BOSTON - G|oba|Post |s redefn|ng |nternat|ona| news |n
the d|g|ta| age, but we are o|d schoo| when |t comes to journa||st|c standards. 'GroundTruth: G|oba|post`s F|e|d Gu|de for Oorrespondents" |s ded|cated to putt|ng some of these standards |n wr|t|ng. The F|e|d Gu|de offers a way to share our po||c|es, pract|ces and |mportant |essons |earned |n the fe|d w|th our correspondents, co|umn|sts and contr|butors. ln th|s updated 2012 ed|t|on of the F|e|d Gu|de, we have made a few refnements based on your suggest|ons and our exper|ence as ed|tors. Th|s year, we have two new essays that te|| the story of perhaps the s|ng|e most traumat|c exper|ence for G|oba|Post |n three years of operat|on: The capture of G|oba|Post`s James Fo|ey |n ||bya on Apr|| 5. Th|s |s a work|ng document, the same way your d|spatches from the fe|d are a rough draft of h|story. There |s a revo|ut|on go|ng on |n med|a r|ght now. At G|oba|Post, we are |n |ts tumu|t and we |ove be|ng there. lt`s tru|y an exc|t|ng t|me. So we be||eve |t smart and necessary to keep our eyes w|de open to new and perhaps better ways of carry|ng out the craft of report|ng and the art of storyte|||ng even as we carefu||y adhere to trad|t|ona| be||efs |n the |mportance of accuracy and fa|rness. Th|s |s the fourth year of our F|e|d Gu|de s|nce we |aunched the webs|te |n January, 2009. And through th|s gu|de, we want to create a commun|ty of correspondents - decorated veterans, m|d-career profess|ona|s and younger reporters |ook|ng for the|r frst shot at a fore|gn post|ng. And we want th|s to be a p|ace where they can share the|r |ns|ghts and stor|es and |earn from each other |n th|s chang|ng env|ron- ment for journa||sm. To that end, we have co||ected essays a|ong the way from correspondents connected to G|oba|Post. Th|s year, the new essays are by G|oba|Post correspondent !"#$%&'()$* and G|oba|Post OEO and co-founder +,-)-.&/0&1")2(3-. Fo|ey recounts the ordea| of h|s capture |n ||bya and about |earn|ng the hard way just how |mportant |t |s to step back and care- fu||y assess the s|tuat|on on the ground before head|ng out to the front||nes. Ba|bon| te||s the |ns|de story of how our news organ|zat|on went about mak|ng sure a correspondent |n troub|e got home safe|y, and how we at G|oba|Post have tr|ed to use the exper|ence as a way to re-affrm a cu|ture of safety for our correspondents around the wor|d. Other essays |nc|uded |n th|s co||ect|on are: G|oba|Post co|umn|st 45/&67$$38"* about h|s near|y 50 years of work |n fore|gn news; G|oba|Post Afghan|stan Bureau Oh|ef !$"3& 9":;$3<-$ on |essons |earned |n a tough year |n Afghan|- stan; G|oba|Post ed|tor-at-|arge /$2"%=-"3&!>3?$7 on pract|- ca| adv|ce that keeps you a||ve cover|ng conf|ct; G|oba|Post Moscow correspondent 9-7-"#&@)A$7 d|scuss|ng the per||s of report|ng |n Russ|a; G|oba|Post Deputy Manag|ng Ed|tor B3A7$8&9$)A7># on cover|ng and ||v|ng the story of Z|m- babwe for 23 years; the BBO`s /-#(3&C-)%(3 shares what he |earned from the Gaza k|dnapp|ng of a co||eague; G|o- ba|Post`s contr|but|ng correspondent !"3$&B77"D prov|des a woman`s perspect|ve on cover|ng the war |n lraq; and G|oba|- Post correspondent-at-|arge 9"==&9:B))$%=$7 se|f effac|ng |ook back on h|s report|ng from Fa||ujah. We recogn|ze that G|oba|Post correspondents are free|ancers and we want to encourage and foster a sense of commun|ty, a fee||ng of camarader|e that |s too often m|ss|ng from the wonderfu||y |ndependent but somet|mes |so|at|ng ||fe of a free|ancer, part|cu|ar|y |n the d|g|ta| age. We want to hear from those of you |n the fe|d about how we can work together to create a new vo|ce |n |nternat|ona| news, a vo|ce that |s consc|ous|y attent|ve to an Amer|can au- d|ence. We do not mean that we w||| be |n any way j|ngo|st|c or nat|ona||st|c. Nor do we want to |mp|y that our stor|es w||| on|y focus on |ssues that affect Amer|ca or |nvo|ve Amer|can |nterests. The wor|d |s much too |arge a p|ace for that. We are |ook|ng for reporters who can te|| the k|nds of stor|es that resonate w|th an Amer|can aud|ence as we|| as a g|oba| aud|ence. We want wr|t|ng, photography and v|deography that has a good ear for the mus|c of Amer|ca. And u|t|mate|y, we want stor|es that en||ghten a|| of us about the wor|d |n wh|ch we ||ve. 5 lf we are consc|ous|y p|ay|ng to an Amer|can aud|ence, |t |s because we be||eve Amer|ca, desp|te |ts exert|on of m|||tary and econom|c power |n the wor|d, |s dramat|ca||y under- served |n |nternat|ona| news. We be||eve the pauc|ty of Amer|can venues for |nternat|ona| news |s a dangerous b||nd spot for the country, and one that often has a w|der |mpact on the wor|d. That`s why we have set out to try our best to f|| the vo|d |eft by so many Amer|can ma|nstream newspa- pers, magaz|nes and te|ev|s|on networks who`ve chosen to cut back and |n many cases abandon the m|ss|on to cover |nternat|ona| news. We`d ||ke to hear from you about other |ssues that shou|d be addressed |n th|s manua| for a new generat|on of fore|gn correspondents. But most of a||, we want to be c|ear about the s|mp|e, t|me-tested va|ues |n wh|ch we be||eve and wh|ch we expect to see carr|ed out by our correspondents. That |s, we be||eve |n fa|rness. We be||eve |n accuracy. We be||eve the best report|ng comes from good o|d-fash|oned shoe |eather. We be||eve |n ||sten|ng and a||ow|ng yourse|f to be conv|nced by a po|nt of v|ew you may not have cons|d- ered before. We be||eve good reporters do more than mere|y present two s|des of an |ssue, they unearth facts and then cons|der a|| s|des |n a way that he|ps create a new under- stand|ng of the k|nds of comp|ex |ssues that we face g|oba||y. We be||eve |n g|v|ng vo|ce to the vo|ce|ess. We be||eve |n respect for d|fferent fa|ths and cu|tures and ways of see|ng the wor|d. We be||eve humor |s a good way to get at truth, but we have |ess t|me for |aughs at someone e|se`s expense. We be||eve |n connect|ng the dots and say|ng someth|ng |mportant w|thout resort|ng to the k|nd of rab|d|y op|n|onated report|ng that |s c|utter|ng too much of the a|rwaves and the lnternet. ln the end of the day, we have fa|th |n you, our team |n the fe|d, to embrace these standards and to go out and fnd great stor|es that make for great journa||sm. BY CHARLES M. SENNOTT, Executive Editor and co-founder JANUARY, 2012 ONE: Be there. lt`s a|| about be|ng there. There are few va|ues that G|oba|Post ho|ds h|gher than hav|ng correspondents who ||ve |n the p|ace about wh|ch they wr|te, and who know |ts |anguage and cu|ture. Many of you are nat|ve speakers or fuent a|ready. And for those of you who are not, we eager|y encourage you to study the |anguage of the p|aces |n wh|ch you are report|ng. We be||eve fore|gn report|ng requ|res you to be a frst-hand observer of the events unfo|d|ng |n the country you cover. We be||eve that the strength of G|oba|Post w||| be hav|ng a breadth of coverage by reporters w|th an ear to the ground. We are |ook|ng for the k|nd of author|tat|ve report|ng that can on|y come from a reporter who |s ||v|ng the story. We ca|| th|s ground truth. lt`s an |mportant |dea at G|oba|Post and 'GroundTruth" |s not on|y the t|t|e of th|s F|e|d Gu|de, but a|so of my b|og that h|gh||ghts your da||y report|ng from the fe|d. So what does 'GroundTruth" mean? lt has a pretty obv|ous and |ntu|t|ve mean|ng. You may have heard |t |n a m|||tary context. But |ts or|g|n, as best we can te||, |s a prec|se phrase used |n d|g|ta| techno|ogy that was co|ned by NASA. Th|s |s how NASA defnes |t on |ts webs|te: 'Ground truth (n} . one part of the ca||brat|on process. Th|s |s where a person on the ground makes a measurement of the same th|ng a sate|||te |s try|ng to measure at the same t|me the sate|||te |s measur|ng |t. The two answers are then compared to he|p eva|uate how we|| the sate|||te |nstrument |s perform|ng. sua||y we be||eve the ground truth more than the sate|||te." ln other words, GroundTruth |s a sc|ent|fc be||ef that the greatest ca||brat|on of what |s happen|ng |n a far-off p|ace |s best ach|eved by be|ng there on the ground to w|tness |t and record |t. As a web-based news organ|zat|on, we recogn|ze that even |n the d|g|ta| age when we have access to |nformat|on from a|| over the wor|d at our fngert|ps and sate|||te transm|ss|ons that can focus on |mages thousands of m||es away, the most trusted read|ng |s st||| made by those human be|ngs who are there w|tness|ng the events and measur|ng h|story ||ve. lt sounds ||ke a s|mp|e |dea. But |t`s not so easy when the ground you are on |s a sh|ft|ng, comp|ex story that requ|res know|edge about and a deep background on the forces shap|ng the news. We have reporters who do th|s |n the p|aces where there |s ongo|ng conf|ct ||ke lraq and Afghan|- stan; |n p|aces where there |s a contrad|ctory m|x of poverty and opportun|ty ||ke lnd|a and Braz||; where there are anc|ent cu|tures to understand |n a modern context from Oh|na to the Andes. Our correspondents w||| be there on the ground equ|pped w|th the know|edge that |s needed to |nterpret the events |n a way that a||ow v|s|tors to the s|te to tru|y see and understand what |s happen|ng, why |t |s happen|ng, and what |t means. Th|s |s not a new |dea by any means. lt |s just good, o|d-fash|oned report|ng. But these days we be||eve there |s too much d|stant ana|ys|s - not on|y at news organ|zat|ons but a|so at |nternat|ona| bus|nesses and even |n m|||tary and nat|ona| secur|ty organ|zat|ons - by those who are too far removed from the ground. Those who ana|yze from on h|gh are on|y one part of the ca||brat|on process |n understand|ng a comp|ex wor|d. They are ||ke the sate|||te v|ew|ng the |mage from afar, and we want to be that opt|c on the ground te|||ng you what |t rea||y |ooks ||ke. NASA states |n |ts own defn|t|on, 'we be||eve the ground truth more than the sate|||te." So do we. 7 TWO: Be safe. We recogn|ze that the wor|d has never been a more dangerous p|ace for reporters to pract|ce the pr|nc|p|e of ground truth. More than 1,200 members of news organ|zat|ons, |nc|ud|ng journa||sts, trans|ators, and fxers have been k|||ed |n the |ast decade, accord|ng to the lnternat|ona| News Safety lnst|tute wh|ch |s track|ng the data. (ln 2010, approx|- mate|y two journa||sts were k|||ed on average each week.} These journa||sts have been k|||ed |n the cross fres of conf|ct, they have been targeted for murder for report|ng stor|es that someone d|d not want to|d, and they`ve d|ed just ||ke count- |ess thousands of other |nnocent v|ct|ms of conf|ct from random she|||ng or road s|de bombs or for dr|v|ng too fast |n a dangerous sett|ng. Aware of these per||s to report|ng, we want to have a c|ear set of gu|de||nes for how to operate safe|y |n the fe|d. To that end, we can prov|de at your request a set of documents by var|ous organ|zat|ons wh|ch offer sound adv|ce on cover|ng conf|ct and report|ng |n potent|a||y dangerous s|tuat|ons. They |nc|ude the fo||ow|ng: 'On Ass|gnment: Oover|ng Oonf|ct Safe|y" by the Oomm|ttee to Protect Journa||sts; 'K||||ng the Messenger" by the lnternat|ona| News Safety lnst|tute; 'A Surv|va| Gu|de for Journa||sts" by the lnternat|ona| Federat|on of Journa||sts and Traged|es and 'Journa||sts" by the Dart Oenter for Journa||sm and Trauma. For those of you report|ng |n host||e env|ronments, l strong|y encourage you to get aho|d of these documents and read through them carefu||y. They are great references. They offer the k|nd of pract|ca| adv|ce that can save your ||fe and save the ||ves of co||eagues and support staff around you. They do a better job than we cou|d |n spe|||ng out how to work on a dangerous ass|gnment and we expect you to heed the|r recommendat|ons. A pr|mary recommendat|on that each of these organ|zat|ons make |s for c|ear commun|cat|on w|th ed|tors about your wherea- bouts and to never enter |nto a story w|thout a game p|an for stay|ng |n touch. We want to be c|ear that no G|oba|Post correspondent shou|d ever go on an ass|gnment - part|cu|ar|y a dangerous one - w|thout pr|or approva| from a sen|or G|o- ba|Post ed|tor. And when on such an ass|gnment, constant contact |s requ|red. v|rtua||y a|| of these organ|zat|ons a|so recommend host||e env|ronment tra|n|ng for reporters cover|ng conf|ct. We are ||sten|ng to these spec|fc recommendat|ons as we|| and |mp|ement|ng them as po||cy. (For those of you report|ng |n host||e env|ronments part|cu|ar|y where hostage tak|ng |s a poss|b|||ty, more prec|se terms of our po||c|es can be made ava||ab|e and shou|d be d|scussed w|th your ed|tor.} THREE: Be a listener. We be||eve strong|y that the greatest correspondents hear as many s|des of an |ssue as poss|b|e before they beg|n wr|t|ng or produc|ng mu|t|med|a. The most memorab|e stor|es are the ones that surpr|se us, that contravene our preconcept|ons. And we be||eve those stor|es come from ||sten|ng carefu||y to the commun|ty you are cover|ng. They come from be|ng fa|r and report|ng w|thout b|as. Most of a||, they come from ||sten|ng. We encourage you to g|ve vo|ce to the vo|ce|ess. There |s a b|g wor|d out there and too often our news |s shaped by po||t|c|ans and d|p|omats and offc|a|s. Of course, the|r pro- nouncements from press conferences and embassy br|efngs matter and affect ||ves and we need them |n our stor|es. But the best report|ng |s the k|nd of report|ng that comes up from the street that |nc|udes the vo|ces of the peop|e who stand to be affected by the dec|s|ons of the powerfu|. lt |s a customary pract|ce |n report|ng these days, but back |n the ear|y 1960`s when the |egendary New York O|ty co|umn|st J|mmy Bres||n was wr|t|ng for the New York Da||y News he broke new ground by ||sten|ng and g|v|ng vo|ce to the peop|e he knew from the streets of New York. ln perhaps h|s most v|v|d express|on of th|s sty|e of report|ng, Bres||n covered the 1963 state funera| of John F. Kennedy. Am|d the d|gn|tar|es, the heads of state, and the somber we|ght of the moment |n h|story, Bres||n |nterv|ewed the man whose job |t was to d|g the d|tch where the fa||en pres|dent`s casket wou|d be |owered |nto the earth. ln the par|ance of a New York O|ty newsroom, |t`s now known as a 'graved|gger story." lt`s the story about the ||tt|e guy that te||s us what we need to know about a b|g moment |n h|story. Th|s may fee| o|d hat to a reporter who has worked |n a news- room |n the |ast 20 years. But we are aware at G|oba|Post that there |s a new generat|on of |nternat|ona| correspondents com|ng of age who have not a|ways had that exper|ence. And |f a young journa||st were to on|y get the|r news on||ne or to watch cab|e news coverage of many |ssues today, they may not understand these va|ues at a||. So apo|og|es to veterans here and a p|ea to correspondents who are newer to the craft to br|ng th|s sp|r|t of ||sten|ng to your work. 9 FOUR: Be fair and accurate. Out of carefu| ||sten|ng comes fa|r, truthfu| report|ng. And truth |s a|ways the best defense aga|nst ||be|. Oheck the facts a|| the t|me. Oheck spe|||ng, part|cu|ar|y the spe|||ng of names and be sure you have the proper t|t|e of a source. We are emp|oy|ng the AP Sty|ebook. G|oba|Post has a|so deve|oped a forma| po||cy for correct|ons and c|ar|fca- t|ons on the s|te, wh|ch |s |nc|uded |n th|s manua|. Any cor- respondent whose work requ|res pers|stent correct|ons on |ssues of mater|a| fact, w||| be warned that the|r re|at|onsh|p w|th G|oba|Post w||| be term|nated |f a pattern of |naccurate report|ng occurs. Accuracy matters and our reputat|on as a news organ|zat|on and your reputat|on as a correspondent re|y on gett|ng |t r|ght. There |s a great ax|om of dead||ne report|ng: When |n doubt, |eave |t out. ||ve by that. On|y wr|te about the th|ngs you know, the th|ngs you`ve seen w|th your own eyes and be sure you have c|ear and accurate attr|but|on on everyth|ng e|se. lf you ||ve by these re|at|ve|y s|mp|e and stra|ghtforward ru|es, you w||| a|ways be on so||d foot|ng. We d|scourage the use of unnamed sources. We be||eve |t |s far better to get a comment on the record. We encour- age correspondents to a|ways try the|r best to get a name attached to a comment. Somet|mes |t requ|res ask|ng more than once, but pers|stence |s better than accept|ng a b||nd quote and fnd|ng out |ater |t |s unusab|e. We understand that there are c|rcumstances |n wh|ch anonym|ty |s necessary to protect the ||fe or ||ve||hood of a source, but that |s the on|y occas|on |n wh|ch unnamed sources shou|d be used. G|oba|Post reta|ns the r|ght to request a reporter to share w|th a sen|or ed|tor any unnamed source of a story. G|oba|Post a|so forb|ds any reporter from wr|t|ng on a story |n wh|ch they have a vested econom|c |nterest or a c|ear po||t|ca| b|as. The sp|r|t of fu|| d|sc|osure matters |n report|ng and we request that you |et us know |f you be||eve there |s any potent|a| ||ne that m|ght be crossed dur|ng the course of your report|ng. We are aware that our correspondents operate |n many corners of the wor|d where there are d|fferent |ega| standards for journa||sm and d|fferent |deas about what const|tutes fa|rness. But we ho|d to a very Amer|can trad|t|on of journa|- |sm |n th|s regard and one that we be||eve |s a proud trad|t|on. Our research shows |ega| precedent |s be|ng estab||shed that on||ne news organ|zat|ons w||| be he|d to the |ega| stand- ards of report|ng |n the country from wh|ch they or|g|nate, wh|ch for us, of course, |s the n|ted States. As the n|ted States has perhaps the most ferce protect|ons of freedom of the press of any country |n the wor|d, we be||eve that good, honest, accurate and fa|r report|ng from any p|ace |n the wor|d w||| a|ways put us on so||d |ega| ground. (G|oba|Post has a standard ||be| |nsurance po||cy, wh|ch offers protect|ons for the organ|zat|on. lf anyone has quest|ons about the po||cy, we w||| make ourse|ves ava||ab|e.} lf you are ever work|ng on a story that you be||eve |s potent|a||y ||be|ous or |f any one you are report|ng on threatens any |ega| act|on, you are ob||ged to get |n touch w|th your ed|tor prompt|y and d|rect|y. FIVE: Be honest. Be sure you are accred|ted as a journa||st and work w|th|n the gu|de||nes set by the press offce |n your respect|ve country. A|ways |dent|fy yourse|f as a reporter when you are work|ng |n the fe|d. Any fabr|cat|on of quotes or made-up report|ng w||| not be to|erated and w||| be cons|dered grounds for G|oba|Post to |mmed|ate|y end |ts re|at|onsh|p w|th a correspondent. The same proh|b|t|ons on fabr|cat|on ho|d true for mu|t|med|a. And G|oba|Post forb|ds the man|pu|at|on of any photos, aud|o or v|deo |n a manner that d|storts rea||ty or m|srepresents any facts or quotes. P|ag|ar|sm of any k|nd w||| a|so be grounds for term|nat|ng a contract w|th G|oba|Post. P|ag|ar|sm |nc|udes not on|y d|rect|y copy|ng someone e|se`s words, but |t can a|so |nc|ude heavy borrow|ng of quotes, |deas, |mages and |ns|ghts w|thout proper attr|but|on. We recogn|ze that most of you out there |n the fe|d are free|ancers who must jugg|e work|ng for severa| d|fferent out|ets. We ask that you be fa|r and honest w|th us when you are ba|anc|ng these somet|mes compet|ng |nterests. lf you have offered a story to another pub||cat|on, we request that you |nform us of that up front. We a|ways want the story frst and we a|ways want |t exc|us|ve|y. We wou|dn`t be much of a news organ|zat|on, |f we d|dn`t. That sa|d, of course, |t wou|d be unfa|r for us to demand comp|ete |oya|ty and tota| exc|us|v|ty |n a commun|ty of free|ancers. We know you have to make a ||v|ng. And we be||eve the s|mp|est, best way to avo|d any prob|ems |n th|s area |s through a re|at|onsh|p that |s based on c|ear commun|cat|on and mutua| trust. And that means we want to trust that the stor|es you are wr|t|ng for us are not appear|ng somewhere e|se, and that your work for G|oba|Post |s un|que. At t|mes, we know you w||| re|y on the report|ng and quotes you`ve gathered |n the fe|d to wr|te for mu|t|p|e out|ets. But, aga|n, you are ob||ged to be sure that the stor|es are substant|a||y rewr|tten |f you are offer|ng them to us for payment. G|oba|Post reporters shou|d not accept g|fts or any payment from a source |nvo|ved |n a story, nor shou|d they offer any g|fts or payment |n return for gett|ng a story. Any t|me a correspondent or co|umn|sts |s prov|ded trave| or |odg|ng as part of a report|ng tr|p, th|s shou|d be d|scussed |n advance w|th an ed|tor. Typ|ca||y, we w||| not perm|t such tr|ps. But there are except|ons when G|oba|Post be||eves |t w|se and somet|mes necessary to accept free f|ghts on |nternat|ona| a|d and trade m|ss|ons or m|||tary f|ghts. We may a|so, for examp|e, a||ow our g|oba| hea|th or techno|ogy wr|ters to take an expense-pa|d tr|p by an |ndustry group as |ong as the correspondent has c|ear|y estab||shed w|th h|s or her host that none of the serv|ces-|n-k|nd w||| |nfuence the outcome of the report|ng. lf G|oba|Post does accept such a tr|p, we w||| |et v|s|tors to the s|te know so they have fu|| trans- parency and can judge for themse|ves |f any undue |nfuence has crept |n to the coverage as a resu|t. We the ed|tors w||| be work|ng very hard to be sure |t does not. ln 2011, G|oba|Post |aunched a non-proft |n|t|at|ve for some areas of coverage, such as human r|ghts and g|oba| hea|th report|ng. ln 2010, G|oba|Post began to undertake severa| corporate sponsorsh|ps for content, |nc|ud|ng a ser|es on educat|on and another on energy entrepreneurs. We be||eve th|s k|nd of non-proft fund|ng and corporate sponsorsh|p can prov|de va|uab|e opportun|t|es for G|oba|Post to do good work. But we a|so recogn|ze that there |s a need to be trans- parent about these partnersh|ps and v|g||ant |n ma|nta|n|ng our ed|tor|a| |ndependence. Toward that end, we have drafted gu|de||nes for standards and pract|ces for a|| such support of ed|tor|a| projects. ln a nutshe||, the standards revo|ve around one gu|d|ng pr|nc|p|e. That |s, we w||| ma|nta|n comp|ete ed|tor|a| |ndependence and contro| |n any such re|at|onsh|p w|th a foundat|on, |nd|v|dua| or corporat|on that |s fund|ng, underwr|t|ng or sponsor|ng ed|tor|a| content. 11 SIX: Be on time and be in touch. We are a sma|| company w|th a g|oba| m|ss|on. ln an average month, G|oba|Post has about 100 correspondents contr|but|ng to the s|te from at |east 50 d|fferent countr|es. So we have a spraw||ng enterpr|se that cou|d eas||y come undone |f our correspondents do not st|ck to a|| dead||nes. ln a reorgan|zat|on of our news coverage |n the summer and fa|| of 2010, we have estab||shed d|fferent |eve|s of engage- ment w|th correspondents around the wor|d and moved away from a 'cook|e cutter" approach. That means each of you have d|fferent expectat|ons for what you are to de||ver on a regu|ar bas|s to your ed|tor. But there are defn|te|y some core expectat|ons. That |s that p|tches w||| be made to respect|ve reg|ona| ed|tors and when they are agreed upon they are ass|gned a dead||ne for de||very. Stor|es are to be de||vered on t|me to your respec- t|ve ed|tor. Mak|ng dead||ne |s cr|t|ca|. We accept that rea||ty changes, that stor|es somet|mes don`t pan out, that a better break|ng story comes a|ong. Th|s w||| |nev|tab|y happen. But when such c|rcumstances occur, a correspondent must commun|cate a change |n game p|an w|th h|s or her ed|tor. Oommun|cat|on |s key. G|oba|Post understands that free|anc|ng |s |arge|y for the free-sp|r|ted. We do not expect you to be bound to us or to a da||y schedu|e |n the way a staff correspondent wou|d be. But we do expect to be ab|e to reach you |n the event of an emergency or a s|gn|fcant break|ng news story. So p|ease be sure that we a|ways have your updated contact |nformat|on. We do expect that you w||| |et us know when you are p|ann|ng a vacat|on. And we ex- pect you w||| e|ther prov|de some features that w||| t|e us over |n your absence or that you w||| he|p us fnd a su|tab|e correspondent to f|| |n wh||e you`re gone. lf a correspondent cons|stent|y m|sses dead||nes or fa||s to stay |n contact w|th us, they w||| be g|ven a warn|ng. lf the pattern cont|nues, the|r re|at|onsh|p w|th G|oba|Post w||| be term|nated. SEVEN: Be a storyteller. Exper|ment w|th storyte|||ng |n the d|g|ta| age and have some fun w|th |t. We be||eve be|ng an |nternat|ona| correspondent |s one of the greatest vocat|ons |n the wor|d. lt`s a ca|||ng. An |nv|tat|on to go out to a d|stant |and, to fnd great stor|es and to report them back to a home aud|ence. You can be cover|ng ser|ous d|p|omat|c |n|t|at|ves one day and wr|t|ng about w|ne the next. You can cover a fasc|nat|ng cr|me story or de|ve |nto a story about the env|ronment or a bus|ness venture that |s break|ng new ground. The great th|ng about be|ng an |nternat|ona| correspondent |s the freedom. Put s|mp|y, we want you to fnd the great stor|es and te|| them. And |n th|s d|g|ta| age, we want you to exper|ment w|th how you do that. We want you to th|nk of yourse|f as a pub||sher of your own country or top|c page or b|og. On these pages, we encourage you to he|p us set up |mportant ||nks and to host |nterest|ng b|ogs. Our pr|mary focus |s on the wr|tten d|spatches that are short |n |ength, typ|ca||y no more than 800 words. These are expected to be we||-reported, we||-crafted, t|ght|y wr|tten p|eces of reportage. There are many ways to te|| a story |n the d|g|ta| age. We don`t expect any of you to be experts across a|| p|at- forms. We respect peop|e who prefer to st|ck to the|r own fe|d of expert|se as a wr|ter, photographer or v|deographer. But we do want to |nv|te a|| of you to try aud|o record|ng and photos and m|x|ng the two |nto aud|o s||deshows. Some of you are exper|ment|ng w|th v|deo and a few of you have even taken the OBS News tra|n|ng course. We hope you keep ex- per|ment|ng. We want photographers to try the|r hand at wr|t- |ng, and wr|ters to try the|r hand at photography. Be creat|ve. ln the end of the day, great journa||sm |s about great storyte|||ng. And what we want more than anyth|ng |s for you to go out and fnd great stor|es. 13 ADDENDUM ln th|s updated vers|on of the F|e|d Gu|de for 2012, we are |nc|ud|ng two |mportant documents. The frst |s a chapter t|t|ed 'Be Soc|a|," a one-page cheat sheet on best pract|ces for soc|a| network|ng by our correspondents w|th an eye toward expand|ng the aud|ence for your stor|es. The second |s our 'Po||cy for Oorrect|ons," wh|ch c|ear|y spe||s out G|oba|Post`s standards and pract|ces |n the event of an error |n report|ng or ed|t|ng that needs to be corrected or c|ar|fed on the s|te. BE SOCIAL Over the past three years, G|oba|Post has bu||t a soc|a| aud|ence on Facebook and Tw|tter approach|ng 200,000 |nd|v|dua|s and grow|ng. By the end of 2012, we expect th|s soc|a| graph to cont|nue to c||mb at a steady pace. S|nce the |aunch of the new G|oba|Post.com |n January 2011, we have ro||ed out an even more |ntegrated soc|a| p|atform to a||ow readers to share and engage w|th each other around G|oba|Post content. We encourage you, as the Oorrespondent team, to get |nvo|ved |n the soc|a| conversat|on. He|p us and our readers share your stor|es by part|c|pat|ng |n the soc|a| conversat|ons happen|ng everyday. Be|ow |s a ||st of ways to get engaged through soc|a| med|a that our soc|a| med|a team, Ant|er, has comp||ed. Connect Start by '||k|ng" or 'Fo||ow|ng" G|oba|Post on: !"#$$%&' http://tw|tter.com/G|oba|Post ()*%+,,-' http://www.facebook.com/g|oba|post !./+0&' http://g|oba|post.tumb|r.com/ 1%22#$'3http://www.redd|t.com/doma|n/g|oba|post.com 4#55'3http://d|gg.com/g|oba|post Activate lf you have a Tw|tter prof|e send |t to us, we have a Tw|tter ||st for correspondents: http://tw|tter.com/G|oba|Post/gp-reporters. Spread your content w|th|n your network: 'Share" the art|c|e to your Facebook wa|| '||ke" |t on the G|oba|Post fan page Tweet |t to your network Ask your fr|ends and network to share w|th the|r networks. Engage Jo|n the conversat|on. The major|ty of the stor|es we post on Facebook and Redd|t get a good conversat|on around them. Fee| free to jo|n |n these conversat|ons, and on your own stor|es, |dent|fy yourse|f as the author. We`ve seen more engagement |n the conversat|ons when the author part|c|pates. Share Re-tweet art|c|es from G|oba|Post or other G|oba|Post reporters Suggest that your network fo||ow @G|oba|Post on tw|tter or G|oba|Post on Facebook Suggest that your network fo||ow the G|oba|Post correspondent tw|tter ||st lf you know other |nd|v|dua|s or news out|ets that may be |nterested |n your art|c|e, share |t w|th them v|a Facebook or Tw|tter BE BIG ENOUGH TO CORRECT MISTAKES ln our frst two years, G|oba|Post has earned a reputat|on for accuracy and fa|rness. We shou|d a|| be proud of that. lt`s a so||d reputat|on we`ve bu||t upon the hard work and v|g||ance of ed|tors and the carefu| and thorough report|ng of corre- spondents |n the fe|d. And one of the best ways to preserve that reputat|on |s to have a c|ear po||cy for correct|ons and to be attent|ve to the process as a news organ|zat|on. The ph||osophy beh|nd G|oba|Post`s correct|on po||cy |s s|mp|e: lf an error of fact has been made, correct |t. Then, for the sake of transparency, acknow|edge that the correct|on has been made |n an ed|tor`s note. Here`s how we spe||ed out the process |n |ast year`s fe|d gu|de: We fnd out about a poss|b|e error. lf correspondents are a|erted to an error |n a p|ece, they must contact the|r ed|tor ASAP. We a|so fnd out about errors through ema||s to G|oba|Post and, frequent|y, comments. The ed|tor, w|th the he|p of the correspondent, shou|d |nvest|gate the a||eged error and |et Deputy Manag|ng Ed|tor Andrew Me|drum and Ed|tor Thomas Mucha know about the request and suggested remedy. lf G|oba|Post determ|nes that a correct|on |s necessary, the ed|tor w||| make the correct|on accord|ng to the gu|de||nes be|ow and note |t |n the correct|on f|e saved on the share dr|ve. For errors of spe|||ng (w|th the except|on of proper nouns}, grammar, or punctuat|on there |s no need to note the correct|on. Some more specic guidelines: Misspellings of names; incorrect titles F|x the spe|||ng or t|t|e and then add an ed|tor`s note. Ed||o|'s |o|e. 7||s s|o|, |as oee| 0oda|ed |o co||ec| ||e soe|||| o/ !o|| 5m|||'s |ame. Factual errors Oorrect the error |n the story and then spec|fy wh|ch error has been fxed |n the ed|tor`s note. For mu|t|p|e errors, note each correct|on. Ed||o|'s |o|e. 7||s s|o|, |as oee| 0oda|ed |o co||ec| ||e ooo0|a||o| o/ ||e U|||ed 5|a|es. || |s aoo0| 30c m||||o|. 7|e soe|||| o/ !o|| 5m|||'s |ame |as a|so oee| co||ec|ed. Headlines lf you are chang|ng a head||ne to take account of SEO, updated news, or s|mp|y a br||||ant |dea, there |s no need to add an ed|tor`s note. However, |f there was an error of fact |n the head||ne, put an ed|tor`s note at the bottom of the story. The same app||es to sub-head||nes and story teases. Errors that call into question the premise of a story. G|oba|Post has had, touch wood, on|y one examp|e of such an error |n the frst two years s|nce we |aunched: http://www.g|oba|post.com/d|spatch/d|p|omacy/091202/ us-company-fue|s-congo-war-un-report ln th|s case, we removed the story from the webs|te and wrote a deta||ed ed|tor`s note. We a|so sent the ed|tor`s note to our synd|cat|on partners and asked them to make the cor- rect|on |n the|r pub||cat|ons as appropr|ate. Shou|d we have another error of th|s magn|tude we wou|d fo||ow the same procedure, wh|ch |nvo|ved consu|t|ng w|th the wr|ter on what went wrong and contact|ng the ent|ty that was the subject of the correct|on. ln the case of such a ser|ous correct|on, espec|a||y |f there |s any threat of |ega| act|on, a|ert Ed|tor Thomas Mucha and Deputy Manag|ng Ed|tor Andrew Me|drum |mmed|ate|y. 15 Blogs ln b|ogs (or |n reporter`s notebooks} we w||| fo||ow standard web pract|ce for mak|ng and acknow|edg|ng a correct|on: us|ng str|kethrough. Multimedia We have not to my know|edge had to correct an error of fact |n a stand-a|one v|deo or photo ga||ery. Shou|d we need to do that, the correct|on cou|d be acknow|edged |n the body fe|d. lt unfortunate|y offers a very ||m|ted amount of text. ln a photo ga||ery, the correct|on cou|d be acknow|edged w|th|n the capt|on |n quest|on. Developing news stories P|ease do add an update to a story to take account of break- |ng news - th|s |s part|cu|ar|y he|pfu| for SEO and the update shou|d |nc|ude keywords. These updates shou|d appear |n |ta||cs at the top of the story. Uoda|e. 7|e dea|| |o|| || C|7Y |ad ||se| |o c0 o, ||e ||me ||e sea|c| a| |OC/7|O^ was |emoo|a|||, ca||ed o// a| s0|se|, |e0|e|s |eoo||ed. C|7Y oo||ce sa|d o|e s0soec| was || c0s|od, a|d a s0soec|ed |wo add|||o|a| s0soec|s we|e s|||| a| |a|e. Clarications ln the rare case where G|oba|Post fee|s a story |s correct but a source or organ|zat|on fee|s |t needs c|ar|fcat|on, consu|t w|th ed|tors on how to respond. ln most cases, we w||| |nv|te the source to comment. Things we dont do: Ass|gn b|ame, for examp|e by c|t|ng an 'ed|t|ng error" or a 'report|ng error." Regret errors. O|ear|y, we regret a|| errors so we don`t need to spec|fy wh|ch ones we rea||y, rea||y regret. DISPATCHES FROM THE FIELD G|oba|Post |s creat|ng not on|y an |nternat|ona| news webs|te, but a commun|ty of fore|gn correspondents. You are a band of free|ancers scattered around the g|obe, but we see you a|| as one team, one tr|be and we want to encourage and foster a sense of camarader|e. That |s too often m|ss|ng from the wonderfu||y |ndependent, but somet|mes |so|at|ng ||fe of a free|ancer part|cu|ar|y |n the d|g|ta| age. So we hope you m|ght stay connected and share |ns|ghts and stor|es from the fe|d and |earn from each other. When poss|b|e we hope you m|ght even he|p each other |n these t|mes of both great un- certa|nty and abundant poss|b|||ty for the future of journa||sm. To that end, we have co||ected essays over the |ast three years from correspondents and wr|ters connected to G|oba|- Post that we th|nk are worth shar|ng. ln th|s ed|t|on, we have two new essays that focus on a set of |essons we at G|oba|- Post |earned |n ||bya dur|ng the so-ca||ed 'Arab Spr|ng.` The frst |s by G|oba|Post correspondent James Fo|ey about the ordea| of h|s capture |n ||bya and about |earn|ng the hard way just how |mportant |t |s to step back and carefu||y assess the s|tuat|on on the ground before head|ng out to the front||nes. The second |s by G|oba|Post OEO Ph|||p S. Ba|bon| who te||s the |ns|de story of how a news organ|zat|on goes about mak|ng sure a correspondent |n troub|e gets home safe, and how we at G|oba|Post seek to re-affrm a cu|ture of safety for our correspondents around the wor|d. And we have a|so |nc|uded n|ne prev|ous|y pub||shed d|spatches from the fe|d. They |nc|ude: G|oba|Post co|umn|st HDS Greenway on near|y 50 years |n fore|gn news; G|oba|Post Afghan|stan Bureau Oh|ef Jean MacKenz|e on |essons |earned |n a tough year |n Afghan|stan; G|oba|Post ed|tor-at-|arge Sebast|an Junger on the pract|ca| adv|ce that keeps you a||ve cover|ng conf|ct; G|oba|Post Moscow correspondent M|r|am E|der about the per||s of report|ng |n Russ|a; G|oba|Post Deputy Manag|ng Ed|tor Andrew Me|drum on cover|ng and ||v|ng the story of Z|mbabwe for 23 years; the BBO`s Wash|ngton Bureau Oh|ef S|mon W||son on what he |earned from the Gaza k|dnap- p|ng of a co||eague; G|oba|Post`s contr|but|ng correspondent Jane Arraf on a woman`s perspect|ve on cover|ng the war |n lraq; and G|oba|Post correspondent-at-|arge Matt McA||ester about tak|ng a se|f-effac|ng |ook back on h|s report|ng from Fa||ujah; and G|oba|Post`s correspondent cover|ng NGOs W||- ||am Dowe|| on the thr||| of a wor|d-c|ass scoop. Each of these d|spatches from the fe|d te||s a story that offers a teach|ng moment, a caut|onary ta|e or a ce|ebrat|on of the craft. We wou|d ||ke for th|s co||ect|on to grow. And so any of you who wou|d ||ke to contr|bute an essay for next year`s F|e|d Gu|de, p|ease |et me know. C. M. Sennott 17 Stepping back to assess a bad day in Libya By James Foley GlobalPost correspondent MlSRATA, ||bya --l was captured by forces |oya| to ||byan |eader Muam- mar Gaddaf on Apr|| 5 and he|d for 45 days before be|ng re|eased. Now seven months |ater, l am back cover- |ng the rebe|s as they have succeeded |n tak|ng the cap|ta| and beg|nn|ng to estab||sh a new government. lt`s good to be back. Th|s story matters and l wanted to be here te|||ng |t from the front||nes. But just about every day s|nce l was freed and just about every moment l am here report|ng from ||bya, l have been refect|ng on the |essons |earned from that harrow|ng exper|ence. l saw a co||eague k|||ed. My fam||y was thrown |nto a wor|d of constant worry. The news organ|zat|on l work for was thrust |nto a s|tuat|on of work|ng around the c|ock on my beha|f. lt`s fa|r to ask why d|d l go back, and why am l st||| drawn to the story? lt`s fa|r to ask |f there were m|stakes made and |t`s |mportant to th|nk through how l w||| avo|d mak|ng them |n the future. So |et me wa|k through that day and try to address some of the |essons |earned a|ong the way. Our |dea that morn|ng of Apr|| 5, the day we were captured, was to go to the front |n eastern ||bya to see fresh batt|e damage from the n|ght before and spend the day w|th the rebe|s. ||byan fghters on both s|des of the conf|ct were known for be|ng |ate s|eepers. We be||eved |t was ear|y enough to get a |ook at the front||ne and take an assessment of what the rebe| pos|t|ons were before the fght|ng started. The pattern |n ||bya had been qu|et morn|ngs fo||owed by rockets and mor- tar attacks |n the afternoon. The prob- |em |s we were assum|ng that pattern wou|d ho|d, just because we hadn`t seen any morn|ng fght|ng before. Three other free|ancers and l jumped |n a scout bus and headed past the |ast checkpo|nt towards the Gaddaf-he|d town of Brega. We knew |t was r|sky. The burn|ng veh|c|es we passed were s|gns of fresh fght|ng. But we d|dn`t step back to take a better assessment, and we shou|d have. Be|ng carefu| |n assess|ng your report|ng every step of the way |s to the key to mak|ng good dec|s|ons. Before we knew |t, some teenagers on the s|de of the road |n- formed us that us Gaddaf forces were 300 meters away. M|nutes |ater, two Gaddaf m|||tary p|ckups topped the crest of the h||| and bore down on us fr|ng the|r AK-47s. We were too far away from the retreat- |ng veh|c|e that had brought us, and there was just too much gunfre to run for |t. We h|t the ground. Any reporter who`s been under d|rect fre knows, the body reacts much before the m|nd can proc- ess what |s actua||y happen|ng. The m|nd w||| even present the |||us|on of a way out, but the f|ght or fght |nst|ncts are fu||y |n contro|. We burrowed our- se|ves as much as poss|b|e |nto a sma|| sand dune on the s|de of the road, as the Gaddaf veh|c|es s|owed to a stop upon see|ng us, and cont|nued to fre on fu|| or sem|-automat|c. From beh|nd my sand dune, l heard our co||eague Anton cry, 'He|p, he|p." H|s vo|ce carr|ed the t|nge of a ser|ous |njury. l shouted |f he was ok. 'No," he sa|d, |n a much weaker vo|ce. The awfu| rea||ty k|cked |n. l |mag|ned he was b|eed|ng bad|y. The so|d|ers m|ght not even know we were reporters. l jumped up, ho|d|ng my hands and wa|ked towards them, ye|||ng the word for 'journa||st" |n Arab|c. l was struck across my ch|n w|th the wooden butt end of an AK-47. l was then h|t |n the head and punched |n the eye. A|| my se|f-preservat|on |nst|ncts were to not fght back and to be ||mp and comp|ete|y comp|acent. We were t|ed up and taken to a |oya||st safe house |n Brega. |ater that after- noon the three of us were transported to S|rte and two days |ater to Tr|po||, where we spent weeks |angu|sh|ng |n a ser|es of pr|sons. We were never beaten aga|n. We were genera||y we|| fed. But we d|dn`t get to make a phone ca|| home for a|most 20 days and d|dn`t see a western offc|a| for a|most a month. And when these 'pr|v||eges` f- na||y d|d come they were |arge|y due to a tremendous amount of |nternat|ona| advocacy on our beha|f. As l have |nd|cated, l have taken a |ot of t|me to refect on the dec|s|ons that |ed me to the front ||nes on that day, the m|stakes we made that |ed to the |oss of a co||eague who was sense|ess|y gunned down, and how we were ab|e to |mprove our chances once |n capt|v|ty. Many journa||sts have a des|re to get to the front||nes to exper|ence what the fee||ng and taste of the conf|ct |s rea||y ||ke. For some of us who cover conf|ct, th|s |s an unden|ab|y a||ur|ng part of the job, but the front can carry an attract|on that |s perhaps more of an |nfatuat|on w|th tak|ng r|sks than w|th rea| journa|- |sm. My dec|s|on mak|ng that day was c|ouded by an adrena||n-|nfuenced de- s|re to be there frst, to push the ||m|ts further. l had had some success cover- |ng the front||nes, and l wanted more of that. And |n aggress|ve|y pursu|ng that des|re, l fa||ed to more carefu||y assess the terra|n. That was the key m|stake. Anton Hammer| was shot w|th an AK burst and qu|ck|y b|ed to death. Anyone of us cou|d have been h|m. To what end were we |n the ||ne of fre that day? The answer |s unc|ear. l`ve |earned |n the hardest way that a journa||st has to g|ve great thought to the|r r|sk assessment. You have to ask yourse|f what facts and |mpress|ons need to be ver|fed w|th ones own eyes and what can be ver|fed by other means, |f you take one step back. Do l need to go down that unknown road, past that |ast checkpo|nt? Or, can l wa|t to gather the accounts of those so|d|ers and c|v|||ans who just went down |t and are now retreat|ng back? l was do|ng a |ot of v|deo, so my |mpat|ence and compet|t|ve des|re to get front||ne footage we|ghed over what wou|d have been a better p|an. ln th|s spec|fc scenar|o, we shou|d have deve|oped re|at|onsh|ps w|th a more organ|zed rebe| group, who cou|d have prov|ded rea| protect|on and access. But there are other |essons worth shar- |ng. Some of the steps we took after we were captured were the r|ghts one and, l be||eve, he|pfu| |n ga|n|ng our re|ease. Wh||e |n capt|v|ty, certa|n, com- mon sense behav|ors probab|y he|ped our chances to eventua||y be freed at a t|me when NATO was bomb|ng the cap|ta| where we were be|ng he|d. F|rst, we a|ways to|d the truth and were cons|stent w|th the facts. When you`re captured by one of these reg|mes you are at the mercy of |nterrogators and a secret po||ce apparatus that has been d|sappear|ng peop|e for decades. We to|d the truth to our |nterrogators down to the number of stor|es we`d f|ed. At every step of the way we tr|ed to be comp||ant and fr|end|y w|th guards, dr|vers, |nterrogators and judges. We tr|ed to be grac|ous and ca|m. We made rea| fr|ends w|th fe||ow ||byan pr|soners who shared w|th us extra food, c|garettes and c|othes. l`m con- v|nced |f we weren`t freed by the tre- mendous efforts of our news organ|za- t|ons, NGOs and |nternat|ona| groups, my fe||ow ||byan pr|soners wou|d have gotten us out when Tr|po|| fe||. At one po|nt l refused to do a second |nterv|ew on State Tv. Some m|ght say that on one |eve| |t was a m|stake. That |s, State Tv footage wou|d have g|ven my fam||y and co||eagues further proof that l was a||ve and do|ng fne. But there |s another argument that refus|ng a request at some po|nt |n your capt|v|ty draws the ||ne for your captors of how much they can exp|o|t you. You have to know when to st|ck up for yourse|f and do |t as po||te|y but frm|y as poss|b|e. Above a||, l had to fnd a way to keep up hope and strength. l prayed as much as l cou|d, knee||ng w|th my fe||ow capt|ves whether they were Amer|can Ohr|st|ans or ||byan Mus||ms. The act of co||ect|ve prayer and bu||d|ng fa|th |n a h|gher power to gu|de me through the s|tuat|on l cou|d not contro| was perhaps the cr|t|ca| p|ece to ma|nta|n|ng the r|ght att|tude to |ocked pr|son ce||s and kangaroo courts. My pat|ence and my fa|th that l`d be re|eased was a|| l cou|d contro|. l used to be the one who went down the road. l took |t as a cha||enge, but after a|most |os|ng my own ||fe and spend|ng 44 days |n capt|v|ty, l now ask myse|f very carefu||y, as one co||eague put |t- to what end? Now that l`m back work|ng |n ||bya, l st||| assume some r|sks. Just be|ng here |s a r|sk. But l have |ncorporated greater safeguards ||ke morn|ng and even|ng check |ns w|th ed|tors. (l shou|d note that th|s requ|rement was actua||y spe||ed out |n G|oba|Post`s F|e|d Gu|de and l shou|d have ||ved up to the requ|rement w|th my ed|tor more carefu||y.} And now more than anyth|ng, l have a sense that no short-term news story that |nvo|ves an adrena||ne fx |s worth the pa|n of what cou|d happen |f you don`t make that dec|s|on to step back and assess the s|tuat|on before mov|ng forward. Bringing Jim Foley Home By Philip S. Balboni CEO and Co-Founder of GlobalPost BOSTON - lt was dawn Apr|| 7, 2011 when we got the frst word |nto our offce. An ema|| had |anded from Peter Bouckaert of Human R|ghts Watch, say|ng that he had 'been |nformed" that our correspondent James Fo|ey |n ||bya 'may be m|ss|ng." l was worr|ed, but unsure whether Fo|ey was just out of touch or rea||y |n troub|e. By m|d-morn|ng, after a confer- ence ca|| w|th Peter |n Sw|tzer|and, and after read|ng ema||s from journa||st co||eagues on the ground |n ||bya, we knew Fo|ey was |n fact deta|ned. Yet we had no |dea where he was or |n what cond|t|on. One of the most |mportant |essons from G|oba|Post`s exper|ence |n ga|n|ng J|m Fo|ey`s re|ease was to reach out ear|y and often to other news organ|zat|ons and to the fore|gn correspondent com- mun|ty. The|r know|edge and exper|- ence was of |nca|cu|ab|e |mportance. Human R|ghts Watch had worked c|ose|y |n he|p|ng the New York T|mes, wh|ch had gone through a s|m||ar ex- per|ence severa| weeks ear||er w|th four of the|r journa||sts he|d capt|ve |n ||bya and then re|eased. So one of my frst ca||s that morn|ng was to Susan Oh|ra, the Fore|gn Ed|tor of the New York T|mes, now an Ass|stant Manag|ng Ed|- tor. Susan responded |mmed|ate|y and offered to he|p |n any way she cou|d. She a|so put me |n touch w|th Dav|d McOraw, a sen|or New York T|mes attorney who had |ed the negot|at|ons to free h|s co||eagues. He ca||ed that afternoon from Be|j|ng where he was on a bus|ness tr|p and he offered va|uab|e adv|ce that he|ped me ga|n some momentum. Dav|d K|rkpatr|ck and O.J. Oh|vers, two T|mes` reporters 19 on the ground |n ||bya, were a|so enormous|y he|pfu| |n those ear|y days of J|m`s capt|v|ty, as were so many other journa||sts throughout the 43 day rescue operat|on. Among the many |essons we |earned |n the com|ng weeks, the frst came |nst|nct|ve|y: lt`s cr|t|ca||y |mportant that a s|ng|e person |ead the recovery effort, and a|| commun|cat|on must fow through th|s |nd|v|dua|. Oarefu| coor- d|nat|on of |nformat|on from the fe|d, from d|p|omat|c and NGO sources, from other news organ|zat|ons, and from w|th|n your own news organ|zat|on must be f|tered through one |nd|v|dua| and then spun back out where |t |s most needed. Any breakdown |n the commun|cat|on channe| cou|d have ser|ous consequences for the overa|| recovery effort. Even though |t`s not the ro|e a OEO wou|d norma||y p|ay, l took on that respons|b|||ty for G|oba|Post . l had 46 years |n journa||sm to gu|de me and he|p from an exper|enced ed|t|ng team that had worked |n conf|ct zones as we tr|ed our best to make the r|ght dec|s|ons. lt was a|so abundant|y c|ear to me that G|oba|Post`s reputat|on was on the ||ne. As a young news organ|za- t|on that re||ed a|most comp|ete|y on free-|ance reporters a|| over the wor|d we cou|d not fa|| |n our respons|b|||ty to br|ng J|m Fo|ey home safe|y. lt`s |mportant to note r|ght here that Fo|ey was not an emp|oyee of G|oba|- Post |n the c|ass|c sense of the term. We a|so hadn`t ass|gned h|m to cover the ||byan conf|ct. J|m |s a free|ancer who had reported for us from Afghan|- stan |n 2010 and had produced some outstand|ng work |nc|ud|ng a v|deo report on a frefght |n Kunar Prov|nce, Afghan|stan that was broadcast on both the OBS Even|ng News and the PBS NewsHour |n September of that year. J|m had then br|efy worked for another news organ|zat|on before dec|d|ng to trave| on h|s own to ||bya. We were cover|ng the conf|ct w|th one of our other correspondents, N|co|e Sobeck|, who was based |n lstanbu|. N|co|e had trave|ed to Benghaz| as the ||byan conf|ct heated up. When she dec|ded to |eave the country, J|m Fo|ey became our go-to person on the ground. From the morn|ng of Apr|| 7th unt|| Fo|ey crossed the ||byan border |nto Tun|s|a on May 19th, l fe|t we at G|oba|- Post had no more |mportant m|ss|on than secur|ng h|s freedom. Those 43 days were |ntense as we worked ||tera||y around the c|ock, ca|||ng and ema|||ng everyone who m|ght he|p - offc|a|s at the S State Department, the Turk|sh Embassy (the Turks were represent|ng S |nterests |n Tr|po||}, ||byan |eader Moammar Gaddaf`s son Sa|f, members of Oongress, and ||tera||y scores of others. J|m was taken pr|soner w|th O|are G||||s, another Amer|can free-|ance reporter wr|t|ng for SA Today and the At|ant|c Month|y, Manu Brabo, a Span|sh photographer work|ng for the European Press Assoc|at|on (EPA}, and Anton Hammer|, a South Afr|can journa||st. W|th|n days, we had created a Or|s|s Management Team (OMT} w|th our co||eagues at SA Today and the At|ant|c. We h|red a top-notch |nter- nat|ona| secur|ty consu|t|ng agency |n |ondon, AKE Group, staffed w|th ex- Br|t|sh Secret A|r Serv|ce offcers, and by Monday of the fo||ow|ng week we had a team on the ground |n Tun|s|a. l a|so d|spatched our Oa|ro corre- spondent Jon Jensen to Tun|s to be our eyes and ears on the ground. He ||nked up w|th the AKE team |n the coasta| town of Djerba wh|ch was the c|osest |arge sett|ement to the ||byan border. Together, they spent weeks p|ott|ng strategy w|th the OMT, scout|ng the border post and the roads to and from |t, prepar|ng med|ca| supp||es, and work|ng |oca| d|p|omat|c ang|es to gath- er |nte|||gence on what was happen|ng |n Tr|po|| and w|th our journa||sts. The OMT cons|sted of the three pr|nc|- pa|s from G|oba|Post, SA Today and the At|ant|c, the AKE team |eader |n Tun|s|a, our Jon Jensen and, depend- |ng on the day`s events, other |nd|v|du- a|s from the three news organ|zat|ons. The OMT met more than 40 t|mes |n conference ca||s that wou|d often |ast for hours and that |nc|uded weekends. Some days there were mu|t|p|e ca||s. The ro|e p|ayed by AKE, wh||e enor- mous|y expens|ve, was a|so cr|t|ca||y |mportant. They brought expert|se |n how to respond to a hostage s|tuat|on, |nte|||gence gather|ng, fe|d operat|ons, and the med|ca| and psycho|og|ca| needs of |nd|v|dua|s who have been he|d capt|ve for |ong per|ods of t|me - expert|se that few of us |n journa||sm possess to any mean|ngfu| degree. ln our own case, hav|ng tra|ned profes- s|ona|s on the ground c|ose to the ||byan border, and work|ng |n c|ose concert w|th Jensen who |s a fuent Arab|c speaker and h|gh|y know|edge- ab|e about the reg|on and cu|ture, proved to be |nva|uab|e. Another v|ta||y |mportant factor was stay|ng c|ose to the fam||y. l was |n da||y contact w|th J|m Fo|ey`s mother, D|ane, h|s father John, and h|s brother, M|chae|. l grew to have great respect and affect|on for the ent|re Fo|ey fam||y - the|r courage and decency was an |nsp|rat|on to me and to my co||eagues and |t deepened our comm|tment to br|ng J|m home as soon as poss|b|e. F|na||y, |t`s essent|a| to have a strong med|a and pub||c re|at|ons strategy so that you can keep the story |n the news and not a||ow the wor|d to forget about h|s s|tuat|on. We worked very hard, as d|d the Fo|ey and G||||s fam|||es, to mob|||ze pub||c support for J|m`s re|ease, stag|ng events and commun|- cat|ng constant|y w|th |oca| and nat|ona| med|a. There was tremendous |nterest |n our journa||sts` p||ght and the med|a were very support|ve |n prov|d|ng cov- erage throughout the |ong ordea|. J|m, O|are and Manu were re|eased from capt|v|ty on May 18th |n the ear|y even|ng |n Tr|po|| -- m|dday |n Boston. Oheers went up |n our newsroom. That n|ght l broke open the best bott|e of s|ng|e ma|t Scotch |n my possess|on and every member of the G|oba|Post team shared a toast to J|m and h|s co||eagues. The on|y dark c|oud on the hor|zon was the absence of Anton Hammer|. ln a|| of those |ong weeks of capt|v|ty, we had not g|ven up hope that Anton was okay even though he was never s|ghted and, un||ke the other journa||sts, he was never g|ven a phone ca|| home to h|s fam||y. The next day, representat|ves of the Hungar|an Embassy drove the four journa||sts to the border cross|ng at Raj Ad|r. They arr|ved after dark and our team was there to meet them. They spent the n|ght at a hote| |n Djerba, our stag|ng area for the past 6 weeks. lt was then that the secret J|m and O|are and Manu had kept a|| those |ong days |n capt|v|ty came out. Anton had been shot to death by the Gaddaf fghters on that frst day of capture, Apr|| 5th. They had to watch Anton b|eed|ng to death by the s|de of the road as the government fghters took them away - an |mage that w||| stay |n the|r m|nds forever. J|m and O|are were home |n Amer|ca the very next day and the|r fam|||es were exu|tant. We too were enormous|y gratefu| and proud that one of the most |mportant chapters |n the short h|story of G|oba|Post was c|os|ng on such a happy and successfu| note. We were t|red but we were |nfn|te|y w|ser and we fe|t ready to take on any new cha||enge that m|ght come |n the months ahead. Freelancers Primer on Narrative Nonction in War Zones By Sebastian Junger GlobalPost editor-at-large My ru|e |s that you need to be ab|e to carry everyth|ng you have for a m||e. By that l mean that you can put everyth|ng you`re br|ng|ng on ass|gnment |nto a bag w|th straps, s||ng |t over your shou|der and wa|k for a m||e w|thout any prob|em. l`m not sure why l fee| so strong|y about th|s except that |t makes you |eave at home th|ngs you don`t rea||y need, and |t enab|es you to operate |ndependent|y of anyth|ng or anyone |n whatever fore|gn country you`ve just fow |nto. So what do l put |n th|s bag? F|rst of a||, l fee| l shou|d be ab|e to s|eep outs|de w|thout too much hard- sh|p. That means carry|ng a s|eep|ng bag |n co|der c||mates and some sort of mosqu|to-net tent |n warmer ones. That frees me from mak|ng my p|ans around hote|s, towns and transportat|on. l br|ng a sate|||te phone for the same reason (the lr|d|um that l use charges $1.49 a m|nute anywhere |n the wor|d, wh|ch |s a |ot cheaper than |oca| ce|| or |and||ne.} l br|ng four or fve reporters` notebooks, a box of fast-wr|t|ng n|ba|| pens and a m|cro-cassette recorder. Recent|y l`ve a|so started trave|||ng w|th a m|n|-Dv camcorder that |s sma|| enough to a|ways keep w|th me. l f|med a mortar attack on a refugee camp |n ||ber|a because l had a cam- era w|th me, wh|ch |ater a||owed me to support the pub||cat|on of my art|c|e w|th v|deo |mages that were broad- cast on te|ev|s|on. That k|nd of med|a convergence |s |ncreas|ng|y |mportant |n today`s market. ln many countr|es peop|e don`t dr|nk coffee, wh|ch l persona||y fee| a deep, a|most desperate need for |n the morn|ng, so l a|ways trave| w|th a (p|ast|c} jar of crysta|s. l br|ng a stand- ard med|ca| k|t that has been beefed up w|th ster||e need|es, a m|||tary tourn|quet and an 'lsrae||" compres- s|on bandage. l a|most a|ways come down w|th dysentery on my tr|ps, so a stomach med|c|ne |s a must, as are re-hydrat|on sa|ts, ant|b|ot|cs, pa|n k|||- ers and - |n the trop|cs - ant|-ma|ar|a|s. lf l am go|ng to be embedded w|th a Western m|||tary l br|ng a bu||etproof vest and he|met; otherw|se l |eave |t at home (they cost a thousand do||ars and |n some countr|es you`|| |ose them at the frst checkpo|nt.} l a|ways have a fash||ght, a fo|d|ng kn|fe and a c|ga- rette ||ghter |n my pocket. Never br|ng a compass, b|nocu|ars or two-way rad|os to a c|v|| war; |nev|tab|y someone |s go|ng to accuse you of be|ng a spy, and |tems ||ke that cou|d |ead to an extreme|y dangerous s|tuat|on. lf you br|ng a map, make sure there are no contour ||nes on |t, for the same reason. l br|ng a copy of one of the books l`ve wr|tten, just to prove that l`m tru|y an author. Many countr|es - |nc|ud|ng the n|ted States - have used journa||sm as a cover for esp|onage, so |nd|gnant|y dec|ar|ng that you`re a work|ng member of the press won`t he|p you much. One |dea you`re go|ng to fnd yourse|f dragg|ng from one war zone to another |s the assumpt|on that r|sk and good journa||sm go hand-|n-hand, and that |f you`re not gett|ng shot at, you`re not gett|ng the story. That`s wrong, though not utter|y, abso|ute|y wrong; as w|th most th|ngs, |t`s a matter of degree. There`s not much to take notes on when you`re under fre except what the rocks |ook ||ke that you`re h|d|ng beh|nd. That sa|d, r|sk |s |ncred|b|y attent|on-gett|ng: A ||tt|e fear can br|ng a story |nto focus that you m|ght other- w|se be fa|||ng as|eep on. ||kew|se for the reader, a story where the reporter |s c|ear|y scared |s a story where the read- er fnds h|mse|f |nvested |n the outcome and on the edge of h|s seat. Fear |s one of those pr|mary emot|ons - a|ong w|th hate and |ove and shame - that organ- |ze human soc|ety and prope|s us through our ||ves. When those emo- t|ons show up, everyone |n the room not|ces and pays attent|on. No good journa||st, however, wou|d ever |ncur r|sk for the he|| of |t - or for the narrat|ve drama of |t. That wou|d be terr|fca||y |ndu|gent and wou|d ent|re|y m|ss the po|nt of good journa||sm, wh|ch |s to report on the wor|d wh||e s|mu|taneous|y keep|ng one`s ego to a m|n|mum. But that same |ack of ego 21 a|so means that ne|ther shou|d one va|ue one`s ||fe abso|ute|y. There are stor|es - the s|ege of Sarajevo |n the 1990`s, for examp|e - that are so ter- r|b|e and |mportant that |t |s acceptab|e to run r|sks |n order to get the word out. Reporters d|ed cover|ng the s|ege of Sarajevo, and l`m sure they d|ed ter- r|fed. lt`s not a n|ce fee||ng, that terror, but somet|mes |t`s an unavo|dab|e part of an |mportant job. When the t|me comes to wr|te the story, however, you have to make sure that your exper|- ence |||um|nates the exper|ence w|thout become the centra| po|nt of |t. You are not starr|ng |n an act|on mov|e, |n other words. My frst step, after l get home from ass|gnment, |s to go through my notes and |nterv|ews w|th a red pen and under||ne the good stuff. Then l wr|te a sort of '|nventory" of what l have - |n- c|ud|ng whatever h|stor|ca| or geopo||t|- ca| mater|a| m|ght be re|evant. Once l have that, l start chunk|ng out the bas|c structure of the p|ece. l try to a|ternate between 'scenes" and 'sect|ons." Scenes convey |nformat|on |nd|rect|y but compe|||ng|y: A conversat|on at a bar that |s utter|y anecdota|, but that po|gnant|y |||um|nates the tragedy of sex traffck|ng. Sect|ons |mpart |nforma- t|on d|rect|y but are bor|ng as he||: A br|ef h|story of the Eastern European country where sex traffck|ng happens. For obv|ous reasons, the sect|ons requ|re a |ot of work and a |ot of jour- na||st|c restra|nt. 'Be|ng a good wr|ter" usua||y just means know|ng when your reader has started to get bored. So, structure: You start w|th a scene, get the reader to care about the characters (or, occas|ona||y, the wr|ter}, then g|ve then g|ve them whatever |nformat|on they need |n order to make sense of the scene they just read. W|thout the |nformat|on, the scenes are just act|on-mov|e theatr|cs; w|thout the scenes, though, the |nformat|on |s academ|c and un|nterest|ng. Rhythm |s everyth|ng, part|cu|ar|y w|th the dr|er mater|a|. Peop|e w||| read anyth|ng |f the rhythm w|th|n the sentences |s r|ght. The ent|re p|ece has a rhythm too; |t ebbs and fows w|th tens|on, and you have to exp|o|t that to keep peop|e read|ng. The qu|et stretches are as necessary as the dynam|c ones, and the |nterp|ay between the two |s one of the th|ngs peop|e mean when they ta|k about 'structure." A |ot of th|ngs |n ||fe have the same structure that a compe|- ||ng p|ece of wr|t|ng has: An attent|on gett|ng start, a |u||, a gradua| bu||d to a great he|ght and then a carefu| d|sman- t||ng. Oareers, romances, ||ves, nat|ons often fo||ow that same bas|c temp|ate. lt`s not rocket sc|ence, but you do have to pay attent|on. You`|| w|nd up w|th a p|ece that thor- ough|y |nvest|gates a sma|| - probab|y trag|c - s|deshow |n the great, ongo- |ng drama of the wor|d. lf that |s a|| you do, you`|| have accomp||shed one of the most |mportant ro|es of a free press, wh|ch |s the w|de d|ssem|nat|on of |nformat|on. Occas|ona||y, though, you`|| have wr|tten someth|ng that uses a part|cu|ar story to |||um|nate a greater truth about the wor|d, about human|ty, about hope or suffer|ng or |oss. Great journa||sm doesn`t requ|re that, but |t occas|ona||y atta|ns |t. You`|| know |f when |t happens. lt |s, |n my op|n|on, one of the most powerfu| and |ntox|cat- |ng fee||ngs one can have. (5eoas||a| !0|e| |s a |ew|, |amed memoe| o/ G|ooa||os|'s Soa|d o/ Ed||o||a| /d.|so|s a|d 7|e ^ew Yo|| 7|mes oes|-se|||| a0||o| o/ H/|, w||c| doc0me||s ||e exoe||e|ce o/ a s|||e o|a|oo| || o|e o/ ||e mos| .|o|e|| ooc|- e|s o/ /|||| || //|a||s|a|. |e a|so co-d||ec|ed w||| 7|m |e||e||||o| ||e doc0me||a|, |es||eoo, w||c| wo| ||e G|a|d !0|, |||ze a| 50|da|ce. O| /o||| 20, 7|m |e||e||||o| was ||||ed w|||e |eoo|||| || ||o,a. 50 Years in Foreign Wars By HDS Greenway GlobalPosts Worldview columnist. 'To see ||fe; to see the wor|d; to eyew|tness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange th|ngs- ma- ch|nes, arm|es, mu|t|tudes, shadows |n the jung|e and on the moon. to see th|ngs thousands of m||es away, th|ngs h|dden beh|nd wa||s and w|th|n rooms; th|ngs dangerous to come to.to see and be amazed; to see and be |nstructed." These were the words Henry |uce used for h|s 1936 prospectus for a new pub||cat|on he was start|ng: ||fe Magaz|ne. H|s words capsu||zed a|| the romance, adventure and - dare l say |t- g|amour of a fore|gn correspondent`s ||fe. l wou|d not d|m|n|sh the exc|tement cover|ng Wash|ngton, or c|ty ha||, or the tumu|tuous wor|d of sport. But ' to see the wor|d; eyew|tness to great events; to see th|ngs thousands of m||es away; th|ngs dangerous to come to, that |s the provenance of report|ng on coun- tr|es and cu|tures other than your own. And what a trad|t|on |t |s: W||||am Russe|| report|ng from the Or|mea, scene of the famous charge of the ||ght Br|gade, G.W. Steevens, whose book 'W|th K|tchener to Khartoum" |s here |n my ||brary as l wr|te, R|chard Hard|ng Dav|s, whose d|spatches from Ouba |n the Span|sh Amer|can War enhanced h|s a|ready cons|derab|e reputat|on, Ern|e Py|e, who d|ed |n the Pac|fc cover|ng the Gls he |oved, Dav|d Ha|berstam,|n v|etnam, F||k|ns (Dexter} of Fa||uja, and on and on. None can say |t |sn`t |mportant work. Here stands Amer|ca, st||| the greatest power on earth, deep|y |n- vo|ved |n two wars, and nuc|ear |ssues w|th lran and North Korea, an emerg|ng Oh|na, and a su||en Russ|a, w|th any number of prob|ems w|th those who favor us, and those who hate us, and everybody |n between. How can a de- mocracy make |nte|||gent dec|s|ons |f |t |s not |nformed what`s go|ng on beyond |ts borders? W|thout fore|gn corre- spondents the g|ant |s b||nd, barg|ng |nto the furn|ture |n an unfam|||ar room. Amer|ca, b|essed as |t |s, has not exper|enced war on |ts so|| s|nce the |ast of the Apaches were suppressed a century ago. Nor have Amer|cans exper|enced great fam|nes, revo|ut|ons, devastat|ng poverty, and d|ctatorsh|p, too often the provenance of the fore|gn correspondent. The best of them have a knack of d|gg|ng deep |nto the countr|es and cu|tures they are ||v|ng |n w|thout ever |os|ng the|r sense of 'gee wh|z," the ab|||ty to br|ng |t a|| fresh and new to the|r readers, never |os|ng a sense of for whom they wr|te. There |s no subst|- tute for ||v|ng |n another country, when your down t|me, the chance meet|ngs the conversat|ons, a|| turn out to be gr|st for the m||| of understand|ng. l began my ||fe |n the news trade as a young ens|gn |n the Navy, tasked w|th putt|ng out a feet newspaper. lt was the |ate fft|es, and the A|ger|an war raged as France tr|ed to hang on to emp|re. l s||pped a short essay |nto the paper about A|ger|a, on|y to hear from the sh|p`s execut|ve offcer. Wh||e the A|ger|a art|c|e may have been |nformat|ve he sa|d, |t 'read ||ke a po||t|- ca| sc|ence text book." What the feet wanted was 'names, scanda|, po||t|ca| d|rt, murder rape, |ove nests." H|s fa- vor|te |ead from the o|d New York Wor|d was: ' 'He||,` sa|d the duchess, '|et go of my |eg.` " My frst |esson |n journa|- |sm: you have to capt|vate the reader not bore, or preach to h|m. l jo|ned Henry |uce`s emp|re |n the ear|y s|xt|es, when T|me and ||fe were at the|r zen|th, w|th bureaus, str|ngers, and correspondents |n a|| the strange p|aces of the p|anet. ||fe Magaz|ne was st||| then b|gger than te|ev|s|on, and had fu|f||ed a|| that |uce`s prospec- tus had asked of |t. Then |t was the Wash|ngton Post, and then the Boston G|obe, where l was asked to bu||d up a fore|gn news serv|ce w|th bureaus |n strateg|c p|aces - a|| to be torn down when newspapers began to re||nqu|sh the|r m|ss|on to |nform, wh|ch they had a|ways seen as a pub||c serv|ce as we|| as a bus|ness. l |ook back, now, on the ffty years s|nce Oommander J.T. Straker, S Navy, brought me up sharp for be|ng pretent|ous, and l wou|d change very few of those years. l watched the great hemorrhag|ng of refugees from East Benga|, dur|ng the pa|nfu| b|rth of Bang|a Desh, the faces of the poor |n |ong co|umns you cou|d spot from the vu|tures |n the sky, wa|t|ng to compete w|th dogs to eat the dead. l watched the gestures of the proud when Anwar Sadat changed h|story |n Jerusa|em. l have seen |nsp|r|ng th|ngs, such as the wa|| com|ng down |n Ber||n, and th|ngs dangerous to come to, despa|r|ng countr|es, burn|ng towns, guer|||as and br|gands, and shadows |n the jung|e where enem|es |ay |n ambush. l have been shot, tear -gassed, and thrown |n ja||. l have |nterv|ewed the capta|ns and the k|ngs, a coup|e of queens, and more than a few knaves. l have been amazed, as we|| as |nstructed, and somet|mes, l ||ke to th|nk, |t has he|ped someone understand someth|ng about th|ngs thousands of m||es away. Lessons Learned in Helmand By Jean MacKenzie GlobalPost Afghanistan Bureau Chief 'But we have to do the story. lf we |g- nore th|s |nc|dent, then the peop|e who d|d th|s w||| never be pun|shed. lt |s our job." There |s noth|ng worse than hear|ng your own words com|ng back to you. The speaker |s an Afghan journa||st, we`|| ca|| h|m Az|z, a young man of 20 who has bare|y comp|eted h|gh schoo|. He has just broken a story that no one, |nc|ud|ng me, wanted h|m to do. Hav|ng heard that fore|gn forces had gone on a rampage |n southern He|mand, Az|z ga|ned access to a c|osed ward |n a pr|vate hosp|ta| |n |ashkar Gah by pos- |ng as a fam||y member. Once |n, he proceeded to |nterv|ew a man whose throat had been s||t, a||eged|y by fore|gn troops. He was now ready to go pub||c, and l had been fght|ng h|m every step of the way. The story was compe|||ng, the sources conv|nc|ng. But the subject matter was just too exp|os|ve. lt was the k|nd of p|ece that cou|d eas||y feed |nto Ta||ban propaganda, and create even greater d|ffcu|t|es for the be|eaguered fore|gn forces |n southern Afghan|stan. l had been |n He|mand for about a year, conduct|ng workshops for |oca| journa|- |sts and journa||st wannabes. He|mand, cap|ta| of the wor|d`s op|um poppy |ndustry and center of the Ta||ban |nsurgency, |s one of the more cha||eng- |ng ass|gnments l`ve had |n a career that has spanned severa| decades and more than a few cont|nents. But the response from a sma|| but ded|cated group of Afghans had surpr|sed and de||ghted me. Tra|n|ng reporters can be a frustrat|ng and |arge|y thank|ess task. Afghan|- stan |s ||ttered w|th the messy rema|ns of two-week workshops |n wh|ch seasoned hacks try to bo|| down the exper|ences of a ||fet|me |nto eas||y d|gest|b|e sound b|tes. Not surpr|s|ng|y, th|s often resu|ts |n a group of ha|f-formed journa||sts w|th fancy cert|fcates and heads fu|| of nonsense. But when taken ser|ous|y by tra|ner and tra|nee, the re|at|onsh|p can prove |mmense|y benefc|a| to both s|des. l had become a journa||st the o|d-fash|oned way, absorb|ng the 23 ru|es from ed|tors and co||eagues, wh||e add|ng a |arge do||op of |nst|nct to my seat-of-the-pants educat|on. Now, for the frst t|me, l had to try and exp|a|n my methods to a group of eager but untutored reporters, most of whom had ||m|ted schoo||ng and a drast|ca||y truncated wor|d v|ew. D|ffcu|t|es arose when l had to answer quest|ons. Th|s |s Afghan|stan, and a war zone, and the answers mattered. Oan one be a 'rea|" journa||st wh||e work|ng for the government? How far do we go to get a story? Or the most common quest|on |n the |nsurgency- wracked south: Do the pr|nc|p|es of fa|rness, ba|ance, and |mpart|a||ty extend to the Ta||ban? ln c|ass we may |ns|st that the tra|nees fnd and |nterv|ew Ta||ban to g|ve substance to a p|ece on c|v|||an casua|t|es or schoo| burn|ngs. But the |oca| government, as we|| as the |nter- nat|ona| forces, may then grumb|e that the journa||sts are 'prov|d|ng the enemy w|th a p|atform for propaganda." On the other hand, a journa||st whose coverage of the |nsurgency |s a b|t too cr|t|ca| may soon |and |n rea| jeopardy. 'lf l wr|te bad th|ngs about the Br|t|sh so|d|ers, then Oo|one| Ohar||e may stop |nv|t|ng me to press confer- ences," |aughed one tra|nee, referr|ng to Oo|one| Ohar|es Mayo, at the t|me the spokesman for the Br|t|sh forces |n He|mand. 'But |f l say bad th|ngs about the Ta||ban, someone w||| come and cut off my head." Safety |s the pr|mary preoccupat|on |n Afghan|stan. No one wants to ass|gn a story that gets a reporter k|||ed. Th|s |s espec|a||y d|ffcu|t when you are tra|n|ng hotheaded young Afghans, who trust everyth|ng to A||ah wh||e tak|ng a|most |mposs|b|e r|sks. 'We want to go to Musa Oa|a," sa|d Ahmad, one of the br|ghtest of the group. Musa Oa|a, then a Ta||ban out- post on the other s|de of an extended no-man`s-|and, was certa|n|y a great story. But how cou|d anyone get there? 'We`ve been negot|at|ng w|th the Ta||ban," he confessed. 'They say they`|| gu|de us |n." F|ve reporters spent a|most a week on the story - at one po|nt be|ng he|d by a rogue Ta||ban group that ca||ed head- quarters ask|ng for perm|ss|on to shoot them. They made |t |n and out, ga|n|ng footage and copy that went around the wor|d. The greatest danger they faced came when they returned to the supposed|y safe, government-contro||ed area. The prov|nc|a| po||ce ch|ef prompt|y |ssued a warrant for the|r arrest. Three of them went underground for severa| days; two of them spent a n|ght |n ja||. Try exp|a|n|ng that to your c|ass. l spend qu|te a b|t of t|me ta|k|ng to Afghan journa||sts about the|r 'm|ss|on." l can quote chapter and verse about journa||sm as the 'br|dge" between the peop|e and those |n power; l t|e myse|f |n knots try|ng to exp|a|n the concept of a 'watchdog press" to touchy Afghans who become extreme|y offended when they th|nk they are be|ng compared to can|nes. And l mean |t, of course l do. But now Az|z was |ook|ng at me earnest|y and ask|ng me to stand up for what l sa|d l be||eved |n, w|th h|s story about an a||eged massacre by fore|gn forces. He had done an exce||ent job and h|s p|ece was so||d. Do l say 'pub||sh and be damned"? Or k||| the story to keep the peace? ln the end, we went w|th the story. Pred|ctab|y, |t produced a frestorm. The Br|t|sh m|||tary base reopened |ts |nqu|ry; the lnternat|ona| Oomm|ttee of the Red Oross and the n|ted Nat|ons got |nvo|ved. Other med|a p|cked |t up, and l spent months answer|ng quer|es. The journa||sts who d|d the research were br|efy deta|ned by the author|t|es, and to|d not to engage |n such subver- s|on aga|n, a warn|ng they have b||the|y |gnored. Our tra|n|ng project was, perhaps co|n- c|denta||y, d|scont|nued short|y after the art|c|e appeared. Was |t worth |t? Abso|ute|y. The journa|- |sts |n He|mand wa|k a ||tt|e ta||er now. Frank|y, so do l. (G|ooa||os| //|a||s|a| S0|ea0 C||e/ !ea| /ac|e|z|e |as oee| ||a|||| |o0|- |a||s|s || //|a||s|a| /o| ||e ||s|||0|e /o| Ha| a|d |eace |eoo|||| /o| ||e oas| /o0| ,ea|s. Lessons from Falluja By Matt McAllester GlobalPost correspondent The .S.-|ed attack on the lraq| c|ty of Fa||ujah |n November 2004 was the most |ntense combat |n wh|ch the Amer|can m|||tary has taken part s|nce the v|etnam War. The ma|n batt|e |asted just over a week. l spent that t|me embedded w|th an Army un|t, 2nd Batta||on - 7th Oava|ry Reg|ment out of Fort Hood, Texas. There were a number of |essons about report|ng on combat and report|ng |n genera| that l |earned or re-|earned dur|ng that very |ntense week, and |n the weeks and months after the batt|e. l d|d some th|ngs we||, some th|ngs bad|y. ln most embeds, |t works th|s way: You get ass|gned to a batta||on or a company, wh|ch g|ves you, respec- t|ve|y, about 800 or 200 so|d|ers to chat to. That`s obv|ous|y too many for a story of any |ength. So you have to go m|crocosm|c. You have to get to know so|d|ers who ||ke you and whom you ||ke, who are good ta|kers, w|th whom you can see yourse|f spend|ng a |ot of t|me. These very few peop|e are go|ng to have to be the way you te|| the story of a major batt|e |nvo|v|ng thousands of so|d|ers. Don`t crowd them or pretend you`re the|r new best fr|end forever. Just hang out a b|t and bu||d |t up. lf |n doubt, |t`s better to shut up than to jab- ber away. Don`t name-drop dangerous p|aces you may have been to. They don`t |mpress eas||y. l focused on a p|atoon (about 30 so|d|ers} and then narrowed |t down to one squad, wh|ch was e|ght men. One of them wou|d d|e |n the batt|e. Most wou|d be |njured. What l d|dn`t do we|| enough was get to know them persona||y. At |east, not as much as l shou|d have. A batt|e |s d|stract|ng and exhaust|ng and scary so l spent much of my t|me try|ng to stay a||ve, gett|ng to know the sen|or offcers and speak|ng w|th |ots of other so|d|ers. l shou|d have bu||t up more compre- hens|ve b|ograph|ca| and character sketches of the squad l had m|grated toward. l shou|d have known where they a|| grew up, what the|r favor|te bands were, the names of the|r k|ds, why they jo|ned the m|||tary. l knew on|y some of that. lf you`re go|ng to focus, focus proper|y. And then one day they stormed a house and got outnumbered and cornered. One of them, a guy l ||ked, was shot dead. A|| but two of the others were shot and |njured. l wasn`t there and l rema|n deep|y conf|cted about th|s. l sat out that morn|ng m|ss|on for two reasons: l was exhausted, and there was beg|nn|ng to be a repet|t|on about my stor|es that d|d not, |t seemed to me at the t|me, compe| me to go on every m|ss|on and put myse|f |n such extreme danger a|| the t|me. Part of me has a|ways fe|t that l made a very smart ca||, that l wou|d a|most certa|n|y have been shot too had l been present when the squad had stormed the house fu|| of |nsur- gents. But another part of me fee|s ||ke l fa||ed - because l |et them down on a persona| |eve|, by not be|ng there to w|tness the|r worst moments, and be- cause l m|ssed the story. As a reporter, l fe|t l had dropped the ba||. l st||| don`t know what |esson to draw from a|| of that. D|d l make the r|ght ca|| or not? But here`s one l re-|earned soon after: the story, ||ke most stor|es, was te||ab|e after the fact. You do not have to be present. Sy Hersh was not at My |a| or Abu Ghra|b. He just asked the r|ght peop|e what happened there. The two un|njured so|d|ers were happy to te|| the story of what one of them ca||ed a 'mad m|nute from he||." l spoke to the dead so|d|er`s father on the phone, from h|s home |n Texas, and w|th the so|d|er`s young w|fe. l a|so spoke to the batta||on commander`s w|fe, who had gone to the so|d|er`s w|dow`s home short|y after an offcer had broken the news to her. The story came together days after the event, and l th|nk |t was perhaps as mean|ngfu| storyte|||ng as anyth|ng l cou|d have put together had l been |n that house. One fna| |esson l remembered |n the aftermath of Fa||ujah and then du|y forgot aga|n: to keep report|ng on the same story strands, to rev|s|t, get up- dates, see what has changed, keep |n touch. l d|d th|s at frst, return|ng to lraq a few months |ater to see the same so|- d|ers aga|n, to exp|ore how the batt|e and the|r gr|ef had affected them. We sat and ta|ked for hours. They opened up |n ways they d|dn`t have the t|me and |nc||nat|on to do |n November. And the passage of t|me |tse|f had added |ayers to the|r stor|es. After that, l kept |n touch w|th some of them but l pretty much fe|t l had done a|| l cou|d w|th these guys. l sent a condo|ence ema|| to the dead so|d|er`s s|ster when l heard that her other brother had a|so been k|||ed, |n a m|||tary 'acc|dent," |n Afghan|stan. They were the frst Amer|can brothers to be k|||ed |n the two ma|n theaters of conf|ct |n the post-9/11 wars. lt was a trag|c co|nc|dence and a po|gnant da||y news story for sure, but based on the facts l had l made a judgement that |t was not a strong enough narrat|ve for a |onger magaz|ne p|ece. More than a year |ater, l opened the magaz|ne l ma|n|y work for now and saw a story by another reporter about my so|d|er, Jose, and h|s brother, Andrew. Andrew, |t turned out, was desperate|y upset by Jose`s death. He had not had an 'acc|dent" |n the fe|d of batt|e, as had been reported. He had k|||ed h|mse|f w|th h|s r|fe. lt was a mov|ng, powerfu| story. l had not kept report|ng the story. l shou|d have de|ved further and not trusted the facts 'as reported," but confrmed on my own what had rea||y happened. l w||| try not to do that aga|n. Perils of Reporting in Russia By Miriam Elder Moscow correspondent. MOSOOW - lt was October 2007, about a year after l moved here, when my fr|end Stephen d|sappeared. No one knew where he was. H|s fr|ends d|dn`t know, h|s co||eagues d|dn`t know, h|s boss d|dn`t know. Weeks |ater, we |earned that Stephen, a journa||st for Agence France-Presse, had gone on ho||day and never came back. The rumors spread qu|ck|y. Had he gotten a Russ|an g|r| pregnant and fed out of fear? Had he gotten a taste of the West and remembered how n|ce ||fe was there? None of |t made much sense. lt was on|y |n Apr|| 2008 that we, h|s fr|ends |n the Moscow press corps, got the fu|| story, or at |east Stephen`s vers|on of |t. He had organ|zed a go|ng away party |n K|ev, be|ng too scared to enter Russ|an terr|tory to say good-bye to h|s fr|ends or even p|ck up h|s th|ngs. S|tt|ng around a |ong tab|e at a kra|n|an restaurant, around 20 of us gathered to ||sten to Stephen`s story. One n|ght |n ear|y 2008, Stephen to|d us, he stopped a gypsy cab to take h|m home, as he d|d most every n|ght. The dr|ver was ta|kat|ve, and fr|end|y. They ta|ked about mus|c. They ta|ked about 25 ||fe. The dr|ver asked Stephen what he d|d, and he sa|d he was a journa||st. The dr|ver sa|d he had recent|y ret|red from the M|n|stry of Defense. The r|de ended w|th the dr|ver, A|ex, say|ng he had very |nterest|ng |nformat|on and contacts on th|ngs ||ke lran and Afghan|stan and |t wou|d be a shame |f they never met aga|n. Stephen, an eager journa||st, had h|s |nterest qu|ck|y p|qued. They began hang|ng out - at Moscow cafes or at A|ex`s dacha (countryhouse}. A|ex, who by then sa|d he used to work for the GR, the Sov|et n|on`s fore|gn |nte|||gence agency, d|d |ndeed have |nformat|on - sate|||te photos that he sa|d showed a|||ance vu|nerab|||t|es |n Afghan|stan - that he passed on to Stephen, who was re|uctant to keep them |n h|s possess|on but |ncapab|e of res|st|ng the urge of A Great Story. He d|dn`t te|| h|s ed|tors at AFP. P|an- n|ng a move to B|oomberg, Stephen was hop|ng to pub||sh a story |n a ma- jor S magaz|ne dur|ng the br|ef per|od he was t|ed to no organ|zat|on. Stephen then d|d |ndeed go on vaca- t|on - to Scot|and, where he met up w|th a fr|end who used to work for the OlA. He recounted h|s ta|e. And that was that. Embassy consu|tat|ons fo||owed, as d|d extreme parano|a. Stephen, and State Department of- fc|a|s, became conv|nced that he had fa||en for one of the o|dest tr|cks |n the Sov|et p|aybook, w|th agents gather- |ng kompromat (d|rty |nformat|on} on an unsuspect|ng journa||st to be ca||ed up whenever the need struck. W|th the d|sks s|tt|ng under h|s desk at the AFP bureau, Stephen eas||y cou|d have been branded a stea|er of state secrets. He w||| probab|y never come back to Russ|a. Whether true or not, |t served as a cau- t|onary ta|e. When a cabb|e who once p|cked me up from a report|ng tr|p to S|ber|a began te|||ng me about h|s past work at the lnter|or M|n|stry, and how he had ree|s of v|deo show|ng Russ|an m|ssteps dur|ng the Bes|an schoo| hostage s|ege, l near|y accepted an |nv|tat|on to h|s dacha outs|de Moscow. Then l thought otherw|se. lnformat|on, so hard to come by |n Russ|a, never comes that eas||y here un|ess u|ter|or mot|ves are at p|ay. These are the fears fore|gn journa||sts |n Russ|a face. As |ong as you`re carefu|, and a|ert to the dangers, |t`s re|at|ve|y s|mp|e to avo|d ensnarement. Our Russ|an co||eagues aren`t so |ucky. S|nce l`ve been |n Russ|a, so many journa||sts have been k|||ed, or d|ed |n myster|ous c|rcumstances. Anna Po||tkovskaya and Anastas|a Baburova, both reporters for Russ|a`s |ast rema|n- |ng ||bera| newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, were shot dead, Po||tkovskaya |n a contract k||||ng that took p|ace |n her apartment bu||d|ng, and Baburova as she tr|ed to catch a contract k|||er who had shot the ||bera| |awyer w|th whom she was wa|k|ng after a press confer- ence. The death of lvan Safronov, a reporter for the Kommersant newspa- per, who was |nvest|gat|ng shady arms dea|s to Syr|a and lran, was offc|a||y ru|ed a su|c|de, but near|y everyone be||eves he was thrown out the w|ndow he a||eged|y jumped from. The targeted tend to be those reporters who attack the d|rect (usua||y fnan- c|a|} |nterests of corrupt offc|a|s and bus|nessmen. That, |n turn, |eads to se|f-censorsh|p. Fore|gn journa||sts a|so fa|| prey to that. Every t|me l wr|te the words 'Ramzan Kadyrov," the name of the ruth|ess pres|dent of Ohechnya who has been accused of order|ng many k||||ngs, l doub|e and tr|p|e check that noth|ng can be taken out of context, that every word |s necessary. Rus- s|an bus|nesses have become |awsu|t happy. lts more brut|sh c|t|zens st||| prefer the |aw of the gun. 23 Years: Reections on Zimbabwe By Andrew Meldrum GlobalPost Deputy Managing Editor Robert Mugabe had been defeated at the po||s and |t appeared h|s days |n power were numbered. He reacted by dep|oy|ng h|s war veterans - men who supposed|y fought 25 years ear||er to end wh|te-m|nor|ty Rhodes|an ru|e - to |nvade wh|te-owned farms and beat up supporters of the oppos|t|on party, the Movement for Democrat|c Ohange (MDO}. lt was March, 2000. O|v|c |eaders, church organ|zat|ons and women` groups, |awyers, doctors and many others organ|zed a peace march to urge a|| Z|mbabweans to work together for the good of the nat|on. Po||ce frst tr|ed to b|ock the march and arrested a few dozen part|c|pants. But as the numbers of marchers swe||ed from hundreds to thousands the po||ce re|ented and the process|on began through downtown Harare. l fo||owed the march, scr|bb||ng |n my notebook deta||s ||ke the ra|nbow ban- ners he|d a|oft and the marchers s|ng- |ng 'G|ve peace a chance`. l |nterv|ewed march |eaders and po||ce. When pas- sengers on a fu|| bus saw the march was safe, they jo|ned |n. Oonstruct|on workers on stee| g|rders h|gh above, waved and wh|st|ed the|r approva|. A g|ddy, happy atmosphere rose up as the march reached F|rst Street, the center of Harare, |t appeared to be a resound|ng success. 'War vets! War vets!" swept the warn- |ng through the crowd. Down the b|ock l saw a group of men runn|ng towards the march, brand|sh|ng st|cks, stones and |ron bars. l stood next to a po||ce- man between two parked cars, tak|ng notes of the threaten|ng band of Mugabe`s enforcers. ORAOK! l was |y|ng on the pavement. A |arge chunk of cement |ay by my head. lt had apparent|y had been hur|ed at me and knocked me out. l staggered to my feet and a few feet away saw a man |n convu|s|ons who had been beaten unconsc|ous by the rampag|ng war vets. The po||ce were nowhere |n s|ght. l started |nterv|ew|ng peop|e about what had happened. l saw b|ood on my notebook and rea||zed my head was b|eed|ng. A fresh warn|ng came that the war vets were return|ng for a second attack. l crouched beh|nd a veh|c|e |n a used car |ot and watched as Mugabe`s supporters beat anyone they found. The po||ce were escort|ng them. l stayed beh|nd the veh|c|e for some t|me, th|nk|ng about how l had seen Z|mbabwe change |n the 20 years that l had ||ved and worked there, from a country reve|||ng |n freedom and opt|m|sm to a p|ace ru|ed by threats and v|o|ence. l knew then that Mugabe wou|d never accept to |eave power peacefu||y and wou|d use any amount of v|o|ence to stay |n offce. l wrote a v|v|d account that day, for the Observer, and gave near|y a dozen phone |nterv|ews to ONN, NPR, the BBO and other networks. But more |mportant than gett|ng a compe|||ng frst-hand account of a key event, l |earned severa| |essons. The frst was to keep my d|stance from v|o|ence, whenever poss|b|e. Somehow l fe|t my notebook was a sh|e|d that protected me from v|o|ence. Prev|ous|y whenever a s|tuat|on was vo|at||e and my reporter`s nose took me to the cent- er of the act|on. l |earned w|th to watch from a safe d|stance. l a|so |earned that many groups see the press as an enemy and do not respect the journa||st`s ro|e as a neutra| observ- er. Perpetrators of state v|o|ence, for |nstance, are threatened by a journa|- |st`s work to document what happens. They w||| target journa||sts for v|o|ence |n order to s||ence the|r work. l knew to stay at arm`s |ength from governments, po||t|ca| part|es and other organ|zed groups. They a|| have the|r own agendas. Somet|mes the|r objec- t|ves w||| ft |n w|th what l want to do as a journa||st, but on|y up to a po|nt, and |t |s of pr|mary |mportance for the jour- na||st to ma|nta|n h|s/her |ndependence. l |earned that object|v|ty on|y goes so far. ln the case of Z|mbabwe l saw many Amer|can journa||sts fa|| over themse|ves |n order to try to g|ve an object|ve portraya| of Mugabe, |.e. to show Mugabe |n a favorab|e ||ght. Some wrote that the peace march provoked the war vets to attack. A|| w|tnesses agreed that the war vets v|c|ous|y attacked a peacefu|, |ega| gather|ng. The shortcom|ngs of 'report|ng both s|des of the story" became more pro- nounced when uncover|ng ev|dence of systemat|c state torture |n Z|mbabwe. The documentat|on of torture by po||ce and other state agents was conv|nc|ng, yet some journa||sts pers|sted |n g|v|ng 50 percent of the we|ght of the|r story to den|a|s by Mugabe and h|s offc|a|s, |nc|ud|ng the|r cr|t|c|sms of those who had uncovered the torture. Such stor|es |eft the reader to dec|pher what was rea||y go|ng on |n Z|mbabwe. l came to see that as a m|scarr|age of journa||sm. l be||eve that a|| journa||sts have a respons|b|||ty to report human r|ghts abuses and torture. We have a respons|b|||ty to g|ve a fa|r account and to g|ve a|| po|nts of v|ew, but that ob- ject|v|ty shou|d not prevent us from pre- sent|ng damn|ng ev|dence and |ett|ng the reader know what |s happen|ng. (/|d|ew /e|d|0m |s G|ooa||os| Deo0|, /a|a|| Ed||o|. |e wo||ed || Z|moa- owe /o| 23 ,ea|s, mos| o/ ||a| ||me as a /|ee|a|ce |o0||a||s| w||||| /o| ||e G0a|d- |a| a|d ||e Eco|om|s| Reections on Foreign Reporting and Safety. By Simon Wilson, BBC Washington Bureau Chief WASHlNGTON - l have yet to meet a fore|gn correspondent that does not have some k|nd of |nsecur|ty. So |et`s get m|ne out of the way up front. l am not a 'rea|` fore|gn correspondent. Oh, and l`m a coward. For more than a decade, l have had the pr|v||ege of trave||ng the wor|d courtesy of a be|oved emp|oyer - the BBO - and w|tness|ng some of the defn|ng events of our generat|on. But l have done so, for the most part, as a te|ev|s|on producer, a strange hybr|d of a job wh|ch myst|fes most peop|e. Dur|ng the course of a part|cu- |ar|y |ong |nterrogat|on, an lsrae|| border offc|a| summed |t up best: 'Ze reporter |s the |mportant one," she to|d me, 'he says ze words. Ze camer- aman he takes p|ctures. But you, what do you do - l don`t understand". Four hours |ater, l fear she was none the w|ser as we were somewhat grump||y ushered through. And to th|s day l am st||| not sure exact|y what |t |s l do. Except for not be|ng the |mportant one. As for the coward th|ng, far more e|oquent pract|t|oners than me have wr|tten of the drug-||ke qua||ty of fore|gn report|ng and espec|a||y of war report- |ng. lt |s a|| true. Th|s |s a part|cu|ar|y add|ct|ve profess|on and ||ke add|cts we a|| make our own persona| pact w|th the dev||. Some w||| d|ve |n fear- |ess|y -- at |east for a t|me. Others hate themse|ves a ||tt|e more each day for what they are becom|ng. Some of the heroes are the ones who turn around and go home. Most of us fnd some sort of uneasy comprom|se, mak|ng what we th|nk are reasonab|e concess|ons to fam||y and |oved ones, wh||e st||| tak|ng r|sks wh|ch the rest of the wor|d wou|d fnd |nsane. Few th|ngs are certa|n |n th|s bus|ness, 27 but for sure gett|ng k|||ed, |njured or k|dnapped unnecessar||y |s not a smart move. So here are some refect|ons from the past decade or so on t|mes spent try|ng to stay safe w|th BBO co||eagues |n dangerous p|aces so we cou|d do what we came to do. They are offered as one co||eague m|ght to another; over a beer |n a hote| bar after a |ong day out on the road |n some godforsaken corner of the wor|d. Po|nt one |s to have a p|an. lt |s certa|n|y poss|b|e to stumb|e around on a story and st||| do great work. But |t |s not the percentage game. As one ce|ebrated BBO wart|me cameraman ||ked to say: 'lf you have a p|an you can a|ways change |t. lf you don`t have a p|an you`re probab|y a|ready f***ed." The p|an m|ght be as s|mp|e as: Get up, Eat breakfast, Head for x town or y v|||age. The |mportant th|ng |s that someone somewhere knows where you p|anned to start the day. lf someth|ng goes wrong, |t g|ves them somewhere to start |ook|ng. ln Gaza |n 2007, there were a number of threats fac|ng western journa||sts, |n- c|ud|ng the r|sk of k|dnap by Pa|est|n|an groups. As the Bureau Oh|ef respon- s|b|e for our offce there, l had he|ped draw up our ru|es of dep|oyment, wh|ch |nc|uded a |engthy |etter from corre- spondent A|an Johnston about what to do |n the event of h|s k|dnap. When the terr|b|e news came |n March of that year that A|an had been taken hostage by a shadowy ls|am|st group, the document proved |nva|uab|e. As |s now standard pract|ce for BBO corre- spondents operat|ng |n H|gh R|sk areas we had agreed code words for A|an to g|ve to prove he was a||ve or under duress. But just as |mportant was a coo|-headed assessment from A|an of who we shou|d turn to for |nformat|on, who wou|d be ||ke|y to offer genu|ne he|p and who wou|d be more ||ke|y to |ead us up the garden path. ln A|an`s case, we d|d rece|ve h|s proof of ||fe code word through |ntermed|ar- |es after severa| weeks, prov|d|ng some comfort to h|s fam||y. The p|ann|ng and preparat|on |tse|f were on|y a sma|| part of the efforts that eventua||y |ed to h|s safe re|ease after a|most four months. But they were a cruc|a| start|ng po|nt and he|ped the BBO have an e|ement of contro| over a d|ffcu|t s|tuat|on from the outset. A |esson that |s much harder to prepare for, but wh|ch most exper|enced corre- spondents w||| attest to, |s that danger often comes from the |east expected quarter. ln 1999, as NATO warp|anes bombed the former Yugos|av|a, l covered a |esser ang|e of the story from |ns|de Montenegro, the jun|or partner |n the Yugos|av federat|on |ed by Serb|a. Work|ng w|th the BBO`s |egendary and br||||ant war correspondent Br|an Bar- ron, l was certa|n|y aware of potent|a| dangers. NATO cru|se m|ss||es were h|tt|ng targets at the a|rport a few m||es from the hote| where we were stay|ng |n the cap|ta|, Podgor|ca. One n|ght a group of us went up to f|m them from the roof and were ||tera||y knocked off our feet by a ser|es of huge b|asts. On the streets, the Yugos|av 2nd Army was under attack and ||ab|e to take out |ts frustrat|ons aga|nst potent|a| symbo|s of the west, such as BBO journa||sts. But danger was the |ast th|ng on our m|nd one sunny spr|ng morn|ng as we headed |nto the centra| park |n Podgor|ca to record a p|ece to camera - the part of a te|ev|s|on report where the correspondent addresses the camera d|rect|y. There was no bomb- |ng and few troops were on the streets. However, unbeknownst to us we had stumb|ed |nto the area where a group of part|cu|ar|y thugg|sh Serb|an para- m|||tar|es was h|d|ng out. What fo||owed was one of the nast|- est |nc|dents l have exper|enced. A n|ghtmar|sh ha|f-hour dr|ve |nto a forest w|th each member of our team hav|ng a |oaded gun pressed |nto the|r chest. When l asked our brave |oca| trans|ator |yd|a what was be|ng sa|d |n the car, she rep||ed d|rect|y and rather ch||||ng|y: 'They th|nk we are NATO sp|es. They are debat|ng whether or not to k||| us." A few months ear||er, the BBO had put me through our standard Host||e Env|ronment tra|n|ng course, wh|ch |nc|uded a remarkab|y rea||st|c mock abduct|on. At the t|me, l had found the who|e th|ng somewhat amus|ng. As our veh|c|e bounced a|ong the forest tracks and the muzz|e of a rusty-|ook|ng Ka- |ashn|kov raked up and down my chest |t sudden|y seemed somewhat more to the po|nt. l remembered the adv|ce from our tra|ners, themse|ves former members of the Br|t|sh Spec|a| Forces: Stay ca|m, th|nk stra|ght, keep a |ow prof|e, try not to exacerbate the s|tua- t|on. lt a|so he|ped hav|ng someone as exper|enced as Br|an w|th us. Whatever the reason, after some scary moments we were eventua||y handed over to the army and, after a 24-hour |nterrogat|on, re|eased. l took a coup|e of |essons from that exper|ence. F|rst|y, we had taken our eyes off the ba|| and gone f|m|ng |n an area that we hadn`t checked out because |t seemed safe at frst g|ance. Preparat|on |s everyth|ng - espec|a||y |n te|ev|s|on where one rare|y trave|s w|th a team of fewer than four peop|e. Second|y, and perhaps more |mpor- tant|y, we had g|ven ourse|ves the best chance of emerg|ng from a nasty |nc|- dent unscathed by stay|ng reasonab|y coo| under pressure. lf any member of our team, Oorrespondent, Producer, Oameraman or |oca| fxer had tr|ed to make a run for |t, the resu|t may we|| have been trag|c. Another s|de of work|ng |n d|ffcu|t and dangerous env|ronments |s the psycho- |og|ca| effect they have on journa||sts and the peop|e they work w|th. Oon- s|derab|e work has been done |n recent years on the potent|a| effects that sus- ta|ned exposure to conf|ct can have. A number of organ|zat|ons, |nc|ud|ng the BBO, now rout|ne|y offer counse||ng and other therap|es to teams return|ng from part|cu|ar|y dangerous env|ron- ments. Managers are a|so tra|ned to be on the |ookout for the s|gns of trauma and stress. One |ess exp|ored area |s the extent to wh|ch journa||sts can |ook out for each other |n the fe|d and |n some cases avo|d or m|n|m|ze future prob|ems. l remember v|v|d|y the frst t|me l was sent to a ser|ous|y dangerous p|ace, A|ban|a |n the spr|ng of 1997. My job was pr|mar||y one of co-ord|nat|on and there was ||tt|e need for me to trave| far from our hote| |n the cap|ta| T|rana. As the p|ace descended |nto chaos and anarchy and the sounds of shoot|ng came ever c|oser to the hote|, l became a|most para|ysed w|th fear. Fortunate|y an exper|enced o|der co||eague rea||zed what was happen|ng and w|th great de||cacy created a s|tua- t|on that wou|d |nvo|ve me spend|ng the day out on the road w|th h|m. We had some scrapes and had to pass through var|ous dodgy checkpo|nts. But the day showed to me that the wor|d outs|de the ||tt|e bubb|e l had been operat|ng |n was not actua||y that fr|ghten|ng. From that day on, l was ca|mer and ab|e to concentrate on the job l was meant to be do|ng. lt was a va|uab|e |esson and on a number of occas|ons l have |ntervened |n s|m||ar s|tuat|ons. These are tough t|mes for fore|gn journa||sts. The fnanc|a| pressures mean that |f we are |ucky enough to have jobs, then we are expected to f|e more and more w|th fewer and fewer resources. The wor|d |s a|so undoubt- ed|y a more dangerous p|ace for us. Through most of h|story, the b|ggest danger fac|ng a correspondent was to be |n the wrong p|ace at the wrong t|me, to get caught |n someone e|se`s crossfre. Now we ourse|ves are often the target, whether |t |s governments who want to d|ssuade honest and ac- curate report|ng or m|||tant groups who see us as an extens|on of the western powers they hate. So now more than ever, we need to be both smart and organ|zed. There are other top t|ps that one p|cks up a|ong the road; w|th fnd|ng a trustworthy |o- ca| fxer probab|y ch|ef amongst them. But the greatest resources |n the fe|d rema|n, as they a|ways been, exper|- ence and common sense. Br|ng|ng those to bear on the fasc|nat|ng but un- pred|ctab|e stor|es we choose to cover |s probab|y one of the b|gger cha||eng- es of the job. And |f l had my t|me aga|n w|th that lsrae|| border guard, l th|nk that`s what l m|ght try to exp|a|n. The Iraq War: A Womens Perspective By Jane Arraf Contributing correspondent There are t|mes - many t|mes - you w||| wonder whether |t`s worth |t. The un|que m|x of danger, ted|um and d|s- comfort |s the ha||mark of war report|ng but |t`s the added e|ement of be|ng kept |n the dark - often ||tera||y - that w||| make you wonder why |n the wor|d you s|gned up to be embedded. That`s part of the barga|n of be|ng w|th the m|||tary - you g|ve up a|| phys|ca| freedom for access and a mod|cum of secur|ty. And somet|mes, no matter how much p|an- n|ng you`ve done, no matter how many contacts you have, you w||| fnd yourse|f stuck |n a Brad|ey w|th seven |arge strangers for s|x hours |n the dark wh||e a batt|e rages on around you. ln WWll reporters few on bomb|ng ra|ds and sent back mora|e-boost|ng stor|es about the troops. ln v|etnam they moved re|at|ve|y free|y a|ong the batt|efe|d and sent back footage and stor|es that contr|buted to underm|n- |ng support for the war. The m|||tary has had an uneasy re|at|onsh|p w|th the med|a ever s|nce. Journa||sts stuck |n Saud| Arab|a saw very ||tt|e of the 1991 Gu|f War. By the t|me 2003 came around, the concept of embedd|ng reporters w|th front-||ne m|||tary un|ts resu|ted |n what m|ght be the best- covered conf|ct |n h|story. F|ve years |nto the war |n lraq, embedd|ng st||| gets you to p|aces you cou|dn`t otherw|se get to and |ns|ght |nto |ssues you cou|dn`t otherw|se cover. lt`s a soda straw v|ew though that takes work to put |nto context. The m|||tary |s ||ke a fore|gn country. You w||| need fr|ends there to nav|- gate a system essent|a||y des|gned to move huge numbers of uncomp|a|n|ng so|d|ers and to keep out journa||sts and other |ntruders. At worst |t can |eave you stranded for days |n trans|t tents wa|t|ng for he||copters that |nexp||cab|y |eave w|thout you. At best |t |s a front-row seat to h|story, worth every drop of the r|sk. A|though you w||| fnd so|d|ers and of- fcers who be||eve as much as we do that a free press |s essent|a| to a strong democracy, a |ot of them dea| w|th us because they have to - because |t`s become part of the|r m|ss|on to engage w|th the med|a. The m|||tary a|m - often to get out 'good news stor|es` - and ours - s|mp|y to get news stor|es - are |nev|tab|y prone to co|||s|on. But un|ess you or the person you`re dea||ng w|th |s a tota| jerk, on a day-to-day |eve| |t genera||y goes fne. Be|ng accepted by the m|||tary |s a ser|es of tests - most of them |nv|s|b|e to us - but occas|ona||y tak|ng the form of quest|ons such as: 'Oan you sca|e a wa||?". At the end of the day, on a|most a|| embeds be|ng ab|e to sca|e a wa|| |n body armor |s |ess |mportant than forg|ng the necessary degree of trust. The trust that wh||e what you wr|te and report m|ght not make the m|||tary |ook good, |t |s what actua||y happened. F|nd|ng the ba|ance between gett|ng c|ose to the so|d|ers you`re cover|ng and ma|nta|n|ng the necessary degree of d|stance |s tr|ck|er. There are w|de|y vary|ng degrees of access. n|ess you`re happy w|th whatever they g|ve you or te|| you or wherever they send you, be prepared to be thought of as d|ffcu|t - part|cu- 29 |ar|y |f you`re a woman. There are worse th|ngs. Don`t assume |f you`re a woman that fema|e so|d|ers or Mar|nes are auto- mat|ca||y go|ng to bond w|th you - not on|y do they have the|r own prob|ems, they`re just as ||ke|y to d|s||ke the med|a as the next guy. One of the great th|ngs about be|ng a fema|e reporter |n conservat|ve soc|et|es |s that you can ta|k to |oca| women who are often more outspoken and cand|d than the men. |earn some of the |anguage. You have a better chance of s|tt|ng |n on the OB - the commander`s update br|ef - |f you know what |t |s and |ess change of be|ng stuck on a base |f you know how an AMR - an a|r movement request - works. Know|ng the m|||tary ranks and who does what |s cruc|a|. Oover|ng the m|||tary |s often a|| about know|ng what quest|ons to ask. You w||| need to know more than the so|d|ers do about the h|story and cu|ture of the p|aces you`re |n. They are h|gh|y attuned to the requ|rements of stay|ng a||ve the way we are not. The rest of |t? Not so much. A |ot of m|n|m|z|ng r|sk |s common sense but any tra|n|ng |s good tra|n|ng, |nc|ud|ng the conf|ct zone courses run for reporters. Th|nk of the worst case scenar|o, the odds of |t happen|ng and what you`re actua||y gett|ng out of the r|sk you`re tak|ng. You shou|d worry but don`t |et |t para|yze you. One of the th|ngs you rea||y shou|d worry |n advance though |s what w||| happen |f you`re hurt. Embed ru|es requ|re that you`ve arranged hea|th |nsurance. That doesn`t even beg|n to cover what you wou|d ||ve on |f you cou|dn`t work anymore. You w||| ||ke|y stay |n terr|b|e p|aces. lf there |s actua| fght|ng go|ng on, there w||| ||tera||y be no p|ace to stay except |ns|de a Brad|ey, or M-RAP or a Stryker or a humvee. And yes, a restroom |s comp|ete|y out of the quest|on. Every- one gets over the embarrassment rea||y qu|ck|y. lt`s k|nd of a g|ven that the worse the accommodat|ons, the better the story. n|ess you are w|th the Br|t|sh. Endur|ng the dust-r|dden, coffn-||ke concrete bunkers w|th|n tents they stay |n to guard aga|nst the s||ghtest r|sk of mortar attacks guarantees you on|y e|ther s|eep-|nduc|ng or 'you`ve-got-to- be-k|dd|ng me` br|efngs from a pub||c affa|rs offcer and a bew||der|ng array of exp|anat|ons as to why you can`t get off the base. Apart from the ab|||ty to f|e, you don`t rea||y need as much as you th|nk you do. There |s noth|ng ||ke RPG rounds and gunfre to make you rea||ze that there are worse th|ngs than s|eep|ng on the ground and not be|ng ab|e to take a shower for a few days. At the oppos|te end are what you w||| remember |n retrospect as among the most g|or|ous p|aces you`ve ever stayed. Once |t was the su|te where Rumsfe|d was put up at the v|s|- tors` guest house where l wou|d have jumped up and down on the g|ant bed had l not been preoccup|ed w|th the m|racu|ous|y fuffy towe|s |n the marb|e bathroom. More often |t`s anywhere that has sheets and a rea| bed and the wonderfu| fee| of hot, runn|ng water. You have to be prepared to see the most horr|b|e th|ngs and fnd a reason why |t`s worth see|ng them. lt`s tempt- |ng to focus on death and on near- death exper|ences but however r|vet|ng they`re on|y a part of the story. lf you do th|s for a wh||e |n an act|ve war zone you w||| have been through more frefghts and lED attacks than many of the so|d|ers you are cover|ng. That`s when |t may be t|me to go home. Being There By William Dowell Correspondent covering NGOs Reporters enjoy a defn|te advantage over d|p|omats, government offc|a|s. The reporter |s there to wr|te what he observes, not to make mora| judg- ments or to push a po||t|ca| agenda. More |mportant, the reporter |s often the man on the spot. As the famous Po||sh journa||st, Ryszard Kapusc|nsk|, once put |t, 'l often found that when l was head|ng towards the story, e veryone e|se was mov|ng |n the oppos|te d|rect|on. lf a d|p|omat, ta|ks to a guerr|||a |eader or band|t, |t means that the government he represents may be w||||ng to make a dea|. A reporter |s s|mp|y after a good story and for that reason he can often go where others can`t. More |mportant, he may be a br|dge between oppos|ng s|des. Often these |nforma| contacts come to naught, but occas|ona||y they pay off. ln the |ate 1970`s, l was str|ng|ng for both ABO News and TlME maga- z|ne |n Par|s, when l was ass|gned by TlME to work on a cover story about torture. The |dea was not to make a mora| judgment but s|mp|y to try to fnd out whether |t worked or not. Par|s |s fu|| of former po||t|ca| pr|soners who have exper|enced 'enhanced |nterroga- t|on" techn|ques, and l qu|ck|y com- p||ed a ||st of a dozen peop|e who had e|ther been tortured or had someth|ng to say about |t. One was an art|cu|ate lran|an student |eader named Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, who c|a|med the OlA had been tra|n|ng the Shah`s secret po||ce SAvAK. l never knew |f h|s a||egat|ons were r|ght, but l ||ked h|m, and l ended up on h|s ma|||ng ||st. A few months |ater, l ca||ed Sadegh, who by then was regu|ar|y commut|ng to a Par|s|an suburb, Neauph|e-|e Oha- teau. He had become Ayato||ah Ruho||a Khome|ny`s man |n Par|s. On the phone he sa|d l was we|come to attend Fr|day prayers. Khome|ny, he sa|d, was go|ng to turn out to be very |mportant. l had a fr|end work|ng as a po||t|ca| offcer |n the S embassy |n Par|s. 'Have you ta|ked w|th these guys?" l asked. 'We can`t," he sa|d. "Everyone wou|d th|nk that we were encourag|ng them." A year |ater, the Shah had h|mse|f gone |nto ex||e, and l few to Tehran to cover the fna| stages of lran`s revo|ut|on as part of ABO News` bureau on the scene. W|th|n a few days, l was stand- |ng |n the arr|va| |ounge of Tehran`s |nternat|ona| a|rport when an A|r France jet arr|ved w|th Khome|ny, Sadegh and lbrah|m Yazd|, another art|cu|ate Kho- me|n| supporter l had gotten to know |n Par|s. Outs|de the a|rport, thousands of peop|e had gathered |n the street. lt was |mposs|b|e not to be moved by the enthus|asm of the moment. Tehran, |n the heady days |mmed|ate|y fo||ow|ng the revo|ut|on, was both jub||ant and dangerous. Wh||e d|fferent groups maneuvered for contro| of the c|ty, one of Khome|ny`s peop|e showed up at the hote| where most of the reporters were stay|ng and asked |f we wanted to go to a press conference. We were dr|ven to a h|gh- schoo| that Khome|ny had been us|ng as h|s headquarters, and ushered |nto a |arge room on the second foor. Seated on wooden cha|rs across the front of the room were the genera|s who had |ed the Shah`s m|||tary forces, |nc|ud|ng the lmper|a| Guards. Hoveda, who had been the Shah`s pr|me m|n|ster at one po|nt, and who had been |mpr|soned by the Shah just before the revo|ut|on, sat g|um|y to the s|de on a battered wooden schoo| cha|r. Afra|d of be|ng k|||ed |n the random chaos, he had ca||ed Khome|ny`s men and surren- dered vo|untar||y. What fo||owed was an apparent|y c|v|- ||zed deconstruct|on of the revo|ut|on as seen by the oppos|ng s|des. lbrah|m Yazd| moderated. When the quest|on- |ng turned to Hoveda, Yazd| seemed to |ose contro|. 'Adm|t that you are a war cr|m|na|!" he screamed. Hoveda turned to h|m ca|m|y, and sa|d,"l assume from your tone of vo|ce that you are one of these peop|e who are now |n charge. A|| l can te|| you |s that s|x months from now you w||| |ook back and fnd that you have done th|ngs you never thought yourse|f capab|e of." When our sess|on ended, the genera|s were taken to the roof of the schoo| and shot. A few days after the execut|ons at the schoo|, l went to the Tv stat|on to send some sate|||te footage, and ended up crouch|ng |n the basement as an |n- tense frefght began outs|de. Sadhegh was crouch|ng across the ha|| from me. He had just been named lran`s new fore|gn m|n|ster, and w|th h|s new post. He sm||ed and we both wa|ted for the shoot|ng to stop. Not |ong afterwards, Sadegh was edged out of power and br|efy f|rted w|th se|||ng carpets. Then l heard that he had been executed, a||eged|y for agree|ng to take part |n a fa||ed coup attempt. He had fown too c|ose to a fame that was essent|a||y unpred|ct- ab|e, and |n the end had been devoured by |t. A decade after the lran|an Revo|ut|on, l had marr|ed, had a baby and dec|ded that free|anc|ng was not exact|y a sound foundat|on for ra|s|ng a fam||y. ABO News had a|ready started down- s|z|ng |ts European coverage, so l went to TlME`s ch|ef of correspondents and suggested that he p|ck the worst sh|t ho|e |n the wor|d and h|re me as a cor- respondent. 'lf you don`t ||ke what you get, you can a|ways fre me after s|x months," l reasoned. 'Actua||y, he sa|d, 'How`d you ||ke to go to Oa|ro?" lt was the summer of 1989, and l spent the frst few months trave||ng around the Arab wor|d. Then l heard that She|kh Fad|a||ah, the sp|r|tua| |eader of H|zbo||ah, |ebanon`s lran|an-backed Sh||te m|||t|a, m|ght be w||||ng to ta|k. Fad|a||ah had not ta|ked to anyone unt|| then. He was be|ng b|amed for the S embassy bomb|ng wh|ch k|||ed most of the OlA`s experts |n the reg|on, and |t was a|so ho|d|ng Amer|can hostages, |nc|ud|ng AP`s Terry Anderson, |n Be|- rut. The OlA, Mossad or both, had tr|ed unsuccessfu||y to assass|nate h|m, and so many journa||sts had been threat- ened or k|dnapped |n Be|rut that |nter- nat|ona| news organ|zat|ons had agreed en masse to a b|anket ban on report|ng there. To make matters worse, H|zbo|- |ah had just k|dnapped the head of the N observer force, an Amer|can Mar|ne ||eutenant co|one|, W||||am H|gg|ns, and hung h|s body before send|ng gr|zz|y v|deotapes of the dang||ng corpse to |ead|ng news agenc|es. Fad|a||ah wanted to meet |n Be|rut desp|te the ban on report|ng there, and he offered to arrange for transport a|ong a secret Syr|an road bypass|ng front|er checks. l was tempted, but by now l`d seen enough fr|ends ||ke Sadegh van|sh after tak|ng too many chances. lt was not the k|nd of th|ng, l dec|ded, that you wanted to rush |nto. Fad|a||ah fna||y agreed to meet at a secret |ocat|on outs|de Damascus. A grand ayato||ah, he was dressed |n b|ack robes and the mandatory b|ack turban. He had d|sconcert|ng|y bu|g|ng eyes and a |ong beard. ln contrast, h|s men, dressed |n we|| ta||ored charcoa| gray bus|ness su|ts and were armed w|th s|eek Swed|sh submach|ne guns. They pos|t|oned themse|ves beh|nd the trees |n a p|easant|y shaded garden. We rem|n|sced br|efy about lran`s revo|ut|on, what |t had been ||ke at the beg|nn|ng, and meet|ng Khome|ny dur|ng Fr|day prayers at Neauph|e-|e -Ohateau. F|na||y, Fad|a||ah dec|ded that there had been enough sma|| ta|k. 31 'So, what do you want to know?" he asked. 'You have just shot an Amer|can ||eutenant co|one|," l sa|d. 'You v|deotaped h|s hang|ng body and sent the tape to the news med|a. Now eve- ryone |n Amer|ca hates you. What d|d you get out of that?" Fad|a||ah paused for a moment. 'Some of us fee| that you Amer|cans are not rea||y |nterested |n what Amer|ca does outs|de your country," he sa|d,"A|| you rea||y care about |s k|ck|ng back w|th a s|x-pack of beer and watch|ng Monday N|ght Footba||. But what you do as a country causes enormous pa|n |n th|s reg|on. Some of us, l do not necessar||y speak for myse|f, fee| that the on|y way you can understand that pa|n |s |f you fee| that pa|n yourse|f." 'So, where do we go from here?" l asked. Fad|a||ah paused aga|n, choos|ng h|s words carefu||y, "Pres|dent Rafsanjan| and l be||eve that the hostages are no |onger of any use to us," he sa|d. 'We fee| that |f we cou|d show the maj||s (lran`s par||ament} that there |s more to be ga|ned by re|eas|ng the hostages and turn|ng to d|p|omacy than |n ho|d- |ng on to them, we m|ght be ab|e to |et them go." 'What k|nd of s|gn do you need," l asked. Fad|a||ah exp|a|ned that the S had frozen lran|an funds |n the Hague. lf they cou|d be re|eased, that m|ght be a s|gna|. When l got back to Oa|ro, l found out that TlME had cut any ment|on of hostages out of the |nterv|ew. lf they had |eft that part |n and made the offer pub||c, the ||ke||hood of a dea| m|ght have evaporated. A few days after the story ran l rece|ved a ca|| from |arry He|nzer||ng, AP`s v|ce-pres|dent, who had been ass|gned to negot|ate Terry Anderson`s re|ease. 'l understand that you ta|ked w|th Fad- |a||ah," He|nzer||ng sa|d. l to|d h|m that l had and added, 'l th|nk that |t |s someth|ng that shou|d go to the Wh|te House." 'That |s why l am ca|||ng," he sa|d. l faxed h|m the fu|| transcr|pt. A few months |ater, the funds were qu|et|y re|eased, and not |ong after that the hostages were set free. Fad|a||ah`s message, |t turned out, had been on|y one of a w|de array of s|gna|s from the lran|ans that they were w||||ng to make a dea|. The |mportant th|ng |n th|s case |s that someone was there to ||sten. Be|ng there |s what |t |s a|| about. *