The Life of a War Journalist
TIME Magazine’s World Editor Bobby Ghosh on Reporting from Iraq
Bobby Ghosh's gripping 2006 TIME magazine cover was aptly titled Life in Hell: A Baghdad Diary. As a non embedded correspondent in Baghdad most days began or ended with being detained, threatened or roughed up. He couldn’t rely on the US army for logistical assistance, transport or protection; often they were the ones pointing the guns. And staying out of trouble was as much a struggle as getting a story.
Being a ‘unilateral’ as the US military calls his breed forced Ghosh to use his ethnicity as a street advantage. “Being Indian is a fantastic asset. For one thing my general appearance makes it easier for me to blend in. For another, Iraqis are generally favourably disposed toward India. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been interviewing an Iraqi and the conversation has digressed into a discussion about Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh (veteran actors from Hindi cinema),” he says over the phone from New York.
The Most Dangerous Assignment in the World
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists 186 media persons have been killed in Iraq since March 2003. Eighty seven percent of the 111 journalists interviewed by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism considered Baghdad too dangerous to travel in. In Mosul the Al Qaeda are still at large and even Ghosh admits that he wouldn’t go there without military escorts. “In my case I also look like an Iraqi and with my build and beard I can appear quite menacing. When soldiers see someone they believe fits their description of a bad guy they raise their weapons,” he says.
Mostly it’s the capriciousness of life in Iraq that wears reporters down. Fuel prices fluctuate, internet connections waver and power goes on the blink. All war correspondents are vulnerable to post traumatic stress disorder, far more than police officers according to a study by the European Centre of the Freedom Forum.
One of the worst scenarios is being caught in crossfire. “It could be between US soldiers and insurgents, a gun battle between militias, or you can be hit by a car bomb or suicide bomber. There’s nothing you can do to protect yourself from these situation; mostly, it’s down to luck,” says Ghosh.
Rules For Staying Alive
The veteran foreign correspondent observes strict ground rules for staying under the radar—never wear a seatbelt in a car as it screams foreigner, avoid chewing gum and talking in English. “Most bureaus travel in two-car convoys — the second car is known as a ‘chase’ car, and its job is to hang back a little, and come roaring in if the first car is attacked. I’ve been in several situations where the chase car has saved my hide,” he recalls.
Ghosh explains living in a bubble of “positive denial” believing that the terrible things he sees cannot happen to him. “You set aside personal anxieties and don’t allow yourself to acknowledge the perils,” he says.
The International News Safety Institute has devised a code of conduct to ensure the survival of journalists on the field although its on-the-ground efficacy is open to debate. Guidelines include providing hostile environment training which is now obligatory for all foreign correspondents and pleas to security forces to refrain from harassing reporters. Despite all this the physical and psychological repercussions of living in trying circumstances with memories of bloodshed, horror and brutality are personal risks all war correspondents take on.
Bobby Ghosh survived the war on journalism
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