Five years after the start of the war in Iraq, the Committee to Protect Journalists interviewed three foreign correspondents about their experiences covering the war for a video special report, Dateline Iraq. We spoke to Bobby Ghosh, Time magazine's world editor, James Glanz, New York Times Baghdad bureau chief, and freelance photographer Jehad Nga.
Here are some of the compelling things they say:
Bobby Ghosh on the lack of coverage and interest in the war:
I understand that people are fatigued, that they want to move on in their lives, but emotionally and viscerally I feel like its wrong. I feel like shaking people up and saying pay attention! This is still an important story! This is still the most important story! This is your war! This is America, 160,000 American soldiers. This is your war, pay attention damn it!
James Glanz on how reporting has changed since the start of the war:
You have to become the travel agent from hell because everywhere you want to go, you pretty much can get there, but you need to call every bit of resource that you have and all of your kind of reporter's wiles and call in favors and try to figure out you know who might be driving there and who's got guns in the area, or what US military operation is happening there and who to contact for all these things and then how to set the whole thing up.
Jehad Nga on the important role local Iraqis play in his reporting:
Without them, at least in my opinion, it would be a lost cause. From the beginning we had fixers and drivers, the relationships you build with them were, they were very strong bonds, if you wanted them to be. In my case, I began working a driver that I became very close to, he was very well known, and even when, you know it's not like you could just cut them loose and go rent a car at Alamo, you know do it yourself. Today it's the same.
Watch the video Dateline Iraq.