What It's Like For Female Reporters On The Front Lines

Wars and revolutions — long-simmering and newly erupted alike — need storytellers, and foreign correspondents remain crucial participants in the process of conveying, interpreting, and contextualizing these cataclysms. More and more, those storytellers are women. Their work carries risks (including the patronizing concern of armchair outsiders) as well as benefits like occasional access to ignored stories. But their experiences also have limits. As Tracy Wood, who covered the Vietnam War told The Washington Post not long ago, “No matter what female reporters do, we can always leave.” Here, stories from some of those reporters about living and working in global chaos.

Lara Logan Breaks Ground With Graphic Description Of Her Rape, Injuries

What To Wear To A Toga Party In Kabul

What Lara Logan’s Assault Means For Female Journalists

CBS war correspondent Lara Logan’s “brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating” in Egypt’s Tahrir Square became a referendum on her looks — and more constructively, a conversation about the necessity and risks of women covering war. More »

Covering War At The Dinner Table

In 2005, as violence raged in Iraq, Iran grew more defiant, and Lebanon rumbled with revolution, Azadeh Moaveni and Annia Ciezadlo were both foreign correspondents living in Beirut. There was hostility, intimidation…and food. More »

Earlier:

Female Reporter Detained In Libya Said To Be Alive And Well
Freed Female Times Journalist Describes Groping In Captivity

Further Reading:

In Aftermath Of Lara Logan’s Attack, CPJ Learns More About Journalists Sexually Assaulted On The Job [Poynter]
How I Almost Lost My Marriage In A War Zone [Salon]
Why We Need Women In War Zones [NYT]
Every Man In This Village Is A Liar [Megan K. Stack/Amazon]
Documenting Sexual Violence Against Journalists [Committee To Protect Journalists]
A Post Reporter Shares Her Perspective On Hazards For Female Journalists Abroad [WP]