From Baghdad

Poynter Online - Romenesko: "Little by little, day-by-day, being based in Iraq has defied all those reasons. I am house bound. I leave when I have a very good reason to and a scheduled interview. I avoid going to people's homes and never walk in the streets. I can't go grocery shopping any more, can't eat in restaurants, can't strike a conversation with strangers, can't look for stories, can't drive in any thing but a full armored car, can't go to scenes of breaking news stories, can't be stuck in traffic, can't speak English outside, can't take a road trip, can't say I'm an American, can't linger at checkpoints, can't be curious about what people are saying, doing, feeling. And can't and can't."

Although the remainder of the (article? essay? email?) paints a dire picture of what's going on in Iraq, I found myself reading it with quite a bit of skepticism. For if the above, part of the writer's opening, is true, how can this journalist have the information in the rest of the piece? And if not true, if hyperbole, well...there goes credibility to be replaced by agenda.

(WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2004, WSJ reporter Fassihi's e-mail to friends, 9/29/2004 2:58:10 PM)

posted by Schaz @ 10/12/2004 09:39:00 AM