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US Journalism Review Thunderbird on-line magazine MARCH 2002 : VOLUME iv ISSUE iii The dangerous exploits of Ken Hechtman raise questions about who can call themselves a journalist. Rookie correspondent discovers perils of war reporting By Brian Liu ON NOV. 25, 2001, CANADIAN journalists were stunned to hear that one of their own, a reporter from the Montreal Mirror, had been captured by the Taliban and faced death after accusations that he was a spy. But as more information became known, they realized the captured journalist was Ken Hechtman, a self-proclaimed war correspondent with no reporting experience who quit his day job and flew to the frontline in Afghanistan. Sympathy and concern turned into ridicule and criticism. Hechtman had become Canada's Geraldo. "I don't think it's an especially sound journalistic idea to send a freshly minted journalist into the bowels of international warfare," said Keith Woods, an ethics professor at the Poynter Institute. "I suppose that among the ethical issues here is the possibility that the missteps of this green journalist might endanger the lives of veteran journalists covering Afghanistan." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I am a great believer in freedom of expression and so on, but I draw the line when it comes to situations where irresponsible acts endanger the lives of others." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hechtman, who has been described by Mirror editor Alastair Sutherland, as the "world's oddest war correspondent," reportedly had a deep interest in Afghanistan. He was a Montreal computer programmer who admitted to a decades-long fascination with the country since he was a young teen following the Afghan-Russian war. So when the Afghan-U.S. war began, Hechtman opted to cover it from the frontlines and offered himself to the Mirror as a freelancer. However, he was apprehended by the Taliban while crossing the Pakistani border after submitting just 10 articles to the Mirror and Straight Goods, an alternative online news site. It was a situation that bore some similarity to that of Wall Street Journal corespondent Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped by Pakistani militants on Jan. 23. On Feb. 14, the journalist was confirmed to have been killed by his captors. Hechtman's capture, however, stirs controversy whereas Pearl's invokes concern. Veteran journalists feel self-proclaimed correspondents who drop into hot zones with no experience, such as Hechtman, tarnish the reputation of official journalists representing mainstream news agencies. "Some of us tailor entire careers around coverage of conflicts, spending years observing and learning from others," said Stephen Thorne of the Canadian Press. Thorne was a war correspondent in Kosovo, and is an active member of the Canadian War Correspondents Association. "I know from experience that it only takes the irresponsible acts of a few to endanger or ruin it for others." Reporting from Kandahar, Thorne said that he has personally witnessed the "gratuitous, self-serving and irresponsible" actions of some rookie reporters in defying rules set out by the military. He added certain rules are in place for a reason, and breaking those rules "slams the door shut" for other journalists. "I am a great believer in freedom of expression and so on, but I draw the line when it comes to situations where irresponsible acts endanger the lives of others," said Thorne. "The limited amount I did read about his experience, comments and writings led me to believe that he is naïve, inexperienced and really doesn't belong in a war zone." Other Hechtman critics who reflect Thorne's views have condemned his attempt to blend in with locals by wearing traditional Afghan clothing and growing a beard. However, other journalists admitted to using the same approach to gain entry into Afghanistan. Perhaps it was Hechtman's status as a rookie freelancer that made his actions seem particularly naïve. "There is little third parties can - or, perhaps, should - do to stop the Ken Hechtmans of the world from going off to do whatever it is they want to do," said Thorne. "But his employer should never have sent him there in the first place if, indeed, that is who paid his way." Veteran war correspondents, such as Southam's Wilf Dinnick, Levon Sevunts and Hilary MacKenzie, who all recently returned to Canada from Afghanistan, had mixed feelings about Hechtman's adventure in Afghanistan. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Global National's Kevin Newman noted that in the past, experienced corespondents would take rookie journalists under their wing and train them on how to report safely from dangerous areas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "He seemed unrealistic," said Dinnick, who ran into Hechtman a few times. According to Dinnick, Hechtman was an idealist hoping to discover a more positive side of the Taliban. "He wanted to report that the Taliban weren't all that bad." Sevunts himself came under a Taliban attack on Nov. 11, 2001 and narrowly escaped with his life while three other journalists travelling with him were killed. "There's no doubt he's a leftist," said Sevunts, who interviewed Hechtman in Afghanistan. "He's just not a very good reporter." MacKenzie softened the criticism noting that aspiring journalists have to "start somewhere." That often means freelancing. "Maybe he thought that's how he would mark his career," she said, recalling that the journalists trying to find Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan were often freelancers. Global National's Kevin Newman noted that in the past, experienced corespondents would take rookie journalists under their wing and train them on how to report safely from dangerous areas. With the rise of the Internet, however, the definition of "journalist" has widened. Now, people with little or no training are getting published online. MacKenzie agreed, however, that war reporting isn't the best place to learn journalism. "I don't think it reflects well on the profession because of the risk," she said. "Hechtman was extraordinarily lucky." Hechtman has since been freed by his Taliban captors, and smiled for photographers as he was escorted back to Pakistan. He did not respond to requests for comment on his experiences. In the meantime, his editor from the Montreal Mirror, Alastair Sutherland, has posted a message on their website: "In response to the numerous queries we have been receiving, we are not presently looking for a war correspondent." Brian Liu completed his BA with Dean's List Honours at the University of British Columbia in 1997, specializing in English. His interests are in international relations and global security. |