CPJ research shows that 24 journalists and one media worker have been killed in Afghanistan since the increase in U.S.-led hostilities against the Taliban and other militant groups following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York. Those numbers do not include Gilkey or Tamanna. Of those 24 journalists, four were photographers. In CPJ’s database of journalists killed in the line of duty worldwide since 1992, nearly 90 percent of victims were local. In Afghanistan, however, three-quarters of the victims have been international journalists.
“It’s not just reporting. It’s not just taking pictures. It’s, ‘Do those visuals, do the stories, do they change somebody’s mind enough to take action?’”
– David Gilkey, an @npr photojournalist who chronicled pain and beauty in war and conflict, was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday along with NPR’s Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna.
npr:
Just outside Pittsburgh is the tiny borough of Braddock, Pa., best known as the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie’s first steel mill. Today, it’s something of a poster child for rust belt revitalization, a place where artists can buy property for pennies and even construct outdoor pizza ovens using the bricks from abandoned or demolished buildings.
LaToya Ruby Fazier grew up in Braddock. She’s a photographer who’s been taking pictures of her hometown for two decades, and she says that neither of those narratives represent the Braddock she knows. Her Braddock is primarily black, primarily female and primarily poor.
“Another way to understand it is to see my grandmother as Braddock’s prosperous days, my mother as the signification of white flight and segregation, and me as the 1980s and ‘90s during the war on drugs and the dismantling of the surrounding steel plants,” says Frazier.
A Rust Belt Story Retold, Through Portraits Of The Women Who Lived It
Photo credit: LaToya Ruby Frazier
npr:
When I landed in Sanaa three years ago, men carrying guns on the street was a rare sight. Yes, every man owns at least one, but I rarely saw them displayed publicly, even among the more rural and traditional tribesmen. Now even young boys carry rifles, like the one in the photo above. He’s part of a generation that’s being lost to the turmoil of Yemen: a country torn by war, with no clear direction or solution at hand.
So how did Yemen get to this point?
I knew very little about Yemen when I first came and chose it partly by default. With so much unrest in the region, Yemen was one of the places I thought I could live and work in relative safety. After three years in the country on and off, I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Other countries have housed me, but only Yemen became my home. So when the ongoing troubles finally boiled over into war, my heart broke.
Yemen’s Descent, Through A Photographer’s Lens
Photo credit: Alex Potter for NPR
nprontheroad:
This photo contains a subtle hint of the challenge facing the clerics who hold ultimate power in Iran. It’s a shot of northern Tehran. Study the photo a moment and you see satellite dishes on rooftop after rooftop, balcony after balcony. In a struggle to control information, Iran’s government has banned many foreign TV channels and blocked access to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Yet many Iranians - educated, sophisticated, and with friends and family spread across the world - find their own ways to stay connected. - Steve Inskeep
Follow Morning Edition Host Steve Inskeep (@nprinskeep) and Producer Molly Messick (@mollymessick) on Twitter to learn more about their trip to Iran.
A Radio Journalist Who Put His Life On The Line
Today is World Radio Day.
Here’s a sobering number: 37 radio journalists have been killed worldwide in the past two years according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries for reporters. Last year, three radio reporters were killed there.
Read more at npr
npr:
nprontheroad:
Hey everybody, for the next two weeks we’re reporting in Liberia. The state of emergency in the country was lifted last week; numbers of Ebola cases are dropping — in the capitol; and the US military is finally ramping up its construction of Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) in the rural areas. But still, there are new cases, and the virus is notorious for coming back just when you think you’ve beat it. We’ll catch a military flight out of the capitol to see the ETUs in action and report on the more lasting effects of the outbreak on the country. Happy to have you along. Oh, and this is some of the stuff we had to pack: beef jerky for our Liberian colleagues; my lucky scarf; rain boots (because we’ll be dunking our feet in choline water like dozens of times a day); cash; thermometers (to take our temps twice a day); long-sleeved shirts and a raincoat (to minimize contact with other people’s body fluids); a first-aid kit; Cipro (for other ailments); malaria medicine; my SD722 recording kit (with ear buds, not big plush headphones, to minimize fluids on the face — Becky’s top priority); Clorox wipes (to wipe down everything we ever touch). Not shown: a crapload of hand sanitizer, face masks, chlorine pills, surgical gloves, and spray bottles. It’s all part of NPR’s guidelines to keep us safe and bring you the story. Holler with your thoughts, and we’ll check back when we get to Monrovia!
— Kelly and Becky
NPR’s Kelly McEvers and Rebecca Hersher display some of the items they packed for their trip to Liberia this week. They’re reporting on the construction of Ebola Treatment Units and the lasting effects of the outbreak on the country. Follow their travels via NPR’s On the Road Tumblr throughout the week.
nprfreshair:
Jon Stewart makes his directorial debut in Rosewater—the story of Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari who was detained, interrogated, and tortured for filming protests in Iran during the 2009 presidential elections.
Here’s a clip from Fresh Air’s interview with Stewart:
On how humor sustained Bahari when he was in solitary confinement
“Humor survives in the bleakest of conditions. … I think the idea that under these incredibly harsh conditions, not only did [Bahari’s] humor survive, his humor sustained him. And I found that incredibly empowering to an extent in that I always felt that.
People always say, “Is that an appropriate joke? Is it appropriate to joke about that subject?” And [I] always want to say, “Not only is it appropriate to joke about that subject, but I think it’s essential to joke about it.” … I’ve always had this experience at funerals or in a time of great worry [that] a joke can kind of reenergize or reconfigure a room or bring people back to life to some extent. His ability to do that for himself in the absence of audience I thought was remarkable.”
The full interview:
Jon Stewart’s Debut Film Shows ‘Humor Survives’ In The Bleakest Conditions
PS. We had so much material we want to share with you that we’re splitting the Stewart interview into two parts. We’ll have a second show that’s more about The Daily Show airing soon. Stay tuned.
Photo credit: Victoria Will - ABC
nprfreshair:
New York Times journalist James Risen could face prison for refusing to reveal his source for a story about a botched CIA operation intended to sabotage Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Today he joins Fresh Air to talk about journalism, getting subpoenaed, and his new book Pay Any Price.
“You cannot conduct aggressive investigative reporting without confidential sources. Whistleblowers have to reveal things that can threaten their career or their livelihood because everything is secret and classified [and] in order to talk about almost anything important in national security or the war on terror, people have to take risks in order to tell the truth about what’s going on.
We as reporters have to be willing to provide confidentiality in order to receive that information and report on that information and tell the American people what’s really happening. If we don’t have the ability to maintain confidential sources and protect our sources, then people won’t be willing to talk to us and we won’t be able to find out what the government is doing.”
Photo Caption: A 4000-page petition with 100,000 signatories who support New York Times reporter James Risen sits on a step ladder before being delivered to the U.S. Justice Department August 14, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
