Art Of War
INSTIGATOR
I am sad to report that a young freelance photographer was shot and killed in Syria.
I have been following his work for the last few months and he had really good style and I could tell by his pictures he was really skilled and on his way to finding his own unique style as a photographer.
When I was age I was still too busy trying to be perfect by being too technical with focus and apertures and wish I was as good when I was his age.
Molhem Barakat was 17-19, depending on the reports. He was originally from Istanbul. He was with his brother a fellow rebel fighter when he and his brother were killed.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/chilling-photographs-taken-by-the-teenage-reuters-photograph
http://hannahluci.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/on-the-death-of-another-syrian/
http://coreypein.net/blog/2013/12/22/reuters-molhem-barakat/
In journalism, a good story is not worth dying for and a good journalist is one who makes it out alive.
The questions posed in the last link, I strongly suspect some or most of the answers will be no.
Questions I have in mind, is how was it logistically possible to give him hostile environment training when he is still in Syria, how did get around the tricky issue of insuring him and the organization he is working for. How did the organization legally accredit him as a journalist working for them. These are the questions I am stuck on.
Do you take the organization to court for breach of international laws and regulations governing the safety of this freelance photographer. Whether or not it was all legal, I am confident he would have found another way round it.
Was he foolish to risk his life for it?
What good did his picture accomplish? eg, You can lead a horse to water, but you can not make them go into that water or drink it or they will interpret it entirely different to what the photographer wanted to state.
What negative by products did his pictures create? eg, Instead of informing the world of what was going on and a subtle way for help, he might have inspired more people to join the wrong type of rebels.
Was he murdered on purpose like other reporters? eg, Marie Colvin
How has this inspired others whether for good intentions or foolishly to smuggle themselves into the danger zones?To date at least 8 foreign journalists have been detained in Syria somewhere.
These and other hard questions are very hard to answer. It is up to the individual journalist how far they are willing to go. I am grateful for his pictures and Marie Colvins reports.
AOW
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