In Baghdad: A Reporter's War

by Paul McGeough

One of only a handful of reporters to cover the entire war in Iraq from Baghdad, Australia's most trusted foreign correspondent kept a daily diary. This collection documents the compelling human stories Paul McGeough witnessed in the heart of war-torn Baghdad and reveals the stresses and dangers faced daily by the reporters there. With a journalist's eye, he describes the deaths of innocents, cheap propaganda from both sides of the conflict, the American conquest of Baghdad, and the subsequent rampant looting. Providing unique insights into the life of a reporter behind enemy lines, these vignettes reveal the stress of the media's war, with colleagues in danger, dying, and fighting in daily battles with a regime that viewed them as human shields and potential hostages.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Book Club

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2003

About the author

Foreign Correspondent, Sydney Morning Herald

Paul McGeough is an author and award-winning foreign correspondent specializing in frontline reporting. As Chief Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia's leading quality newspaper, McGeough has reported for the last eight years from the US, Iraq and Afghanistan on war and the change wrought in the world in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks which he witnessed in the streets of New York. Seventeen years ago McGeough was in Baghdad during the US bombing campaign in the First Gulf War. Most recently, he has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon during the post 9/11 wars in those countries; and from Pakistan, Iran, the Palestinian Occupied Territories and the US. In Afghanistan in 2001, McGeough survived a Taliban ambush in which three of his media colleagues were killed in the last days of the war. The Irish-born McGeough is a former managing editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. Among many acknowledgements for his work, McGeough has twice been named Australian Journalist of the Year. In the aftermath of 9/11, he received an award for excellence in international reporting from the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. He has won numerous Walkley Awards - the Australian equivalent of the Pulitzer. And in 2006, his on-line video reporting also was acknowledged internationally. He regularly appears on television and radio as a commentator and analyst on world affairs, including on CNN, CBS, Fox and various other U.S. networks. He also had made appearances on the BBC, RTE (Ireland ) and all the key TV and radio news networks in Australia.


Awards:

- 2003 Walkley Award for Journalism Leadership
- 2010 Douglas Stewart award and Book of the Year for "Kill Khalid" at the 2010 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards

Reviews

[Elissa de Heer]

I will admit that I am very confused about the Iraq War, and this is part of the reason why I was drawn to this book. I had heard McGeough talk at the Sydney Writer's Festival a few years ago, and was impressed by his passion and knowledge of the area. I often read his articles in the SMH and find his writing accessible and informative. This book has sat sadly on my bookcase for a few years, waiting for me to have the time to get to it. I started it with trepidation, not sure that my overtired brain would be able to comprehend the story.
I was quickly taken in with his determination to be an observer and recorder of the events of the war. I had always understood that a reporter in the war exposes themselves to risk of accidental death in the line of fire, but I had never thought about the other risks. The real worry that they faced as being imprisoned by the enemy as spies, or to be used as human shields.
McGeough explains the efforts by both the USA and Iraq to cover up incidents, or to blame the other side in an effort of propaganda. This is highlighted in the gaps between what he sees and hears, and what the Iraqi government shows the media. He does this through quiet observations and slowly, masterfully, presents his own questions about the war.
I learnt much more than I could have hoped and loved the contrast between his own daily diary observations and his carefully constructed news articles sent back home.
I look forward to reading more of McGeough's work (I recently noticed an article by him in Odessa, the man surely gets around), and to being further inspired by his noble quest to tell the story no matter the consequences to himself.

[Kevin]

Paul was a former editor of mine when I worked at the Sydney Morning Herald, I never followed his reporting during the Iraq war as I was living in London at the time and had plenty to read in the UK papers at the time of the Iraq war. A dangerous and insightful journey into a war zone and out again.

[Greg]

Interesting insight into life in Baghdad during the American invasion of 2003.