Originally from Reuters: PARIS - A media watchdog expressed concern on Sunday that a CNN team reporting from Iraq was traveling with an armed guard, saying it set a "dangerous precedent" that could imperil other journalists. Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) made the comments after an incident in the northern Iraqi town of Tikrit in which a security guard hired by CNN fired his machinegun at a checkpoint when the CNN convoy came under gunfire. "This behavior creates a dangerous precedent that could imperil all other reporters covering this conflict and others in the future," Robert Menard, RSF secretary general, said in a statement. "There is a real risk that belligerents will believe all press vehicles are armed," he said, adding that the use of armed private security guards only increased the confusion between reporters and combatants in the conflict. Media organizations have employed armed guards to protect premises in particularly dangerous places. But a spokesman for the Paris-based media watchdog said it was unprecedented for journalists to travel with armed guards in conflict zones. "To our knowledge, this is the first time press vehicles have traveled with armed security guards. It did not happen in the Balkans and it didn't occur in the first Gulf War," RSF spokesman Jean-Francois Julliard said. "CNN appears to be going too far. This could come back to haunt them and other journalists. Journalists should not be traveling around with armed guards," he added...
Didn't the Iraqi Information Minister kind of tell CNN officials that they were targets? I know, we shouldn't believe that guy, right?
i think theres a differnce between a having a guard and bieng a combatant. if they dont fire until fired upon which sounds like what happened in the write i read i dont see a problem at all.
Did anybody see the live report on either Friday or Saturday early morning (about 2:30am) where this crew was being shot and had a high speed chase? It was unbelievable. Those guys were so damn lucky to escape with their lives. It was riveting and frightening TV. Had the CNN crew NOT had an armed guard with them on that trip they were DEAD, plain and simple. Of course, it was mighty foolish of them to travel to Tikrit as unembedded reporters before US troops had moved into the city.
Talk about foolish/brave reporters in warzones... Anyone remember (IIRC, it could have been Eduardo) Juan Garcia being shot in the head somewhere in Central America in the 1980s? I think he worked for ABC News and the footage showed him on his knees, submitted himself to the military force and being executed on TV.