[extropy-chat] the challenges of photojournalism

Amara Graps amara at amara.com
Wed Nov 24 15:44:29 UTC 2004


There was a major story in the blog sphere recently when Kevin Sites
filmed the killing of a man in a Falluja mosque who was injured and
seemed to be no threat to the marines that entered and to the marine
who killed him. It is a complicated story, that you should read on
your own to get the full picture. As a journalist, often travelling
with the soldiers, Kevin Sites walks a fine line to present facts in
as objective a mode as possible, and I don't notice an underlying
agenda in his blog stories. I think that is a great sign of
professionalism in his work.

Compared to his other blog stories, this incident is major, and other
news sources think so, as well. The New York Times has apparently
based an entire story around what Sites showed, the first time that
that the paper has based a story completely on a blog entry. After
some days, the author, Kevin Sites himself, wrote a detailed response
on what he captured on tape. I think that it is worthwhile reading to
understand the challenges that face anyone wishing to report 'truth'
(as it were). Sites gives many views on this story, that help the
reader to form his/her own opinion on what happened.


-------------
http://www.kevinsites.net/2004_11_21_archive.html#110107420331292115

In the particular circumstance I was reporting, it bothered me that
the Marine didn't seem to consider the other insurgents a threat --
the one very obviously moving under the blanket, or even the two next
to me that were still breathing. I can't know what was in the mind of
that Marine. He is the only one who does.

But observing all of this as an experienced war reporter who always
bore in mind the dark perils of this conflict, even knowing the
possibilities of mitigating circumstances -- it appeared to me very
plainly that something was not right. According to Lt. Col Bob Miller,
the rules of engagement in Falluja required soldiers or Marines to
determine hostile intent before using deadly force. I was not watching
from a hundred feet away. I was in the same room. Aside from
breathing, I did not observe any movement at all.

Making sure you know the basis for my choices after the incident is as
important to me as knowing how the incident went down. I did not in
any way feel like I had captured some kind of "prize" video. In fact,
I was heartsick. Immediately after the mosque incident, I told the
unit's commanding officer what had happened. I shared the video with
him, and its impact rippled all the way up the chain of command.
Marine commanders immediately pledged their cooperation.

We all knew it was a complicated story, and if not handled
responsibly, could have the potential to further inflame the volatile
region. I offered to hold the tape until they had time to look into
incident and begin an investigation -- providing me with information
that would fill in some of the blanks.

For those who don't practice journalism as a profession, it may be
difficult to understand why we must report stories like this at all --
especially if they seem to be aberrations, and not representative of
the behavior or character of an organization as a whole. The answer is
not an easy one.

In war, as in life, there are plenty of opportunities to see the full
spectrum of good and evil that people are capable of. As journalists,
it is our job is to report both -- though neither may be fully
representative of those people on whom we're reporting. For example,
acts of selfless heroism are likely to be as unique to a group as the
darker deeds. But our coverage of these unique events, combined with
the larger perspective - will allow the truth of that situation, in
all of its complexities, to begin to emerge. That doesn't make the
decision to report events like this one any easier. It has, for me,
led to an agonizing struggle -- the proverbial long, dark night of the
soul.

-------------

Last weekend I had another experience of filmmakers with a couple of
BBC freelancers at Stromboli (the island and the volcano). I think
that the good documentaries/films can be thought as humans'
"repository of dreams". We usually notice the films that portray
devastating events, which are often or sometimes a source of shame.
However, remember the flip side, that films have the potential to
remind us of how great humans have been, are now, and could be. The
film that the BBC guys were making was the latter, so it was kind of
fun (but stressful) to observe their craft and I am curious of what
the result will look like at the end.

After the BBC guys left, we had some extra time to climb to the top of
Stromboli, and I saw the volcano for the first time from the highest
point. The topography of the volcano provides an easy view too look
down into the craters, to see the regular eruptions (on average once
per hour), from which the volcano has earned the name from ancient
Greek times: "lighthouse of the Mediterranean". The volcano this time
wasn't exerting her usual full potential, but I think I captured
something on film. The photos from my photographer friend will be
ready in a day or two, so I'll post the links here when they are
ready. The view from the top of Stromboli was spectacular though, the
sky was unusually clear (it was raining solid for the two weeks before
we arrived). The sunset was gorgeous, the Moon was three-quarters
full, giving a soft light on the landscape. The temperature was cold
cold cold cold, I thought I was an icicle at the end, and my knees
complained strongly on the descent (The volcano is ~1000m high, 35%
grade climb up and down), but it was worth it.

Amara

-- 

********************************************************************
Amara Graps, PhD          email: amara at amara.com
Computational Physics     vita:  ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers         URL:   http://www.amara.com/
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"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." --Anais Nin




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