A story to die for

Abstract

There have been many developments in recent years in the admirable efforts made to mitigate the risks of war zones, or "hazardous environments", for those in the media industry who have to venture into them, writes this "manager of projects in hostile environments". Having worked as a consultant to a plethora of organisations that have sought the planning skills and common sense advice of an ex-soldier, I have observed these developments with interest in several of the world's current so-called "post-conflict" areas. These days you usually bump into other ex-military colleagues who are employed by the Western bureaus as safety advisers and, more recently, as "hired foreign guns" brought in to protect news crews. By my reckoning even the most conservative of Western TV operations in Iraq now have armed foreign minders as well as Iraqi national armed guards. In my view there is no question that to get their job done, journalists need minders and local fixers in nasty places. Apart from the safety question, such help is necessary to hitch a ride and/or negotiate a free passage with some or all of the factions in a war zone, as any war correspondent worth his or her flak jacket knows.