Before he set out to cover modern-day slavery in Mauritania, CNN’s John Sutter thought he’d be able to distance himself emotionally from the story. But after hearing accounts from former slaves and slave owners, he couldn’t help but be … Read more
How Anthony Shadid and Marie Colvin got their stories
“Even in brief conversations, these two journalists forcefully drove home their message: The human condition was a sacred beat. When Shadid drove into an Iraqi village, he went straight to the barber shop or the local mosque. ‘You can find out everything there if they trust you,’ he said. Colvin traveled with Chechen rebels, sleeping in caves with bags of grenades for a pillow. ‘You eat what they eat, you drink what they drink, you never act like you are above them,’ she said.”
Earlier: Injured journalists in Syria plead for help; David Carr and Timothy Phelps on war reporting
Correction: An earlier version of this post misidentified Timothy Phelps.
Sherry Ricchiardi, American Journalism Review
As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.Users in affected countries will see a notice that a tweet has been censored if they try to access it, and Twitter will notify the website Chilling Effects when it takes this action. According to Marketing Land's Danny Sullivan, Twitter already notifies the website when it removes tweets, generally due to copyright complaints. (more...)
Anthony Shadid: Libyan trip that led to kidnapping wasn’t worth the risk
“I don’t think there’s any story worth dying for, but I do think there are stories worth taking risks for. What’s so regrettable to me about Ajdabiya [in Libya, where Shadid and three others were kidnapped in March] was that I didn’t feel like that story was worth taking that risk for, and I was too late in understanding that, and at great cost: the cost of our driver’s life. … Ambition often get in the way of the judgment. But you go and hope you get it right.”
New York Times Beirut bureau chief Anthony Shadid in a Q&A with Mother Jones' Aaron Ross
“All reporters of Voice of America are our targets and should resign; otherwise we will kill them.”
Most news organizations were reporting the age of 69, others were reporting age 70. Someone even accidentally reported age 68 on Twitter before correcting themselves. What’s going on here?Here's how The New York Times dealt with the uncertainty: "The North has indicated he was 69 years old, but scholars have said he could have been a year older." || Related: Newspaper front pages show different treatments of Kim Jong Il's death (The Huffington Post)
This mix-up is apparently due to some confusing birth records. According to Soviet Records, his date of birth is February 16, 1941. But according to his North Korean records, his date of birth is February 16, 1942.