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Inside Iraq

Journalists under fire

We look at the deadly hazards faced by journalists covering the Iraq war.

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Iraqi journalists were ambushed and killed as they
returned home from work [AFP]

Four years after the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, Iraq remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world to cover.

Some 97 journalists and 37 media support staffers have been killed in Iraq since 2003. 

The guerrilla war against the US and coalition forces, the deadly suicide bombing attacks, the growing sectarian strife and the more personal risks of kidnapping have all made covering Iraq a particularly perilous assignment for journalists.

Most foreign journalists are now holed up inside the so-called ‘Green Zone’, the heavily guarded diplomatic/government area of closed-off streets in central Baghdad where US occupation authorities live and work.

Correspondents rarely travel outside the zone, except if embedded with US military patrols or in the company of Iraqi private security guards.

Actual reporting is often done remotely, from within the relative safety of the Green Zone, using information provided by local Iraqis willing to risk their lives to gather information in areas too dangerous for foreign journalists.

Inside Iraq this week looks at the deadly hazards faced by journalists covering the Iraq war.

Are we getting the true picture of what is happening in Iraq?

And with Iraqi journalists fronting the news, subjected to intimidation and possible sectarian prejudices, how objective and accurate are these reports?

Watch this episode of Inside Iraq here:

Part 1:

Part 2:

This episode of Inside Iraq aired from 31st August 2007


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