There are few journalists who must wear body armor and a helmet while on the job. However, to American journalist Dogen Hannah, doing so was just all in a day’s work during his two-month stay from December to February reporting in Iraq.
Speaking to fourth and fifth period beginning journalism students on March 7, Contra Costa Times reporter Hannah detailed his fifth journalistic assignment in Iraq since the American invasion in 2003.
Sent by Knight Ridder, the parent company for the Times until this week, Hannah was based at the company’s bureau in South Central Baghdad with other American and Iraqi correspondents. According to Hannah, he was the only American correspondent from Knight Ridder in Iraq for three weeks out of the two months he was there, although there are usually two or three American correspondents present at a time, he said. Sent to Iraq for the first time in summer 2004, this was Hannah’s fifth and longest stay in Iraq.
During this trip, he spent four or five days on the streets with soldiers training Iraqi police. Hannah had to wear body armor and a helmet while with the soldiers at all times. According to Hannah, whenever reporting on the streets, he would do his best to blend in, a difficult task when with soldiers.
"Everyone is watching you while in the Humvees," Hannah said. "I’m wearing body armor and a helmet, so there’s no way not to stand out."
Hannah said that he did not allow security to get in the way of his assignments. "While security and safety are big issues, getting the job done is what’s on my mind, more than security," Hannah said. However, Hannah noted that whenever reporting he would still have to ask himself how he could report the story safely.
While with the soldiers, Hannah took note of the security assigned specifically to travel with the soldiers themselves. He wrote an article on the security for the soldiers, as well as on the soldiers themselves.
According to Hannah, Iraqis are more biased and jaded in their views now than when Hannah first reported in Iraq two years ago.
According to Hannah, reporting in Baghdad offered the opportunity to report more in-depth stories than those typical of the Associated Press. "We’d report on how U.S. forces were doing, Iraqi politics, everyday life and culture," Hannah said. "We’re not writing Associated Press stories."
While Hannah speaks a little Arabic, he relied mainly on fellow Iraqi correspondents to translate, such as during interviews or watching Iraqi television.
According to Hannah, reporting in Iraq can be very difficult due to language and due to the government being less open to the press than in the United States. Despite this, Hannah explained how one of the most rewarding aspects of his trip was conducting interviews. "Just about everyone loves to talk," Hannah said. "Here [In the United States] it’s hard to find someone who’s not too busy to talk."