The Plight of Three Journalists Imprisoned in Iran Reveals the Risks That Come With Real Reporting | Investigations | AlterNet
source: http://www.alternet.org/investigations/147700/the_plight_of_three_journalists_imprisoned_in_...
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The work of independent freelancers willing to travel the world at their own risk and on their own dime has never been more critical.
Journalist Shane Bauer made his friend Shon Meckfessel promise he wouldn’t let him work during their vacation in the Kurdistan mountains in northern Iraq last summer. Bauer, 27, and his partner Sarah Shourd, 31, had been living in Damascus for almost a year. Bauer was studying language and reporting for the Nation,Mother Jones and other outlets. Shourd was reporting, blogging and teaching English. Their friend Josh Fattal, 27, had just arrived in the Middle East as part of a teaching fellowship with a Boston-based honors comparative global studies program, for which he had already been based in China, South Africa and India. Meckfessel was studying Arabic and working on his dissertation on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The four decided to take a 10-day trip as a break from the emotional and intellectual intensity of their work.
Almost exactly a year later, Bauer, Shourd and Fattal are still in Iran’s infamous Evin prison and Meckfessel -- who would be there too if it weren’t for a fortuitous head cold -- spends most of his time working for their release. He hopes a Web site (www.freeourfriends.eu) he recently launched will help show the public in the U.S. and internationally that his friends are accomplished journalists and dedicated solidarity activists, not just the “hapless hikers” much media coverage has made them out to be. And he hopes this message will ultimately help obtain their release.
Journalist Shane Bauer made his friend Shon Meckfessel promise he wouldn’t let him work during their vacation in the Kurdistan mountains in northern Iraq last summer. Bauer, 27, and his partner Sarah Shourd, 31, had been living in Damascus for almost a year. Bauer was studying language and reporting for the Nation,Mother Jones and other outlets. Shourd was reporting, blogging and teaching English. Their friend Josh Fattal, 27, had just arrived in the Middle East as part of a teaching fellowship with a Boston-based honors comparative global studies program, for which he had already been based in China, South Africa and India. Meckfessel was studying Arabic and working on his dissertation on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The four decided to take a 10-day trip as a break from the emotional and intellectual intensity of their work.
Almost exactly a year later, Bauer, Shourd and Fattal are still in Iran’s infamous Evin prison and Meckfessel -- who would be there too if it weren’t for a fortuitous head cold -- spends most of his time working for their release. He hopes a Web site (www.freeourfriends.eu) he recently launched will help show the public in the U.S. and internationally that his friends are accomplished journalists and dedicated solidarity activists, not just the “hapless hikers” much media coverage has made them out to be. And he hopes this message will ultimately help obtain their release.
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