Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/12

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: RE: [Leica] Freedom of the press? WAS (something else)
From: Tim Atherton <tim@KairosPhoto.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 11:45:34 -0700

> I may be a naive U.S. citizen, but I know of no situation where our
> military "Targeted and Killed"  journalists on purpose.  The press
> complained in the last war they had restrictions as to where they
> could go,
> so this time the journalists were allowed to go where they wanted with the
> caution that they were going into the line of fire and therefore could not
> be protected.  Now it stands to reason that if you are on the battlefield
> shooting photos or video and get in the way of fire you have a pretty good
> chance of getting killed, by fire or bombs from one side or the other.  If
> you want this kind of freedom you have to expect to pay the price, this is
> a war situation and if you are there you have to take the responsibility
> for your own safety.  If you are killed by getting in the way this is not
> suppression of the press.
>

They may be referring to the situation during the US invasion of Iraq when a
Pentagon spokesman said that non in-bedded journalists should not use
satellite phones etc or they would be targeted by US forces.  At the time it
was seen as a threat to journalists who had chosen not to be in-bedded - one
of those "friendly warnings" Corleone style. Whether it was meant like that
or not, it was recovered like that.

tim

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html