Home » Archives » "U.S. Media Firms Restrict Staff"

U.S. Media Firms Restrict Staff

Apr-12-2004 » Filed Under: Iraq News

Part of the reason why news has been so sparse the past week or so...

[Link to Full Article] (Link expires after 7 days)
By JULIA ANGWIN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

As intense fighting continues in Iraq and journalists come under attack, many news organizations are severely restricting their reporters' movements.

So far, there are no reports of major U.S. news organizations completely pulling out of Iraq. But the street violence has become so intense and unpredictable that many reporters are staying indoors, taking only short trips or traveling with the military rather than risk being kidnapped or killed. [...]

Time Warner Inc.'s CNN said reporters stationed in the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad were asked not to leave the building on Friday due to security concerns. However, CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf arranged to travel with the U.S. Army as it attempted to take back the city of Kut.

A spokesman for The Wall Street Journal, which is published by Dow Jones & Co., said the newspaper is "requiring correspondents in Iraq to plan their reporting with greater care and avoid certain areas and situations."

The media pullback already is curtailing news coverage. On Friday, for instance, when a roadside bomb exploded near Baghdad, "we didn't jump out there the way we would have a few weeks ago," said Washington Post Co.'s Baghdad Bureau Chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran.


Advertisements