• Home
  • Categories
    • Protection
    • Hostile Environment
    • Industry News
    • Intel
    • Career Advice
    • Surveillance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Maritime
    • Risk Management
    • Fitness
    • Medical
    • Training
    • Equipment
    • Reviews
  • Daily Briefing
  • Subscription
  • The Magazine
  • Podcast
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Circuit Magazine

For Security & Protection Specialists

Get free circuit subscription with BBA membership
You are here: Home / Featured Article / The Death of Journalist Marie Colvin

The Death of Journalist Marie Colvin

Why media management has to be held accountable (young journalists and freelancers also take note):

Much has been made about the life and death of Marie Colvin over the years.

There’s a film out about her, a book and many articles in newspapers and magazines. Now she’s in the news cycle once again, as a US court seeks compensation from the Syrian regime deemed as responsible for her death.

I’m not writing this piece to get into her personal or professional life, her ambitions or any other side of her character (that’s all been done). I’m writing this piece because I see media management in general, as a huge failing for far too many media deployments gone badly in conflict areas around the world. And I’m using Marie’s death as an example of just one of those failings.

I’m still angered every time I see a write up about the sad death of this journalist, and here’s my reasons why:

I knew Marie for years, first meeting her in Jerusalem during the Second Intifada between the Israelis and Palestinians back in the early noughties.

The first thing that struck me was why her bosses were sending a person wearing an eye patch to cover a dangerous conflict? She wore a patch over one eye like a badge of honour (having had an eye severely damaged during the Sri Lanka conflict). You cannot effectively move around a war zone or hostile environment with 50% vision, when really you need eyes in your arse.

I had lunch in London with her once. We chatted about working in war zones. I mentioned that no story is worth dying for… she disagreed. I then mentioned that if you’re willing to die for a story, what about the team around you? That could simply include a local fixer and a driver. Most of the time these individuals are basically working solely in order to feed their families. And what about individuals willing to go that extra mile to extricate you, should you get yourself into a seriously dangerous scenario? She said it was their choice, they could walk away any time.

On the occasion of her death,  she and others around her, and indeed her bosses back home all knew what she was getting into. This part of the city of Homs in Syria was being bombarded on a daily basis by artillery, mortars and other weapons for days.

And continuing as she was in there. There was plenty of footage from social media through citizen journalism, getting out there to show the dangers…all the warning signs were there. As a security adviser to journalists, I would never have escorted a small team into that area of Homs at that point. It was absolute madness in my mind.

Given however, that she was a warm body willing to go, the plan for survival along with the plan for their news gathering, should have been to go in…get their story…and get back out to safety. Only then, should they get onto their sat phones/computers and send back their story or give live reports.

For years now, in different conflicts around the world, journalists have known that they can be targeted by all sides. These conflicts have no rules, and no longer are they seen as travelling down the middle of the road with freedom to report the news, that all ended a very long time ago, if indeed it ever existed? They should know that they are being followed, watched and listened to by many means. Management and individuals on the ground, ignore those facts at your peril!

Therefore, to go live on her sat phone or computer, and be taken by CNN, the BBC and others while in the “safe house” on the ground, makes those networks and their management, as well as herself and her own management from her own newspaper, completely complicit in her death…in my view.

Those just mentioned are well aware of the pitfalls, if you cut corners on journalists safety versus an early story for their viewer’ and/or readership’ ratings!

Simply put, it’s nothing short of corporate manslaughter.

In my time working in conflict areas with the media, I’m not aware of one single manager from top to bottom of any media outlet who has been sent on a management course. I find that shocking given that those same individuals are responsible for sending people to news gather in war zones and other hostile environments!

I have no doubt whatsoever, that with a combination of managers attending management courses, and of course being held accountable for their failings, journalists’ deployments to hostile environments around the world would have a much better outcome in the future.

However, as it stands right now, I’m aware of far too many individuals being killed, wounded or kidnapped simply through a combination of their management’s and their own failings. It’s too easy for individuals on the ground and hungry for a news story to get clouded in their vision of how to move forward. That’s why it takes good sound managers to help share that responsibility and see clarity through common sense.

Had Marie Colvin been better managed, and of course way more switched on to the situation, I’m sure she’d still be out there somewhere (but not in hostile environments), writing her great stories and continuing to hold truth to power.

 


THE DEATH OF JOURNALIST MARIE COLVIN
By: Bob Shepherd

Bestselling author Bob Shepherd has spent nearly forty years operating in conflict areas around the world. A twenty year veteran of Britain’s elite 22 SAS Regiment with nearly two decades of private security work to his credit, Bob has successfully negotiated some of the most dangerous places on earth as a special forces soldier and a private citizen. Bob comments regularly on security issues and has appeared on CNN International, BBC, SKY News, and BBC Radio. He has also authored numerous articles and books including the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller The Circuit. In addition to writing and lecturing, Bob continues to advise individuals operating in hostile environments. For more of his insights on security and geopolitics visit www.bobshepherdauthor.com

 

Buy The Latest Issue

Sign Up For News and Updates

We respect your privacy and will not share your information with anyone.
We will only message you when we have something relevant and of value to share with you.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Issue

Circuit magazine cover issue 55

Issue 55

Buy Now

Latest Industry News

Industry News October 2020

We cast our eye over the main stories impacting the security industry. Here’s what’s appeared on the radar since the last issue.

Security industry News Brought to you by the Circuit Magazine

Industry News

We cast our eye over the main stories impacting the security industry, including, Kanye West’s former bodyguard is calling the rapper a “bully” and is threatening to sue for damages after West accused him of breaking a confidentiality agreement.

Industry News

We cast our eye over the main stories impacting the security industry. Here’s what’s appeared on the radar since the last issue.

Security industry News Brought to you by the Circuit Magazine

Security Industry Association Announces New SIA Women in Security Scholarship Opportunity

“The SIA Women in Security Forum works to grow and retain leaders in the security industry,” said Gloria Salmeron, director of human resources at Brivo and co-chair of the scholarship committee. “With the addition of this new scholarship, we look forward to helping bring opportunities for further education and advancement to as wide a spectrum of people as possible and inviting individuals to participate in the Women in Security Forum.”

Tactical Firearms - Cross-Draw

Tactical Firearms – Cross-Draw

It is believed that this is the safest method of carry because when the handgun is drawn from the holster, it points in a straight line directly at the target. The cross-draw is where the gun is on the opposite side of the body to the dominant hand, so you have to reach across the body to draw the handgun.

Product Review earHero

Product Review – Ear Hero

Designed by an audiologist, earHero’s speakers are so tiny they will never block your ear canal giving you the ability to literally talk on a separate phone without removing the earHero tactical earpiece from either ear.

You can literally hear whisper level sounds from yards away, while identifying the sounds’ precise location. The earHero tactical headsets have wires so thin and clear, they are virtually undetectable, and the design is so comfortable, you’ll barely know the earpiece is there.

Introduction to Cybersecurity Part 4

Insecure Smart Houses

They are only of limited relevance today, but as the technologies involved become more widespread and implemented into every facet of life they will only become more prevalent. While it sounds like the stuff of science fiction, these threats exist now and are not going to go away.

For simplicity, we’ll say that a ‘smart’ device is anything which connects to the internet (or a network) and is not intended to be a computer interface. Intended is the key word there, as many of these devices are insecure for the simple reason that they are a computer. The problem is that it is now cheaper and easier to put a general purpose computer into a device and run some software to, for example, turn lights on and off than it is to design a single-purpose lightbulb which also connects to a network.

Global Risk

Global Situation report provided by Stratfor

Global Situation Report October, 2020

Having informed insight in today’s increasingly complex international environment is more important than ever. That’s why we’ve partnered with Stratfor, the worlds leading geopolitical intelligence platform, to bring readers regular analysis and accurate forecasting of global trends from someone you can trust.

Popular Tags

Afghanistan armed attack Bodyguard Bodyguarding Celebrity client Close Protection Close Protection Officer Elijah Shaw Executive Executive Protection fight firearm gun Intelligence Iraq Law Enforcement Medical military News online police Prevention professional protect protection PTSD Risk Risk Assessment Risk Management Safety Security Security Incidents Security Industry Authority SIA Social Media Surveillance terror Terrorism terrorist Threat train Training VIP

On The Frontline

How to survive a course you hate

It’s the dreaded phrase your boss says to you, usually when you are already extraordinarily busy. It often goes … >>>

Suited for Duty

When it comes to a wardrobe fit for duty rule number one, you don’t buy it, you acquire it over time.  In most cases, … >>>

The Conscientious Bodyguard

Personality: An internal disposition that guides a specific pattern of behaviour. Over many decades, psychologists … >>>

Follow us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

From The Archives

Training, A Dying Art Or A Lying Art?

In the United States, expectations rise when people see the letters EPS following the name of someone who performs … >>>

Ex-G4S Security Contractor and Double Murderer, Fitzsimons, Secretly Extradited from Iraq

Industry News – November 27, 2019 A former British paratrooper who was imprisoned in Iraq after shooting dead two … >>>

The perils of looking after other people

Do you ever feel bogged down by other people’s demands? Or as though, no matter how much you help someone, it’s just not … >>>

Non-Lethal Hostage Rescue

The horrific terrorist attack in a busy shopping mall in Nairobi, in September 2013, was a counter-terrorist team’s … >>>

  • Terms And Conditions
  • Magazines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Archives

© 2021 Circuit Magazine · Rainmaker Platform

This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
I accept