Editors 'Can't Back Off' Coverage Of Potential War

By: Joe Strupp Despite concerns about the dangers of biochemical weapons and the likely lack of access in a potential war with Iraq, newspapers are not standing down in terms of plans to cover it, according to an informal survey of major dailies. Virtually all editors contacted by E&P stressed that, even though journalists may face more hazards than ever before, they would try to cover the battlefield as completely as in past wars. Some papers already have identified how many reporters they will assign to an Iraqi conflict -- and who they are.

"We can't back off," said Jeff Cohen, editor of the Houston Chronicle. "If there is a war, we will be part of it."

Paul E. Steiger, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, echoed Cohen's view, but last week reissued a memo that had circulated a year ago, in which he stressed that correspondents are "to steer far from areas where actual fighting is occurring." Steiger told E&P Thursday, however, that this was normal policy for Journal correspondents: "Just because other journalists are strapping on their bullet-proof vests, that is not what we want our people to do."

For many editors, concerns about safety are being eased, somewhat, with increased training in bioterrorism protection at survival schools, such as Centurion Risk Assessment Services. "Business has increased quite a bit," said Paul Rees, director of Centurion and a former Royal Marine commando. "Most of [our clients] are from the print industry, from newspapers." Rees, who launched the England-based company in 1995, said it had served more than 1,200 people in the United Kingdom this year alone. Centurion's U.S. campus -- open for two years but little known until recently -- has had more than 300 "students" since June.

Demand for training, especially to guard against biological and chemical weapons, has risen so much this year that Centurion doubled the number of monthly U.S. sessions. Stateside training is carried out at the Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Va. Each five-day session costs about $2,500 and includes meals, housing, survival training, and information on buying biochemical-safety equipment.

"Given the likelihood of hostilities in Iraq, it has become extremely important for our people to have this awareness," said Dele Olojede, foreign editor for Newsday in Melville, N.Y., which plans to send eight people through Centurion courses by the end of the year. Others using Centurion's U.S. services since June include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and The Miami Herald, as well as The Associated Press.

Due to the demand, said Rees, who has a staff of 20 instructors, all with experience in the Royal Marines, "We are fully booked until mid-December."