Society Trio Recounts Dangers of Cairo Coverage

Three Dart Society journalists, Ron Haviv, Phil Williams and John Moore, are in Cairo reporting on the revolution, and conditions have been particularly dangerous for journalists on the front lines. Moore reported journalists beaten, and the Committee to Protect Journalists is reporting the death of reporter Ahmad Mohamed Mahmoud, a journalist working for the newspaper Al-Ta’awun, a week after being shot.

In a video blog for MSNBC, below, Haviv explains the implications for Westerners and media, who are viewed as supporting anti-Mubarak protests. Haviv’s camera equipment was taken from him by staff at his hotel.

Update from Haviv Friday p.m.: “It’s been quite a few days of dramatic turns, medieval battles and rumours every five minutes that keep this story spinning in a fascinating way. It has been hard to tell which way things will turn, and when you add the violence towards the media it adds an extra layer of chaos. Often one can see the direction that a story will move toward, but here it seems even the experts are perplexed. When fighting is done with rocks, firecrackers and molotov cocktails it appears anything can happen, such as a charge into a crowd by camels and horses.”

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Click here to see Williams’ report for the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Moore of Getty Images shot this photo (below), which ran on The Washington Post Blog with posts about Egypt’s arrests of journalists and human rights workers.

An anti-government demonstrator prays near Egyptian army vehicles on Thursday. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Check out the Committee to Protect Journalists’ reports on the attacks on journalists here. (Updated)

Here’s a story in Foreign Policy describing the attacks on journalists on the ground.

The Dart Center includes reflections from Moore and other Dart journalists in a tip sheet on covering violent street violence here.