A New York Times reporter who was kidnapped by the Taliban has escaped and made his way to freedom after more than seven months of captivity in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
... The wow factor in this story is when I first heard about this, I had to scratch my head and wonder. How had I missed the story of a NY Times reporter being kidnapped in Afghanistan? It had happened in November, and I was pretty busy then, so I may have missed it.
But no, I had not missed it at all. It's just that no one wrote about it. In an incredible show of restraint as many as 40 news agencies had heard about this kidnapping, but all had decided to respect a request from the N.Y. Times to keep the story quiet. They did not want to endanger his life.
I keep remembering a story from when I was in L.A. There had been a home invasion robbery in the San Fernando Valley -- I think in Sherman Oakes -- where a child had been kidnapped. It was a big story and all of the news media descended on the scene.
The police had not told the full story to the media, and did not want it to get out. Heavy media reporting could, as with the Afghanistan story -- endanger the life of the hostage. So the LAPD police spokesman, I believe it was Lt. Anthony Alba, took a gamble.
He asked all the media present to meet him around the corner, but to leave behind their notebooks, tape recorders and cameras. He laid out the story, and then asked that they only report on the home invasion, not the kidnapping.
The gamble worked. It took some persuading among the reporters to decide as a group to go along with the police request, but they did.
The next day, the child was released by the robbers and safely returned. Only then did the story break.
What we saw with the Rodhe kidnapping was very similar to what happened in Sherman Oakes years ago, just on a much wider scale.
It is an example that despite the image journalists have as sleazy opportunists, that they are driven by a deep ethical core that often will override even the desire to be the first one to break the story.
... The wow factor in this story is when I first heard about this, I had to scratch my head and wonder. How had I missed the story of a NY Times reporter being kidnapped in Afghanistan? It had happened in November, and I was pretty busy then, so I may have missed it.
But no, I had not missed it at all. It's just that no one wrote about it. In an incredible show of restraint as many as 40 news agencies had heard about this kidnapping, but all had decided to respect a request from the N.Y. Times to keep the story quiet. They did not want to endanger his life.
I keep remembering a story from when I was in L.A. There had been a home invasion robbery in the San Fernando Valley -- I think in Sherman Oakes -- where a child had been kidnapped. It was a big story and all of the news media descended on the scene.
The police had not told the full story to the media, and did not want it to get out. Heavy media reporting could, as with the Afghanistan story -- endanger the life of the hostage. So the LAPD police spokesman, I believe it was Lt. Anthony Alba, took a gamble.
He asked all the media present to meet him around the corner, but to leave behind their notebooks, tape recorders and cameras. He laid out the story, and then asked that they only report on the home invasion, not the kidnapping.
The gamble worked. It took some persuading among the reporters to decide as a group to go along with the police request, but they did.
The next day, the child was released by the robbers and safely returned. Only then did the story break.
What we saw with the Rodhe kidnapping was very similar to what happened in Sherman Oakes years ago, just on a much wider scale.
It is an example that despite the image journalists have as sleazy opportunists, that they are driven by a deep ethical core that often will override even the desire to be the first one to break the story.
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