The Committee to Protect Journalists is making a handbook available for free on how to stay safe when reporting in dangerous hotspots.
The book, “On Assignment: A Guide to Reporting in Dangerous Situations,” covers a variety of topics from deciding whether it’s better to blend in or be clearly identified as a journalist in a combat zone to ways to get close enough to a story without getting too close.
A few of the other areas covered include:
- Protective gear, like body armor and helmets;
- Minimizing risk in combat zones;
- Strategies for long-term captivity;
- How to survive when hiding.
The handbook, which is available for downloading as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file, was compiled by the staff of the Committee to Protect Journalists. The staff interviewed journalists such as Charles Hanley, special correspondent with the Associated Press, and independent journalist Gustavo Gorriti for their firsthand insight into reporting from dangerous spots.
The handbook may be downloaded from: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/safety/journo_safe_guide.pdf.
