March 29, 2024

Paris Panel: The Hunting of Journalists in Syria

On a rainy evening in Paris, some 80 people gathered for an OPC sponsored forum on the dangers of working in war zones around the world. The panel was led by Time contributor Vivienne Walt and CNN International correspondent Jim Bittermann, both OPC members. Panelists included: Jerome Delay, the AP’s chief photographer for Africa; Fabio Bucciarelli, who has spent the past several years going in and out of Syria; Aidan Sullivan of Getty Images and Lucie Morillon of Reporters Without Borders.

The consensus of the group: there has never been a more dangerous time to be a war journalist especially in Syria. “The rules of engagement have nothing to do with those in World War II, Vietnam, even Sarajevo,” said Delay. “Combatants in Syria’s civil war are actually hunting down journalists,” Sullivan said. “And the scary part is that they are not asking for ransom. They are using them as collateral in case they have to bargain their way out of a situation later.”

The panel and the audience, which included war reporters who covered conflicts as far back as World War II, agreed that there has never been more need for conflict training, medical instruction and protective gear like flak jackets. Delay said he took his first conflict course in the 1990s, “and I realized then how stupid I had been before.”

The discussion ranged across a number of questions for which there are no clear answers. Should the media publicize the kidnapping of a journalist? How do you find a “fixer” you can trust? In this time when full-time staff for many media organizations have been reduced, should you rely on freelancers? Many media companies refuse to use freelancers, especially if they have no experience in war zones or are perceived as “cowboys” or “war junkies,” to use Alan Riding’s phrase. Bucciarelli, himself a freelance, said shunning the unaffiliated is not the answer. Rather, they should be provided with training — available free in the U.K. — and other support. Morillon pointed out that RWB has provided flak jackets, insurance and other help to more than 400 freelance journalists working in Afghanistan and the Middle East in recent years.

Sullivan noted that he and Getty Images have launched a campaign via social media “saying the public and our industry should do more to offer protection” to working reporters. He said he was gratified that the American delegation to the U.N. responded by holding an hours-long debate on the issue and that the French mission is preparing a resolution addressing the failure of governments to arrest and prosecute those who kidnap and kill journalists.

The panel agreed that there are no foolproof methods for staying safe in a war zone. “The only way to prevent a kidnapping is to not be there,” Sullivan said. And, unfortunately, an increasing number of media organizations are not there, as they conclude that covering Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and a dozen other conflicts is not worth the risk and expense.


Watch video of this event >>