Once again, Reuters staff have died covering the war in Iraq.
When is a story worth a life?
The answer, of course, is never.
And yet, six Reuters deaths later, were still in Iraq, still covering the story.
Reuters Ukrainian cameraman Taras Protsyuk was killed in April 2003. Reuters Palestinian cameraman Mazen Dana was killed four months later. Reuters Iraqi freelance cameraman Dhia Najim was killed in November 2004. Reuters Iraqi soundman Waleed Khaled was killed in August 2005. And in July 2007, Reuters Iraqi photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and Reuters driver Saeed Chmagh were killed.
All of the victims were visual journalists and the people who work with them. To get the story they must get close to the action.
To a journalist reporting the action is the entire reason we are in the profession. We tell the story. We tell what happened. We put it in context. We show; we describe; we explain.
Some do it in words, and that can be done from the office, which, in a place like Iraq, can be horrifically dangerous too. Some do it in pictures and video, and that must be done from the front. And that means taking a risk.
Imagine a world where no one took the risks.
Imagine a world where wars happened in secrecy.
Imagine a world where heroism, tragedy, death and life never got reported or were only filtered through official versions.
Imagine a world where you, as a citizen of whatever country you are reading this in, just didnt have the information you needed to make up your mind.
There arent many news organizations left in Iraq. The ones that are there take a terrible calculated risk. We at Reuters, like our colleagues at other major organization, struggle endlessly to make the dangerous safer, to understand the risks and to mitigate the risks. The cause of journalist safety is a vital one.
Foreign staff and Iraqi staff together put nationalities aside, put religion aside and put sectarianism aside to bring the story out day after day. They do it because they believe with every cell of their souls that telling the story truthfully and fully is a vital service and a sacred obligation.
They do it because they are journalists.
Our Reuters staff in Iraq exemplifies this creed. Read their stories. View their pictures. Watch their video. And know that they are there because they believe you need to know what is happening.
Taras, Mazen, Dhia, Waleed, Namir and Saeed. We at Reuters salute you. We salute your many colleagues from other news organizations who also have died. We salute your colleagues in the bureau today, who are striving to tell the story.
David Schlesinger is Reuters Editor-in-Chief
A tribute to Namir’s work has been compiled by his colleagues
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15 comments so far
David… You said, “Imagine a world where heroism, tragedy, death and life never got reported or were only filtered through official versions.” Here in America we don’t have to imagine it; we live with it. When was the last time any of your brave, close-to-the-action Reuters photojournalists had the nerve to show some of those American troops coming home, you know, the ones they sneak in in the middle of the night, the ones in the boxes draped with flags?
- Posted by Phil N. DeBlancWhat a beautiful—and important—tribute. I hope the families of thesse journalists find comfort in your words.
- Posted by Susan PicardSusan Picard
When was the last time any journalist reported an American victory, the enemy killed or captured. There must have been many but all our news is filtered through official versions which is that this war is only about Americans dying and enemies exploding markets etc. Why do they hate us? Why can’t there be any communication with them?
- Posted by Dorothy TrendBravery - humbug! Let’s see just some of the hundreds of thousands of civilian (collateral damage) casualties and maimings. The result of war is no-one wins.
When the media is so well managed, I am not surprised that they become targets (by both sides)
- Posted by Grant JohnstoneThis passionate meditation is very enlightening. The negative comments above grossly misconstrue Mr. Schlesinger’s point–that journalist play a vital, sacrificial role in the function of democracy.
- Posted by David PalmerIn my opinion it has been an enormous waste of journalists lives. The story hardly ever changes in Iraq, with murderers killing many innocent civilans on a daily basis. We should just surround the country and let them settle their tribal differences, and stay out of their civil war. We can always report on what happened after the smoke clears.
- Posted by IrvProbably they dont report it because the military doesnt allow it? and probably the news that reach your country is kinda different what we see in the other part of the world.
Showing what’s it like in the front is what reuters do I think. Showing the aftermath is a US Goverment’s responsibility. I am not anti america or pro america. Its just basic common sense.
I also dont believe what the media says all the time. But it is our responsibility to check or to analyze if it is really the truth or did it really happen before we believe it. Considering many horror stories we heard about the media behaving badly. We still have to use our common sense.
Now the death of those brave people who just wanted to show us what really is happening is kinda appalling to me. If the insurgents or terrorist or rebels wanted to legitimize what they are doing they shouldnt kill the journalists. Because they can use the media for their own end. Or to air their grievances or to just shout allahu akbar or what not. Its just senseless. They are killing their fellow brothers and sisters (I just assume because of the arabic sounding name of the dead journalist). It showed us the darkest side of our own humanity. And they are there to be a recipient of it. We can call them angels for angels are really messengers right? Not that the media is holy, or honest and or what ever. Its just appropriate to call dead journalists angels for their are dead because they are trying to give us the news. They died so that we can read it over breakfast, and watch it over dinner.
Killing the messenger is stupidity. Dying while delivering the message is not. You the media should stand up and say enough to getting killed. You know the whole story. You know the power you wield. But you also have to stop abusing it, so that the people rally behind you.
*sorry for the english, its not my first and second language.
- Posted by EdwinI feel deeply for the loss of your staff.This war is to filtered,for what truths true Journalists try to let us(the public)need to hear
- Posted by Richard Blountabout. I thank you and pray for your brave efforts
of your staff and others like you. This is a very
propagandized WAR. Our American gov’t. has been asked this before in this controlled uncalled for mess as I politely call it(for the benefit of a few making money at the expense of the rest).
So what….media is so biased that they all end up holed.
- Posted by the reaperWhile Phil DeBlanc has one issue with your “Imagine a world where heroism, tragedy, death and life never got reported or were only filtered through official versions.” phrase, there’s another.
We are no longer in a world where it either gets reported or doesn’t. There aren’t only official versions. We live at time when a significant number of participants from all sides posts the blogs. The time when the rumors of any event flood the Internet faster than any official version could even hope to be released (unless it was prepared in advance).
The news crews’ operations are not without flaws, either. I’ll point at only two of way too many examples.
1. During the recent Israeli assault on Lebanon, most if not all of news reports were severely exagerrated, featuring overly dramatic shots, many of which were later proved to be staged. The extent of direct damage was later shown to be a couple orders less than reported, too. (Though the contamination by cluster bombs was and remains too severe).
2. Jerome Sessini and Claudine Verniez-Palliez of Paris Match. The crew following the group that shot and hit the DHL A300, which survived only thanks to incredible skill of Eric Genotte, Steve Michielsen and Mario Rafoil, and their incredible luck in having Al Haynes who landed his DC-10 that, too, lost all controls in 1989 read a lecture on a safety seminar Cpt. Genotte attended shortly before the shooting. That news crew could have been easily killed, too — for example, if the group shootin at the plane was detected and eliminated. Was it worth it?
More importantly, was it all for the greater good, or just for pursuit of dramatic?
I don’t want to belittle your people who died, nor who still work in all the hot spots all over the world, but… A picture is worth a thousand words. But is a thousand words worth a life?
They obviously must think so. Whether they are right or not is only for themselves to decide. May they rest in peace.
- Posted by Andrew AlchemistNow if only they would report ALL the news and not just the slanted, left wing stuff.
- Posted by R HolsenImagine if there was nothing to kill or die for-
- Posted by NicholasReporters that want to make a career have a duty to their Editors more than to their audiences. Editors (like all people) have political biases as well as having to maintain ethical standards even where specific laws don’t limit the truth.
From what brave and dedicated reporters like Namir see, how much gets to the end consumer?
A far more valuable tribute would be an uncensored/unedited portfolio of Namirs works, showing his own unique views of the world he lived.
I add a big thank-you to all the Namirs that continue to risk their lives while working under strong pressure to conform.
- Posted by DastarblazerIt’s easy to sit in relative comfort and accuse “the media” of being “left wing” or “slanted.” As a working* journalist for 35 years, I’ve yet to meet such an accuser who would last a quarter mile in a working journalist’s moccasins.
Thank you for your beautiful tribute. Thank you to Reuters and of your staff members, no matter where in the world they are or what subject they’re covering.
- Posted by Anne R Gabrielcongress is also to blame,they have had the powers all along to stop this..they choice not to..why?
CONGRESS PLEASE EXPLAIN TO AMERICA ??
CONGRESS YOU HAVE KNOWN FOR THE PAST 4 YEARS THAT THIS ILLEIGAL OCCUPATION OF IRAQ WAS DONE ON LIES. BUT YOU STILL HAVE LET THIS ADMINASRATION GET AWAY WITH MURDERING OUR TROOPS. WHY?
YOU WERE ALSO TOLD BEFORE THE INVATION BY BRITTISH INTELLAGENTS THAT THE BUSH ADMINSRATION WAS INFACT CHANGING THE INTELLAGENT TO FIT THEIR AGENDA TO GO TO WAR, YOU WERE TOLD MANY TIME BY OTHER INTELLAGENT AGENCYS THAT EVERYTHING THAT IS BEING SAID TO YOU BY THIS VP CHENEY,AND BUSH AND RICE AND RUMSFELD WERE NOT TRUE THAT THEY WERE LIEING SO AGAIN WE AMERICANS WANT TO KNOW WHY?????
AMERICA IS WAITTING TO HEAR THE TRUTH FOR ONCE, SO HOW ABOUT IT.
THE MEDIA HAS TO GET THIS OUT THEIR SO ALL AMERICANS CAN BE CALLING ON CONGRESS EVERYDAY ASKING WHY,WHY,WHY?????
A AMERICAN has a strong plan to end this war, bring ALL the troops home and start reconciliation in Iraq. But Congress must act now: de-authorize this war before the summer break, and bring all all the troops home.
I’m joining his call on Congress to end this war NOW. It is time to stand up to Bush now. And its time to bring all of our troops home. We should remove all of our troops for Iraq - any troops we leave behind will just become targets. And if congress de-authorizes the war before the summer recess, we could have ALL of our troops home in 6 months.
Article 1 of the US Constitution gives the Congress, not the President, the right to declare war. And the War Powers Act specifies that the President may not continue a war without Congressional authorization. Saddam is dead. There never were any WMDs or ties to Al Qaeda. The basis for the 2002 war authorization is gone.
If Congress passes a resolution de-authorizing the war, the President has no legal authority to continue. De-authorization cannot be vetoed, and it would legally require Bush to begin bringing the troops home.
The time for waiting is over. People are dying every day. We cannot wait until this fall to start bringing our troops home. If Congress doesn’t act before they leave for the summer, the only thing that will change between now and the end of the year is the body count.
Congress has a public mandate and the Constitutional authority to end this war.
DAVID A BELANGER,VETERAN U.S.ARMY
- Posted by david a belanger9 RODMAN AVE,SHIRLEY MA 01464,978-618-3105