TV Reporters Begin to Return

With the action in Iraq converging swiftly on Baghdad, some TV journalists who left the city because of safety concerns just before the war began are starting to trickle back to get into position to catch developments there.

CBS News’ Lara Logan joined a convoy of foreign TV journalists, including reporters from Canada, Portugal and Britain, who arrived in the city Friday. Logan went without a camera crew and will instead rely on a satellite phone and a small digital camera.

Logan reluctantly left the country several weeks ago at the behest of CBS News management. A CBS spokeswoman said that though the city is still dangerous, the network had decided that it was “safe enough for her to try to get in.”

According to a CBS News spokeswoman, the five-car convoy of vehicles marked “press” left at dawn Friday from Jordan. Although all the reporters had visas, they had to go through a lengthy process to cross the border. Two of the main roads into Baghdad made the group feel unsafe, particularly the Iraqi and Jordanian drivers. So they used a longer route from the north and were successful, encountering no major incidents as they sped into the city.

Other networks, however, still have major concerns about safety. NBC, which was left without a correspondent in Baghdad after it cut ties with National Geographic’s Peter Arnett this week over his interview with Iraqi TV, said that for now it will stick with reporting from its British broadcast partner, ITN. ABC News, meanwhile, is continuing to use freelancer Richard Engel. Both networks said they are monitoring the situation.

Fox News, also without its own reporter in Baghdad, is considering sending someone back but has not yet decided. Meanwhile, it is using British sister network Sky News and a German freelance reporter.

CNN has been without a reporter in Baghdad since its two correspondents, a producer and a cameraman were expelled March 21. Unlike other outlets, the network hasn’t been able to use freelancers or on-air reporting from other news organizations because when it did so, Iraq threatened to expel them or imprison them. The network has turned to using pictures from sources such as the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite channel, while gathering information by phone.

A CNN spokeswoman said, “We welcome the opportunity to return if the situation changes.” But she noted that it may soon be a moot question, as CNN reporters traveling with allied forces converge on the city.

Meanwhile, Arnett, who was fired by National Geographic after his controversial Iraqi TV interview, has found work reporting from Baghdad for Greek and Belgian television networks. He is also writing for Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper.

Other major news organizations have had staff reporters and photographers in Baghdad since before the war began. They include Los Angeles Times reporter John Daniszewski and photographer Carolyn Cole, as well as New York Times reporter John Burns.

A number of journalists who wanted to remain in the city were expelled by the Iraqi government for what officials described as visa violations.