The Press in Somalia p.

By: Debra Gersh

Reporters say conditions in the Persian Gulf were luxurious
compared with those in Somalia ? little food, water, electricity sp.

IF JOURNALISTS THOUGHT the Persian Gulf was miserable, compared with conditions in Somalia it was downright luxurious.
There is little food and water, no electricity, no telephones, travel is dangerous, and the story itself is disheartening.
Reporters who had been in Somalia before the U.S. troops arrived had been "mooching" off supplies from relief agencies there, according to Barton Gellman, Pentagon correspondent for the Washington Post.
Once the troops landed, with the ensuing media tide, there were just too many reporters and the relief agencies cut them off, Gellman explained during a breakfast seminar at the Freedom Forum in Arlington, Va.
When he arrived with the troops, Gellman's plan was to stay with them, but that proved impractical, because they did not have satellite telephones he could use to file stories.
So the Post bought and set up its own phone and generator, but when those gave out, Gellman said he and his colleagues had to rely on the kindness of other correspondents, sometimes waiting up to five or six hours.
In addition, he said, it is not safe for journalists to travel on their own, so many hire cars with armed escorts inside, who are particularly helpful at the makeshift, random checkpoints where many journalists have been robbed.
Reporter Linda Vester of WRC-TV agreed that conditions in Somalia are terrible, but the NBC News bureau had one luxury few, if any, others had ? a refrigerator.
However, while they could refrigerate stuff, they were forced to survive on whatever delicacies they could get ? canned franks and beans, diet soup ? added Vester.
Despite the combined problems of austerity and security risks, Pentagon spokesman Robert B. Hall said he thinks the news coverage has been good.
When the first military public affairs officers landed with the troops, they had with them only whatever equipment they could carry, explained Hall, deputy assistant secretary of defense for information. Thus, for about the first week, briefings were done from the Pentagon. PAOs in Somalia simply did not have the equipment to call out, to make transcripts of the briefings, or to perform other duties normally handled by the public affairs office.
The U.S. troops were greeted by floodlights and flashbulbs as they first landed in Mogadishu (E&P, Dec. 19, 1992, P.9). The press was widely criticized, but in turn said the military had all but sent invitations for them to be there.
Hall said the Pentagon had telegraphed where it would be ? although he said it was careful to avoid specific times or locales ? so there would be no surprises and no resistance.
Although the troops knew there were reporters on the beach, they were unaware they were planning to turn on their floodlights, lights which blinded soldiers wearing night-vision goggles and could have made an easy target.
But "no one is losing sleep over it," Hall added, noting that, while there are lessons to be learned on both sides, the event was soon forgotten.
As Gellman pointed out, it never occurred to the cameramen that their lights would "white out" the night-vision goggles, nor did the military on the scene think that cameramen would turn on their lights. Once they got the word to turn them off, however, Gellman said they did.
Somalia-born journalist Abdulkadir N. Said credited the press for some of the good work it has done covering Somalia, but also noted that the story really needed to be covered 10 years ago when the nation began to fall apart.
Given the restraints and the mission of journalists to report on American troops, Said noted that part of the story has been covered well.
What he would like to see, Said added, is more coverage of how Somalia got to such a desperate state and what Somalis, especially women, are doing to help themselves and each other.
In addition, Said suggested more coverage of other parts of Somalia, and he noted that reporters need more cultural sensitivity and more education in general about Somalia.
Both Vester and Gellman agreed that as the resistance to the presence of U.S. troops grows, which it is showing signs of doing, the story will become even bigger than it is now.
Nevertheless, the Associated Press reported that most news organizations are scaling back their coverage in Somalia, citing the tremendous cost and other world news vying for attention.