In the firing lineIn the wake of James Foley’s brutal execution, the question begs how safe are journalists in the line duty?

By Sanele Manikivana

On August 19th 2014, a video documenting the barbaric and brutal beheading of

American photojournalist James Foley was published by Islamic terror group ISIS

(Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). The terror group was sending a message to the US

and the world as a whole: they are willing to go to extreme lengths to get what they want

including spilling the blood of the innocent.

As the world reacted with shock and condemnation, many tried to find a scapegoat for

the horrific and publicized murder. Anger seemed to point toward the US government

and their failure to quickly react and save Foley’s life, while many raised questions

about the consequences of the US governments’ policy when dealing with terrorists and

hostage situations, which is their adamant refusal to negotiate with them. Meanwhile

Foley’s family believes that the government could have done more to save him. Foley’s

brother, Michael, in an interview with Yahoo Global News, was quoted saying: “The

United States could have done more on behalf of the Western and American hostages

over there and still have dealt with the broader world issues”. Michael further reiterated

the need for the US government to change their policy by saying: “I really hope in some

way Jim’s death pushes us to take another look at our approach, our policy to terrorist

and hostage negotiations and rethink that”.

However violent Foley’s death was, it seems to put the spotlight back on the safety of

journalists on the field, especially those reporting from volatile war torn countries. The

brutal and publicized nature of his death also highlighted the dangers faced by

journalists in search of the truth and the great lengths they go through to do their jobs,

with most of them, like James, getting caught in the crossfire and eventually paying with

their lives. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists at least 69 journalists have

been killed and over 80 kidnapped in Syria alone since the Arab Spring in 2011.

This statistic is not only limited to Syria alone, an assortment of journalists the world

over are continually being killed in a number of countries whilst reporting. It has now

become common news for journalists to be captured or kidnapped and used as bargain

deals between terrorist organizations and Western nations. Usually the life of a

journalist is used as a bargaining tool for terror groups to put pressure on nations to

withdraw military operations or to cease to intervene in war torn countries. Most times

the promise of release from captivity is waivered but in most cases prisoners are made

examples of, as in the case of Foley, if terrorist organizations feel their demands are not

being met or if the negotiation period has lapsed.

Foley now joins an endless list of slain journalists whose deaths have gained

international attention. Included in that list is David Pearl, an American-Israel journalist

who was kidnapped and killed by Pakistani militants in 2002. Just like Foley, Pearl was

decapitated and the video of his gruesome murder was released to the public. His

murderers, were captured and jailed, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed who personally

took credit for the beheading. Another notable journalist is Steven Vincent who, along

with his translator, was kidnapped, beaten and tortured in Iraq in 2005. Vincent was

found dead by police (shot at close range) while the others were found alive. Another

mention is that of local photojournalist Anton Hammerl who was shot and killed by

Libyan troops in 2011. Hammerl was with the now slain James Foley at the time and

was the only fatality. His remains have not been recovered.

As the list continues to grow, the danger of reporting on the field has accelerated. The

journalistic game has changed as the spate of violence throughout the world continues;

journalists are expected to be at the center of the latest conflict, providing the ‘exclusive’

news, footage to induce a shock value for the public. It seems as if society has forgotten

that journalists are humans just like us, they are not superhuman or bulletproof. Just

because they wake up every day and put their lives on the line to get news to us does

not mean that they are impervious to tragedy, which is what the James Foley case has

reminded us of.

Alas, each and every day, tomorrow even, a plucky journalist will wake up and dice with

death all just to get the latest scoop and stand in the firing line.

References

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1231862-wong-overseas-reporters-may-face-

grim-fate.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2731951/The-Us-free-brother-Angry-younger-

sibling-James-Foley-criticized-white-house-journalist-ISIS-html.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/South-African-journalist-anton-

hammerl-killed-in-libya/239187.html

References for pictures

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/From-the-basketball-court-to-the-ISIS-frontline.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2735441/American-born-ISIS-member-killed-

Syria-school-friends-fellow-militant-killed-somalia-2009.html

http://www.dailystar.net/british-close-to-identifying-foley-killer-38566.html

http://www.theprovince.com/news/video-James-Foley-ISIS-killer-believed-year-former-

rapper-from-london/10148732/story/html