A site you may want to check up on

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

http://www.back-to-iraq.com/

 

Reporter Takes His Weblog to War By Mark Baard

Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,...0,58043,00.html

 

02:00 AM Mar. 14, 2003 PT

 

Sporting a cameraman's vest and lugging a satellite phone, Christopher Allbritton may be no match for heavy artillery. But he's apparently got enough guts to be the Web's first independent war correspondent.

 

Allbritton, a former New York Daily News reporter living in the East Village, plans to file stories directly to his weblog, Back to Iraq 2.0, next month as part of an independent news-gathering expedition to Iraq.

 

Allbritton says he wants to cover the humanitarian effects the likely U.S.-Iraq war will have on civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is protected by a U.S.-imposed no-fly zone over northern Iraq.

 

While "embedded" reporters with backing from major news outlets bump along on prearranged Hummer rides and report what they see in the mainstream media, Allbritton will hitchhike and bribe his way through an area that could become the most dangerous place in Iraq outside Baghdad.

 

In the days after a U.S. invasion, Saddam Hussein may try to dump his remaining nuclear, biological and chemical arsenal on the region. Meanwhile, the Turkish government -- which has just as much animosity toward the Kurds as Saddam's regime and also covets the oil-rich areas surrounding the Kurdish cities Kirkuk and Musil -- may attempt an invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan while the United States is busy trying to overthrow the Iraqi government, according to a paper published last week by Human Rights Watch.

 

Allbritton said he will don a gas mask and jab himself with atropine (a gift from a former Israeli soldier) in the case of a chemical attack. And he has an escape plan if Turkey invades the region.

 

Allbritton worries more about what he'll do if bombs and bullets disrupt his Internet connection.

 

"There are a ton of Internet cafes in (Iraqi Kurdistan)," said Allbritton, "and the Internet is uncensored. But that can all change with the circumstances."

 

Allbritton will be traveling with a satellite telephone, which he will use to connect to a laptop so he can dial into the Internet and update his website. He also hopes to trade his current laptop for a hardier model. "I brought my Apple PowerBook to (Iraqi Kurdistan) last summer," Allbritton said. "But I think it's getting a little long in the tooth to handle another big trip."

 

Allbritton made an earlier trip to northern Iraq last summer, entering Iraqi Kurdistan by way of Turkey and Syria, with a Syrian visa, and spending just one week there. This time around, however, he plans to stay for a month.

 

"The visas and the money should come together in April," he said. "I was kicking myself at first about missing the start of the action, but I think that stories about the occupation following the initial conflict will be equally interesting."

 

Allbritton is raising money for his journey by soliciting donations through PayPal and Amazon.com's "Click to Give" system. Sixty visitors to his weblog have already donated more than $1,800. In exchange, Allbritton will send contributors dispatches and photos a day before he posts them on his blog.

 

"They'll also get to play assignment editor, by e-mailing me story suggestions," he said. "But I'll only act within reason. I'm not going to get myself killed."

 

Allbritton plans to combine the online donations with his own savings to pay for his travel and expenses. "I'm budgeting for about $10,000 altogether," he said.

 

But while it might seem like a lot of cash for a tourist, 10 grand is a paltry sum for reporter in a war zone, according to one experienced war correspondent.

 

"You need to have a lot -- I mean a lot -- of cash to get around in a conflict," said Judith Matloff, who teaches a class on covering regional conflict at the Columbia University School of Journalism. "You need to pay for planes, cars, drivers and translators. You need enough money to escape if you have to."

 

Matloff has covered fighting in Angola, Chechnya, Rwanda and Northern Ireland. She has carried as much as $30,000 in cash in a war zone.

 

Matloff applauded Allbritton's independence, and said he could be freer to get the stories major news organizations might overlook. But she worries that without such backing Matloff will lack the resources to ensure his own safety -- never mind his $1.50-a-minute satellite phone bill.

 

"Who's going to come help him if he gets kidnapped?" she asked.

 

Allbritton hopes someone will offer to donate the satellite phone minutes and a sturdier laptop. And he says he'll rely on the official and personal contacts he made in Iraqi Kurdistan last summer to keep him out of harm's way.

 

For the moment, Allbritton is actually concerned that his satellite phone will make him a target for U.S. air strikes.

 

"It has to be assumed," reads one of Allbritton's recent blog entries, "that if someone turns on a cell phone -- or a sat-phone -- then the emitter will be picked up by American sensors.... American pilots would likely assume a survivor of (a) bombing was trying to continue calling in orders."

 

Seems kind of interesting. He clears up and un-skews that story about the Pentagon firing on reporters' satelite uplinks and stuff if you look for it.

[Guest Anglesault]

Looks very interesing.

 

However, I'm very worried for this man's safety.

[Guest Anglesault]

I'm just gonna bump this up.