Live chat with Tina Susman

2007-11-09 13:06:23.0 Administrator2: Hello, and welcome to our live chat with Baghdad bureau chief Tina Susman on what it’s like covering the war in Iraq.

2007-11-09 13:09:05.0 Administrator2: As a reporter in Iraq, what is the most challenging part about covering the news?

2007-11-09 13:10:23.0 DCReader: Hi gang...I think your Iraq war coverage is great, particularly the Pentagon coverage

2007-11-09 13:10:49.0 Tina Susman: The hardest part about covering Iraq is not being able to get out onto the streets and see things for myself and talk to people myself as much as I would like. In my previous assignments, which primarily were in Africa, I was able to simply go out and walk the streets and see things, and talk to people, when I wanted. In Iraq, security issues prevent that, so I depend a lot on my local staffers to help me. That can be frustrating for a reporter accustomed to doing her own legwork.

2007-11-09 13:12:56.0 Tina Susman: Thanks, DC Reader. I agree that our Pentagon guys do a wonderful job. We in Baghdad speak regularly to our Washington staffers and often work together on stories. Our Pentagon reporters also have come to Iraq and done assignments with the troops in the field, which helps the coverage immeasurably. This story cannot be told just from one place -- it needs input from everywhere.

2007-11-09 13:12:59.0 mejia: That sounds frustrating. How do you report, then? Does the LAT have security in Baghdad?

2007-11-09 13:14:50.0 Administrator2: It’s dangerous for a Western journalist to report from the streets of Baghdad. Tina, how do you dress to blend in with the crowd?

2007-11-09 13:15:15.0 Tina Susman: It IS frustrating at times, but I don’t want to give the impression that I never go out. All of the LAT staffers in Baghdad get out quite a bit, but we have to be extraordinarily careful. We, like all news agencies operating there, have security. We decide, assignment to assignment, how much the foreign reporters can do on their own and how much they need help from the Iraqi staff, who for obvious reasons can talk to people and go places without being as obvious as foreigners. The good thing is that our Iraqi staffers are terrific journalists, and even if I cannot speak to someone face to face, if I send one of my staffers I can be assured that they will get what is needed.

2007-11-09 13:17:18.0 DCReader: There have been many recent stories about Iraqi journalists getting killed for working for U.S. news organizations (CBS, Washington Post). How do the Iraqis who work for you make sure they’re safe?

2007-11-09 13:19:04.0 Tina Susman: People always ask how I dress. It’s a good question, because being inconspicuous is the key to staying safe in Iraq. I dress like most modern Iraqi women in Baghdad dress: I wear trousers, a knee-length coat that is body-concealing, and I always wear a scarf to cover my hair. Sometimes I might wear a full, traditional abaya if I am going to a very conservative area. In general, I try to dress the way other women dress. Wearing the head scarf is common among most women in Iraq nowadays. It was not this way before the war, but the rise of religious conservatism and the fear of being targeted by certain militias has led women to begin covering their hair.

2007-11-09 13:20:31.0 mejia: How much of the country outside of Baghdad is accessible to western journalists at this point?

2007-11-09 13:22:47.0 Tina Susman: We work very hard to ensure our Iraqi staff -- from our translators to our drivers and cook -- remain safe. As security has deteriorated, most of the staff have begun living nearly fulltime in the bureau to avoid having to go home to neighborhoods where there is ongoing violence, or where they might be questioned about their activities. They do not tell people, other than immediate family members, whom they work for because they know this would expose them to risk. Often, when they are on the street doing reporting, they conceal what they are doing by keeping their notebooks hidden or not taking out their tape recorders. This makes the job far more difficult than elsewhere. But it’s necessary, unfortunately, under the circumstances. One hard rule I have in the bureau is to err on the side of caution. If we feel that a neighborhood has a good story but is too dangerous for our staff to visit, we skip the story.

2007-11-09 13:24:36.0 Tina Susman: Outside Baghdad, all of the country is accessible in varying degrees. But it usually is necessary to go with the U.S. military as an ‘embed.’ In other works, if I want to visit Tikrit, north of Baghdad, I can go with the military and do my reporting under the military’s protection. Obviously this leads to some limitations, but not as much as you might think.

2007-11-09 13:26:22.0 DCReader: How many other newspapers still have Baghdad bureaus?

2007-11-09 13:26:26.0 Tina Susman: Also, we accentuate our coverage outside Baghdad with local ‘stringers.’ These are Iraqis who give us information and conduct interviews on a daily basis from across the country. Often, If I am doing a story outside of Baghdad as a military ‘embed,’ and I feel that I need the voices of local Iraqis from the area in the story, I ask the local stringer to do some interviews for me. It is yet one more way that we have found to make our coverage more comprehensive, and to make use of the excellent Iraqi journalists throughout the country.

2007-11-09 13:28:04.0 mejia: Thanks, btw, for being there

2007-11-09 13:29:36.0 Tina Susman: Hi DC Reader. Other than the LATimes, only two other U.S. newspapers maintain more than one person permanently in Iraq. Several other newspapers, such as USA Today, have one-person bureaus, but often those bureaus are empty. The wire services -- AP, Reuters and Agence France Presse -- have large bureaus there. All the TV networks have bureaus. Some of the British papers also have one-person bureaus. Considering the magnitude of the story, it’s surprising more news organizations do not maintain bigger bureaus, but it is gratifying that the LATimes has recognized the importance of the story both to Iraqis and to Americans.

2007-11-09 13:32:44.0 DCReader: If all you reporters in the bureau are forced to stay in the bureau for security reasons most of the time, don’t you go stir crazy? I’d go crazy if I had to spend that much time cooped up with my wife!

2007-11-09 13:33:41.0 DCReader: That’s not a reflection on my wife, mind you...just to point out that I CHOSE to live with her! You guys got thrown in together without much choice in the matter...

2007-11-09 13:34:13.0 Tina Susman: I won’t tell your wife you said that! In all seriousness, though, you point out an important element to covering the story, and that is the need for extreme patience on the part of reporters who go to Iraq.

2007-11-09 13:35:49.0 DCReader: Well, you do great work. Thanks for keeping us all informed. It’s really a shame more newspapers aren’t devoting the resources to covering the most important story on the face of the earth!

2007-11-09 13:36:39.0 Tina Susman: We have to get along with each other, and we have to accept that in this situation, the normalcies of life simply do not apply. Unlike in NY, for instance, I cannot just go outside and take a long walk if I need a break. The best I can do is close my door and put up the ‘do not disturb’ sign. But I rarely do that because my job is to be there for my staff at all times, until the last person goes to sleep at night. (that’s usually me). We all get along well, and each person has individual ways of dealing with cabin fever. Some people bake. Some read. Some use the treadmill. I try to read. People with short fuses, though, won’t last long under those circumstances.

2007-11-09 13:38:25.0 Administrator2: Tina, how do you and your staff travel around Baghdad?

2007-11-09 13:42:24.0 Tina Susman: Low-profile is the operative term when describing our travel method. I travel in a pretty normal-looking sedan, usually armored. I have a crew of Iraqi drivers. We have Iraqi security guards who keep an eye on us from a safe distance. I won’t go into details on our security arrangements, but they are low-profile yet reassuring. I feel quite safe when I’m out on the streets. If I go out with the military, it’s a different set-up. I might travel by helicopter. I sometimes travel in armored U.S. military vehicles. When I’m out with the military, I wear body armor and a helmet in keeping with military regulations. When I am out on my own, I dress as a civilian.

2007-11-09 13:47:49.0 Administrator2: What do you and your staff members do with your down time?

2007-11-09 13:48:15.0 mejia: From here -- Santa Cruz, CA -- it’s hard to synthesize the various reports coming out of Iraq... tons of refugees countrywide, security better here, worse security there. Is it easier to put the pieces together over there?

2007-11-09 13:51:15.0 Tina Susman: We don’t get much down time, actually. On rare ocassions, though, one of us might find a free evening and in such cases we often try to invite some other journalists over for a meal or to watch a movie. My biggest pleasure during ‘down’ time is having a few friends over to my room, sharing some food and drinks, and talking about things other than work! A lot of the journalists in Iraq are people I have encountered on past assignments in places such as Liberia or South Africa, so it’s always fun to catch up with them. When we get together, we talk about the same things friends everywhere talk about -- movies, books, food, where to take a vacation.

2007-11-09 13:53:27.0 Administrator2: Do you have any pets in your bureau?

2007-11-09 13:54:27.0 Tina Susman: I don’t think it’s ever easy to put the pieces together from the ground in Iraq, simply because it is impossible to see everything going on at any given time. We try to use snapshots, so to speak, to tell the bigger story. For instance, if the military is saying that security has vastly improved across the country, we will try to look at different areas and use them as a means of determining if, indeed, security has greatly improved. We can’t hope to know the entire situation, so we depend a lot on these snapshots, and on anecdotal evidence.

2007-11-09 13:56:46.0 Tina Susman: Alas, we do not have any furry friends living with us. We have considered getting a cat or even some fish, but there are concerns about that. My biggest worry is what would happen if we had to evacuate the bureau quickly? I have my own cat in the United States and can’t imagine leaving it behind. In a warzone, anything can happen at any time. Someone would have to grab the cat or the fishbowl! Who would that be? So for now, we’re having to live without pets. I hope someday that changes, because all of the staff members -- save one who is allergic -- are animal lovers. Most Iraqis, in fact, are big fans of pets.

2007-11-09 13:59:44.0 Administrator2: Do you ever get out to a restaurant?

2007-11-09 13:59:50.0 mejia: How long do you plan to stay?

2007-11-09 14:01:07.0 Tina Susman: Unfortunately we don’t get to go out to restaurants for security reasons, but we have a cook, and we have our little kitchens and can cook our own food. We eat well -- too well! One of the biggest battles journalists fight is the battle to not gain weight over there because of the limited physical activity and the confined living situation. I plan to stay until January 2009 -- and hopefully I’ll remain at my current weight ‘til then.

2007-11-09 14:05:06.0 Administrator2: Thank you for your time, Tina. We look forward to reading more from you and your Baghdad staff in The Times.