Yesterday’s news that The New York Times correspondent Stephen Farrell was freed from captivity in Northern Afghanistan has been met with mixed emotions. His fixer, journalist Sultan Munadi, was killed in a raid of the compound where the two were being held.
George Packer at The New Yorker explains the often precarious position of fixers–the locals who help foreign correspondents with everything from translation to logistics–and expresses his frustration at what happened to Munadi in a blog post called, “It’s Always the Fixer Who Dies.”
In the course of the work, the fixer is relied on so heavily by the foreign correspondent that an observer who didn’t understand the system might assume that it’s the fixer who is in charge. After all, it’s the fixer’s country, and he or she knows it so much better. And yet the foreigner has the money, the name, the infrastructure, the power to hire and fire, and the ability to come and go, especially if things get sticky.
Packer’s post is exemplary of growing discomfort amongst foreign correspondents about safety for themselves and their fixers. Panelists in the first session of the Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship 60th Anniversary Event, four seasoned conflict reporters moderated by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, discussed the risks of reporting on wars. Read more on Stephen Farrell, Sultan Munadi and a panel on war correspondence…
Also posted in Afghanistan, Asia | Tagged Afghanistan, associated press, christiane amanpour, conflict, foreign correspondents, george packer, journalism, kathy gannon, kim barker, new york times, stephen farrell, Taliban |
A quick post — I was really surprised to hear Secretary of State Hillary Clinton being very forthright about America’s errors in Pakistan and Afghanistan. “Let’s remember here,” she told a congressional hearing, “the people we are fighting today, we funded 20 years ago.” She links the problems in the region now, in part, to America’s policies in fighting the Soviet Union. “Let’s be careful what we sow, because we will harvest,” she said. Here’s the clip from CNN:
Read more on Clinton on Pakistan…
Also posted in United States | Tagged Afghanistan, cnn, Dawn, foreign policy, hillary clinton, news, Secretary Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary, state department, Taliban, us secretary of state |
I did a story about the documentary film Project Kashmir for Asia Pacific Arts. You can see the story and all of APA’s coverage of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival in their website. I also made my first attempt at making a podcast start-to-finish. I hope these will become more engaging as I keep practicing.
Read more on Global Lives #1: Project Kashmir…
I’ve been thinking about the Olympics torch relay. It seems to be rousing deep emotions — perhaps some kind of opportunism, or maybe pent up frustrations. But one thing’s clear: Even before the Olympic Games begin, there are some serious political games going on here. Just look at the torch’s run through India and Pakistan (not to mention the way each country’s national press covered it).
Read more on the games…
Also posted in China, India, Japan | Tagged news, website |
I’ve been pretty consumed by blogging lately.
I started a blog for my students, to get them more interested in reading. Not sure if it will take off or how invested the other contributers will be, but I thought I’d give it a shot. I spend a lot of time in the library here, and thought I’d make better use of my reading time if I had a platform for discussion. The blog is called npREADS. There’s just one substantial entry so far, but I’m working on building it up. The entry is about Benazir Bhutto’s memoir, which I picked up after she was assassinated.
Read more on Pakistan on my mind…
Also posted in Singapore | Tagged Wordpress |
