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Detainment of Reuters cameraman still unexplained – one year on

Donna Goddard — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:46:06 +0000

Over a year has passed since Ibrahim Jassam, cameraman for global news agency Reuters, was arrested without charge by the US military and still no one, not Jassam, his family nor Reuters knows exactly what he has been imprisoned for.

Jassam, who was cleared for release last November by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI), has only been told that the accusations have something to do with ‘activities with insurgents,’ a reference to the Sunni Islamist groups – one of which is Al Qaeda. Reuters states that Jassam is a Shi’ite Muslim.

Although cleared by the CCCI, a year on Jassam is still being detained by the US army, which under a special security agreement claims they are entitled to hold Jassam for as long as they need. The US military also claims that it is ‘not bound’ to provide evidence for Jassam’s detention and that the reason it has kept him so long past his agreed release date is that he represents a ‘threat to Iraq security and stability’.

As also reported by the International Press Institute, David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters said the situation was ‘unacceptable’. “In a year of trying to get specifics, we’ve heard only vague and undefined accusations.”

Lt. Col. Pat Johnson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military in Iraq said: “Though we appreciate the decision of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq in the Ibrahim Jassam case, their decision does not negate the intelligence information that currently lists him as a threat to Iraqi security and stability.”

The US Military claims that all high security threat detainees will go before an Iraqi judge in December 2009, where the evidence against Jassam will finally be aired.

Reuters and others argue that this treatment of a journalist within a war zone is exactly against the US’s advocacy of press freedom around the world, and see Jassam’s continued detention as going against the security pact, known as the Status of Forces Agreement, made between the US and Iraqi forces.

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Schlesinger: Reuters’ ‘multimedia gospel’ and a new media Olympics

Laura Oliver — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:55:41 +0000

On Tuesday Reuters editor-in-chief, David Schlesinger urged the International Olympics Committee to rethink its accreditation rules and strategy for media/news coverage of forthcoming Games to take into account new forms of newsgathering, publishing and the democratisation of both in the hands of the non-journalist.

Schlesinger (or @daschles) is well placed to comment on such issues – during this year’s World Economics Forum, the Reuters head beat one of his own correspondents to a report by tweeting his own updates from George Soros’ speech.

Last night, he also described to the IOC how he had been pressured to remove a Reuters blog post after he took pictures of the Beijing Games without proper editorial photographer accreditation.

His comments also builds on the debate ahead of last year’s competition over whether athletes should be allowed to blog/report from the Games.

Some key quotes from the speech:

“The old means of control don’t work. The old categories don’t work. The old ways of thinking won’t work. We all need to come to terms with that.”
“More and more, we’re issuing a multimedia report to multimedia-savvy consumers who no longer make a distinction between information they receive from text and information they receive from images.”
“That means understanding what really can be exclusive and what really is insightful. It means truly exploiting real expertise. It means, to my earlier point, using all the multimedia tools available and all the smart multimedia journalists to provide a package so much stronger than any one individual strand. It means working with the mobile phone and digital camera and social media-enabled public and not against them.”

You can read Schlesinger’s full speech on Reuters’ blogs.Similar Posts:

Full Disclosure: Reuters journalist David Schlesinger on Twitter and standards

John Thompson — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:53:01 +0000

After Reuters scoops itself by Twittering from Davos, Schlesinger asks himself “Am I destroying Reuters standards by encouraging tweeting or blogging?” Full blog post…Similar Posts:

Reuters ‘dissatisfied’ by investigation into death of Fadel Shana

Laura Oliver — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:01:35 +0000

Reuters has said it is ‘disappointed with and dissatisfied by’ an investigation by the Israeli military into the death of its cameraman Fadel Shana.

The Israeli tank crew who killed Shana in the Gaza Strip four months ago will not face legal action as a result of the investigation.

Troops could not determine whether Shana, who had covered events in Gaza for Reuters for three years, was carrying a camera or a weapon, but were ‘nonetheless justified’ in firing the shell, a letter from Israel’s senior military advocate-general to the news agency said.

“I’m extremely disappointed that this report condones a disproportionate use of deadly force in a situation the army itself admitted had not been analysed clearly. They would appear to take the view that any raising of a camera into position could garner a deadly response,” said David Schlesinger, Reuters editor-in-chief, in a press statement.

Reuters has responded to the findings with a letter to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) asking why the tank crew did not attempt to find out if Shana was a cameraman as his blue flak jacket marked ‘PRESS’ suggested.

According to the army, the troops could not see this sign.

“These findings mean that a journalist with a camera is at risk of coming under fire and there’s not that much that can be done. That’s unacceptable. It’s difficult to believe (…) that the IDF took the necessary precautions to avoid causing harm to civilians – as it is obliged to do under international law,” said Joel Campagna from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The video from Reuters below shows the last seconds of footage shot by Shana before his death:

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Guardian: Thomson Reuters axes 140 journalist jobs

Oliver Luft — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:29:12 +0000

News and information company Thomson Reuters has confirmed that it is cutting 140 journalist posts by the end of the year.

According to the Guardian, head of news David Schlesinger wrote an internal email which explained that areas of “natural overlap and duplication in coverage” existed between the two companies and that as a result jobs would go.

The cuts, which will take place later in the year, are expected mostly to be of editorial staff in Europe.Similar Posts:

Reuters cameraman killed in Gaza

Laura Oliver — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:52:42 +0000

Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, 23, was killed yesterday in Gaza by an explosion, the media group has announced.

Shana, who is the first Reuters journalist to be killed in Gaza, was on his way to cover an incident when his vehicle stopped. On getting out of the vehicle an explosion killed Shana and two bystanders.

A soundman travelling with Shana escaped serious injury.

David Schlesinger, Reuters editor-in-chief, has called for an investigation into the incident.

“This tragic incident shows the risks journalists take every day to report the news. All governments and organisations have a responsibility to take the utmost care to protect professionals trying to do their jobs,” he said in a statement.

“Our thoughts are with his family. We request an immediate investigation into the incident by the Israeli defence forces.”

Shana had worked for Reuters in Gaza for over three years and was one of 15 journalists from the news organisation in the region.

UPDATE – Reuters says Shana was killed by an Israeli tank shell. A medical examination has suggested that metal darts from the shell, which explodes in the air, caused the cameraman’s death. A Reuters video shows the incident.Similar Posts: