Raelle's Story—Reporting Irag

Danger Reporting
By Raelle Greer

Being a journalist in Iraq is tough but NPR’s Corey Flintoff is willing to take that risk and then share his experiences at the Utah State University Performance Hall.

As Flintoff spoke to USU students and faculty he addressed the issue of the dangers of reporting in a war zone but how surprisingly safe he actually felt.

Flintoff just recently returned from a month tour in Iraq in February and said “security really has improved.” He also said that compared to his visit in 2006 he “heard scarcely any gunfire at all and only a few bombs.”

He motioned how reporters actually go out with military and are protected by the troops.

Flintoff said, “numbers of factions in this war who would like nothing better than to get their hands on a western journalist, either to make an example of them or to hold them for ransom,”

One of Flintoff’s friends and colleagues was actually kidnapped and left for dead in the desert,

Flintoff also talked about how “limited” journalists really are in Iraq because they are “embedded in a U.S. military unit.”

Flintoff said, “You will see what they see and see what they want you to see, you are going to see if from their point of view.”

He said, “You have to keep a constant watch on yourself,” because it is hard to keep bias out of a story when “you start thinking like that person (military personnel) who does that job all the time.”

Not only is it dangerous for reporters when they are reporting but also as they go about everyday business.

NPR spends $2,800 on a one way armored car shuttle to or from the airport.

Flintoff has been working for NPR for over 17 years and was once the “voice of NPR’s afternoon newscast” according to the NPR website.

Now he is working with the NPR Foreign Desk reporting in places such as Iraq.

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