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Posted on 04/14/2003 5:33:34 AM PDT by twntaipan
CNN has denied that it set a "dangerous precedent" by hiring an armed guard to accompany one of its teams in Iraq, following criticism over an incident in which a CNN convoy returned fire. When reporter Brent Sadler and his crew came under fire from an Iraqi-manned checkpoint as they attempted to leave Tikrit yesterday, their Kurdish bodyguard returned fire with a machine gun. The decision prompted the international press watchdog, Reporters Sans Frontieres, to lambast the news organisation for placing journalists' safety at risk by creating the impression that they carry arms.
However, a CNN spokeswoman said that Sadler's team had not set a precedent and that journalists have been accompanied by armed guards in previous conflicts including Somalia and Afghanistan.
"Any decisions taken in regards of our staff, and how they may or may not be accompanied, is always based on safety," the spokeswoman said.
"On this occasion we felt it was appropriate for CNN to be accompanied by armed security - and on this occasion one security guard, when our staff were in mortal danger, fired back and probably saved their lives.
"There are specific factions in Iraq that we have been specifically targeted by," she added.
The spokeswoman emphasised that no CNN reporters carry arms themselves.
RSF secretary general Robert Menard said: "Such a practice sets a dangerous precedent that could jeopardise all other journalists covering this war, as well as others in the future.
"There is a real risk that combatants will henceforth assume that all press vehicles are armed," he warned.
"Journalists can, and must, try to protect themselves by such methods as travelling in bulletproof vehicles and wearing bulletproof vests, but employing private security firms that do not hesitate to use their firearms just increases the confusion between reporters and combatants."
Another CNN spokesman, Matthew Firman, said the news organisation had hired armed guards in northern Iraq after learning of an assassination attempt against their staff.
The question of the safety of journalists has been at the forefront throughout the Iraq conflict, in which 12 media workers have died so far, with at least another two missing.
CNN's president of international networks, Chris Cramer, is one of the most outspoken advocates of journalists being properly trained on how to operate in hostile environments, and has warned that the second Gulf war could be the most dangerous yet for the media.
Journalists working in war zones are encouraged to distinguish themselves from combatants, for example by wearing blue clothing - seen as a neutral colour - and marking their vehicles 'TV'.
Fow News war correspondent Geraldo Rivera came in for criticism during the Afghanistan conflict when he refused to deny in a live exchange with a studio anchor that he was carrying a gun.
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I'll go along with that!
CNN? Yeah, right...
"There is a real risk that combatants will henceforth assume that all press vehicles are armed," he warned.
Yo, Bob, welcome to the 21 century. Did you happen to catch the World Trade Center attack on 9/11.
The combatants no longer care if you're armed or not, if you're press or not, you are a target. Having a policy of being urarmed will only make you a BIGGER target to these cowards...
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