Amongst the dead on the streets of Bangkok on Saturday was a Japanese cameraman working for Reuters. He was shot through the chest by an unknown assailant. A tragedy for sure, but not the first to befall staff from Reuters.
In 2008 the Israelis shot a missile at a jeep in Gaza, killing the cameraman from Reuters inside. The jeep was clearly marked with “Press” written large on the roof.
In 2007 an American helicopter came across a Reuters cameraman in Iraq. He was being protected by several men with AK-47s, none of whom made any threatening actions towards the helicopter. However, the crew of the helicopter decided that the photographer’s 200mm lens was a rocket launcher and let lose with cannon fire. Most of the men were killed but the cameraman could be seen trying to crawl to safety. A van arrives and the driver tries to rescue the photographer, leaving his two children sitting in the van. The helicopter crew let loose again, finally killing the cameraman and the driver and wounding the children, who are now fatherless.
Read more about it here. Watch the video (short version). Prepare to be appalled.
Comments 🔗
2010-04-13| genuinej saysSad, but there you go. If you want the “glamour” of being a photo-journalist you just have to accept the risks, sad though the consequences might be. Pity a few more politicians don’t suffer the same fate; they surely deserve to.
2010-04-14| todd saysgoogle the unedited version of that wiki leaks video
there’s an extra 10+ minutes missing, that black van had been dropping off fighters to other local conflicts and they were following it.
not so much an local rescue as a helping their own guys out.
the jorno was with guys that not only had ak’s but rpg’s - rpg’s are for local protection.
here’s a site here http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/201966.php
war’s not fun, these guys (the only people outside at the time in the area) were running around in an area with conflicts on both sides, with guns and rpg’s, assisted by the same black van that was dropping off insurgents to the other local conflicts… what are the military to think…
if they were just reporting they should have made a bigger effort to make themselves known. the press have lots of ways of identifying themselves - as you pointed out, doesn’t always work - but walking around with guys that have rpg’s isn’t one of them… and a reason they were targeted.
wikileaks has their own agenda - http://www.collateralmurder.com/en/p-gathering.html - why isn’t that 4th picture captioned - the only picture on the whole site not captioned…? the one with the guy clearly holding an rpg? every photo is captioned in a negative light towards the military rather than staying impartial.
wikileaks is trying to raise 600k, everyone’s trying to make money, everyone has their own agenda, we just need to look in more locations for the full picture…
2010-04-14| Billy saysJust goes to show how one’s own views can colour what one sees - or at least how one interprets what one sees ..
No arguing however that war is shit, whatever way you look at it …
Apropos fatherhood, and as a father myself, I truly fail to comprehend how a war photographer in a war zone came to take his kids to work with him …
2010-04-14| Spike saysTodd, thanks. I am still appalled, but now for a different reason.
Billy, it wasn’t the photographer’s kids, it was the drivers kids; although your argument still applies. Maybe there was nobody home to look after them.
2010-04-14| Billy saysThey would have been much safer with no one “looking after them”
2010-04-15| todd sayshttp://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/mon-april-12-2010-julian-assange
2010-04-15| todd says^ jullian assange is the wikileaks founder… colbert talks with him about the manipulation of the collateral murder video and how it was edited - for dramatic political effect.
2012-05-13| Solon saysJust goes to show how one’s own views can colour what one sees or at least how one inertprets what one sees ..No arguing however that war is shit, whatever way you look at it Apropos fatherhood, and as a father myself, I truly fail to comprehend how a war photographer in a war zone came to take his kids to work with him