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Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj is the only journalist in Guantanamo, detained without charge for more than five years. Recent court decisions could affect his and other detainees' challenges to their imprisonments. Washington Monthly editor Rachel Morris tells al-Hajj’s story in this month’s Columbia Journalism Review.
How did Al Jazeera respond to the detention of one of its employees? For over a year, they didn’t. Al Jazeera producer Ahmad Ibrahim produced a documentary about al-Hajj’s case. He says there was no response because Al Jazeera had little information and a lot of fear.
Iraqi insurgent groups are mostly shadowy bands of nationalist or Islamist factions from whom we never hear, except in internet posts. Guardian reporter Seumas Milne says that some now wish to open a dialogue with Western media. And he believes that journalists are obliged to listen.
There were decisive movements in the ongoing battle over the image of the war and its soldiers this week. For some, an image of heroic soldiers tells the right story. For others, images of soldiers’ bad behavior tells the real story. Brooke tallies the score.
As a media liaison for the Marines during the early days of the Iraq War, Josh Rushing was stuck between his military superiors and reporters at Al Jazeera. Four years later, Rushing is a reporter for that very network. In his new book, he writes about his unusual career path from marine to war correspondent.
U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now outnumber military combat troops there. But you’d never know that from listening to officials and watching the news. Political scientist Deborah Avant talks about why the war’s privatization is slipping through the media’s cracks.
Despite the many obstacles to reporting on military contractors, a few journalists have pursued the story. Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise Of The World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, talks about what it takes to see even a small part of the contracting picture.
There’s been a lot of debate lately over how much trouble al Qaeda in Iraq is really causing. One way of gauging the group’s relative strength is to look at their media output. In a new report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, analyst Daniel Kimmage does just that.
