The idea of freelancing is romantic, until you end up sick in a foreign country, struggling with a story without an editor to guide you, or kicked out because you offended a government official. All this is to be expected at one time or another. But one of the worst situations we have seen lately, besides foreign journalists becoming casualties of war, is foreign countries throwing them in prison for no apparent reason. This is the case with Roxana Saberi who is being held in Iran's most notorious jail,
Evin Prison, where it is rumored there is a torture chamber. I don't know about you, but this is when I would want 'The Big Guys' on my side. I commend
NPR, ABC, BBC, FOX, WALL STREET JOURNAL, PBS AND FEATURESTORY.COM for their joint statement and their negotiations on behalf of Ms. Saberi. But I'd also want all the little guys on my side too. I actually found out about this story through facebook. I think I'd noticed the story while scanning the papers, but skipped over it, as I was busy with midterms. However, when I saw my old
KUOW friend, Sara Lerner, had posted the official letter from the networks on her facebook page, I had to take a look. Why? For one thing, I trust Sara and find what she has to say interesting. Another major reason I read about Ms. Saberi was that I thought to myself ... that could be me, and I would want my fellow journalists to be interested in my fate. Ms. Saberi is a freelance journalist, but she is established and has lived in Iran for years. As more and more foreign correspondents are laid off and the ranks of freelancers swell, I hope the networks continue to defend the rights of freelancers who run into trouble for doing nothing more than their job. The spread of news about Ms. Saberi's situation through facebook is also hopeful. But somehow I don't think a letter from Facebook users would have the same impact as one from the networks.
Below is the letter I read on facebook.
MAJOR WORLDWIDE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS PRESS FOR INFORMATION
REGARDING AMERICAN JOURNALIST ROXANA SABERI BEING HELD IN IRAN
NPR, ABC, BBC, FOX, WALL STREET JOURNAL, PBS, FEATURESTORY.COM ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT
Washington, D.C.; March 10, 2009 – On behalf of the family, friends and colleagues of Roxana Saberi, and the many American citizens who share our concerns, we urgently request a series of steps be taken in the case of Roxana Saberi, an independent journalist and dual citizen of the United States and Iran, who is being held in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran.
We now ask that one or more international organizations that have responsibilities and rights under the Geneva Conventions be permitted access to Roxana immediately to ascertain her health and well-being and to determine the conditions under which she is held.
We now ask that the specific charges against Roxana Saberi be made public. If no charges are filed, we now urge her immediate release and ask that she be given permission to return to her home country, the United States.
For the past six years, Ms. Saberi has resided in Iran, where she is an established and respected professional journalist. She has filed for NPR, ABC, BBC and others. Before her arrest, she was pursuing a master's degree in Iranian studies and international relations and writing a book about Iran.
On Thursday, February 26, nearly a month after the actual event, we learned that Roxana was detained by Iranian authorities in late January. Since then she has been denied contact with family, friends and associates. On February 10, briefly and under apparent duress, she contacted her family to inform them of her arrest and detention and requested their silence. On Sunday March 1, her family revealed the story to their home town press in Fargo, ND and to NPR, given their growing concern over the lack of contact from Roxana.
Roxana Saberi is a U. S. citizen, born in New Jersey, raised in North Dakota and educated in Minnesota. She has many friends and colleagues across the nation. We are deeply concerned about her well-being and the deprivation of her rights, and we will continue to press for action until we are successful.
Signed,
Vivian Schiller
President & CEO, NPR
David L. Westin
President, ABC News
Jon Williams
World Editor, BBC News
Paula Kerger
President & CEO, PBS
Robert Thomson
Editor-in-Chief, Wall Street Journal
The Front Page of The New York Times features Roxana Saberi this morning, after Iranian authorities sentenced her to eight years in Prison for allegedly spying. We all know this is bunk. Saberi is a respected journalist who has worked for National Public Radio and The BBC. Saberi was arrested back in January on charges of buying alcohol. Then she was charged for working without press credentials and eventually with spying for the United States. I have been following the case of Saberi with great interest because it concerns me as I get ready to graduate from Annenberg and forge into my own freelance journalism career. Gone are the days when one could sign up to be a foreign correspondent the way one might sign up for the Navy Seals or the Army Rangers. Now you are on your own. And if you get shot in a war zone or arrested by a repressive regime there is no one at home to worry about you and work out the details of medical care or your release from Prison. It is good to see the New York Times, NPR and BBC working together to draw attention to Saberi's plight. But do th
ey have the resources to really get her home? This will be one to watch. In the meantime the world of freelancers is growing and begs for a new association to work specifically on these such issues. The Society of Professional Journalists is one such organization that could step in to fill the void left by the fragmenting of newspapers and the dispersion of correspondents. But SPJ seems more concerned with the things that made the old world of journalism go round -- awards, libel cases and basically celebrating itself. Yes they have a token blog and some ridiculous article about webcasting, but what the journalism world really needs right now is an online community for those of us who are brave enough to actually go out be journalists despite a global economic downturn, the collapse of newspapers and governments who will throw us in jail for telling the truth. Maybe SPJ is like an old newspaper forcing its writers to blog and post some video once in a while, but really not wanting to change much ... as long as the money keeps rolling in. I am a member of SPJ, and I believe it is an important organization. But I had hoped to see more leadership from them as the industry hit these tumultuous times. How about getting together a health insurance cooperative for all of the journalists who can no longer rely on corporations to cover them and providing a networking forum for journalism entrepreneurs? And I believe, member or not, they should be speaking up in defense of Saberi. Instead I see big articles about SPJ turning 100 -- and my thoughts are that they'd better watch out. If they don't make the leap, somebody more innovative might just jump in and do the job they should be doing, standing up for journalists and helping them through this transition ... and they just might start giving out their own awards too.
