face in Iraq is really unparalleled." Mediabistro's Morning Newsfeed also has a good roundup.
Howard Kurtz, who wrote a piece on Woodruff and co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas that appeared in yesterday's Washington Post, has a column that talks about the questions he asks journalists over and over: "Why go to places like Iraq? Why risk your life? How do you blot it out and work when danger is always lurking just around the corner?" He also mentions Bob Schieffer's praise for Woodruff's bravery on Face The Nation. "Wars are not fought on the training ground, nor can they be covered from a TV studio," said Schieffer. "They are not reality shows, they are reality. Young men and women have to fight them and correspondents have to cover them if we are to understand what they are about."
Joe Gandelman at the Moderate Voice has a column on how the story has revealed the extent of the dangers journalists face. He also links to a number of other blogs commenting on the story. Memorandum offers links to some of the bigger blogs commenting on the story. This Technorati feed also offers links to blogs mentioning "Woodruff."
Finally, for the most comprehensive coverage, see TVNewser, where Brian Stelter is covering the story from all sides. He includes an email from former CNN executive Eason Jordan dealing with one of the early questions to come out of the story – why there is a difference in the various estimates of journalists killed in Iraq. A TVNewser emailer also poses an ethical question of the kind that is sure to show up again as the story develops: "Did anyone else cringe at Monday [New York Times] article on Bob Woodruff by Jacques Steinberg and Richard Oppel? It focuses on how ratings might be affected. Of all the angles that could have been explored, this is surely the most crass and distasteful. Couldn't they have waited at least 24 hours to put commercial considerations ahead of humanity? Or that asking too much?"