Russian reporter Igor Kornelyuk, who was killed in Kiev’s army shelling near Lugansk on June 17, 2014.
My Captivity In Ukraine Shows Amateurs Succumb To Hatred -- Stepan Kravchenko, Bloomberg
In eastern Ukraine, one text message can turn you into an enemy. In my case, it was sent to my father. “Talked to Borodai at night,” it said about an interview I had with a rebel leader.
“So, you are Borodai’s little friend,” concluded the camouflaged man reading my Nokia. His comrade pointed a Kalashnikov at my stomach. “We’ve got a Russian warrior here saying he is a journalist,” he called to someone in Russian.
It was July 25, 3 p.m. I was heading home to Russia from Donetsk when a routine inspection at a Ukrainian army checkpoint near Starobesheve village went bad. They saw my Russian passport and press card, and told me to get out and hand over my belongings. I tried to hide my BlackBerry. Then they found videos of separatists’ press conferences on my iPad. My guilt, whatever it was, was proven.
I managed to whisper a Moscow contact to my driver before being blindfolded and walked five steps to a waiting Hyundai SUV I’d seen approaching with masked men inside.
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My Comment: Stepan Kravchenko is lucky .... Ukraine has become a very dangerous place for reporters.
3 comments:
You better believe he was lucky! He is also like most of the press blindly arrogant with foolish self importance. An attitude that's going to get some of them killed.
I lost any sympathy for 'journalists' when they became heavily partisan propagandists.
If they want to go back to being neutral reporters of facts, I'll start thinking they should be protected/respected. But while they are non-uniformed combatants waging information warfare, they're fair targets.
Orion
I hate journalists of the 4th estate also, which is why I am here at the site of a rather interesting journalist of the 5th estate.
Still I give war reporters more of a fair shake than big name journalists.
There are a large number of war reporters, who are killed each year. They could be regarded as salt of the earth unless they are a big name like Dan Rather.
Every piece of information has to have something like a "tag" of who we hear it from and when. The piece has to be compared to other pieces to see if they fit or there is something inconsistent.
I hate doing it, but then I learned what a freaking dupe I was for believing Walter Cronkite was an honorable man.
my 2 cents
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