Recently there's been a big buzz in the blogosphere about Eason Jordan's resignation from CNN (he claimed that US troops 'deliberately attacked' journalists). But there's been almost no investigation the veracity of his claims. What resources are there that document specific instances of attacks on journalists in Iraq?
This should get you started....Here are several international organizations that have information about journalists attacked in Iraq on their websites:
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ),Reporters without Borders (Reporters sans frontiers, RSF) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
CPJ, RSF, and IFJ's websites have accounts of the deaths of the three journalists (Protsyuk, Couso, and Dana) killed in the incidents (the Palestine Hotel and near Abu Ghraib) that Eason Jordan referred to at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
IFJ and RSF have spoken out against the United States' targeting of journalists in Iraq and issued reports on such incidents.
CPJ is an independent nonprofit that works to promote freedom of the press. As part of this, theytrack, investigate, document and expose claims of abuse against the press worldwide. They also investigate any journalist or media support worker killed in the line of duty. Here is how they determine “attacks on the press."
href="http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/gulf03/iraq_stats.html">Here is CPJ's breakdown of the journalists killed in Iraq since hostilities began in March 2003.
CPJ also has fairly detailed reports of the incidents in which journalists have been killed in Iraq (accounts based on CPJ’s own investigations, other investigations, and news articles) in 2003 and 2004.
RSFis an international NGO that works against abuse against the press.
RSF's Iraq Annual Reports list all the journalists who have been confirmed killed, missing, kidnapped, arrested, imprisoned, or wounded. Their Iraq Annual Report 2004includes incidents after March 2003.
In January 2004, RSF released a 30-page report, "Two murders and a lie: an investigation of the US Army's firing at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on 8 April 2003" which calls for a reopening of the inquiry about who was responsible for the US Army's killing journalists Protsyuk and Cuoso at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. Press release and downloadable pdf of the report available here.
In October 2003,IFJ released a 51-page report, "Justice Denied on the Road to Baghdad: Safety of Journalists and the Killing of Media Staff During the Iraq War" which says the US should "come clean" about the three incidents Jordan referred to, as well as four others (Terry Lloyd, Fred Nerac, Hussein Osman, and Tareq Ayoub). Press release and downloadable pdf of the report available here.
Hope this helpful, please let me know if you need anything different.
Elena Morin
elenasmorin@yahoo.com