Like many journalists with an interest in the war in Syria I had heard of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently and had followed the group’s posts online to learn about life under jihadist rule.
I had read how they were using undercover reporters inside Raqqa and I became fascinated by how they operate as a group. In June last year I began messaging their spokesman, Abdalaziz Alhamza who now lives in Europe, and soon we were talking over the phone.
He was keen to get as much coverage of the situation in Raqqa as possible. It took a while to persuade him that the members’ personal stories deserved to be told.
Eventually, I flew out to meet Abdalaziz in January and spent a few days with him. It was a while before I could get him to open up about everything he and his friends had been through. That time spent just chatting, without any recording, was vital in gaining his trust.
It’s not often that BBC budgets can accommodate such an expense but for sensitive stories such as this one it is essential. It helps having an editor who gets that (Richard Knight) and room in the budget for you.
“I was thinking it would be a 2 day story…it was more than 2 weeks before I left” –Staff photographer Scott Olson on his experience documenting the civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of Michael Brown.
An incredible video by Toby Smith about a country where amidst political uncertainty, the island’s fragile and unique ecology is being smuggled out illegally, boat by boat, gem by gem.
“Journalists are in the truth-telling business. Sometimes the truth is hard to watch.”
The Human Rights Channel’s Year in Review montage consists of human rights footage from eyewitnesses and activists around the world that caught our attention in 2014.
However, it is by no means a comprehensive review of ALL important human rights issues captured on video in the past 12 months.
November 23 will mark five years since the Maguindanao massacre, the single deadliest event for the press since the Committee to Protect Journalists began keeping records in 1992.
Altogether, 30 local journalists and two media workers were among at least 57 victims slain as they traveled to Maguindanao province in the Philippines. The journalists were accompanying a convoy of family and supporters of Ismael Mangudadatu, a local politician who was filing candidacy papers to challenge a member of the powerful Ampatuan clan in the gubernatorial elections. It was believed the presence of journalists would afford the convoy some protection. Sadly it did not.
