The Digital Journalist
→ May 2004 Contents → Dispatches
Kidnap
They led me into the minivan, alongside my colleague.
by Lynsey Addario
Mistaken Identity
Within a couple of minutes, at least two cars stopped alongside ours.
by Shawn Baldwin
Combat, Grace, Silence
They are focused and they are mad. Someone yells an order and they run towards the enemy. I follow them running, knees still unsteady.
by Sherrlyn Borkgren
Fallujah
I ...see sandbags, probably sniper positions. I ask Abu Ibrahim if he thinks they are American or rebel positions. "It does not matter they both shoot."
by Moises Saman
Sadr City
I left my passport and everything that might identify me as an American at the hotel and set off.
by J.B. Russell
Here and There
In the rush I forget to cover my head. People stare. Kids throw insults.
by Benedicte Kurzen
Memorials
It's also the time to honor the fallen. That's where I come in.
by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Our dispatch writers from Iraq this month agree: Photojournalism is difficult there. It is difficult to safely travel to assignments. Two of our contributors were detained for hours by masked militiamen. While many Western journalists were locked down in hotels, others hid cameras, passports, and their faces from nervous US soldiers and angry Iraqis, and went out on assignment. Some male photographers grew beards and many female photographers wore abayas. Some embedded with the military. Others photographed the conflict from the insurgents' position. More than one witnessed memorial ceremonies for American soldiers.

When they had a moment, they wrote their stories for The Digital Journalist. They've taken pains not to reveal names or locations that might jeopardize anyone they wrote about. Despite their physical and emotional exhaustion, our Dispatch writers connected on their satellite modems, got online at internet cafes in Baghdad or from facilities in the Green Zone, or took the time once safely home, to send us their incredible stories.

AMY BOWERS
DISPATCHES EDITOR
amy@marash.tv

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