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International news organizations increasingly turn to Iraqis for
help reporting in dangerous or unfamiliar areas. These Iraqi media
assistants work with foreign journalists as drivers, interpreters,
guards, guides and, sometimes, proxy reporters. Even in Baghdad,
they are frequently used to gather basic information. Some have
training in the news business, but many are just ordinary people
who speak English and are willing to do risky work. Insurgents
view them as traitors for working with the Western media, and
they have been harassed, detained and even assassinated. In March 2004, Voice of Americaís Iraqi translator, Selwan Abdelghani Medhi al-Niemi, was shot and killed in his car after leaving a relativeís house. His 5-year-old daughter and his father-in-law were also killed. At al-Niemiís funeral, a banner was hung at the mosque warning his wife, who worked as a translator for another American news organization, that she would be next. After the funeral, she fled the country. According to the CPJ, 18 media workers have been killed since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.
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