DVDs - Documentary

Features

Music - DVDs

Investigative journalist Terry Gould took four years to research the lives of seven journalists in five of the most corrupt places in the world. They died for the stories they felt had to be told. He put together compelling portraits of these seemingly unsual men and women in Murder Without Borders - Dying for the Story in the World's most dangerous Places in an effort to discover what motivated his subjects to disregard threats made against them.

In some ways, Gould exposed himself to the same dangers as the murdered journalists he investigated, though he may not see it that way as he was a foreigner in those places. By writing about these seven journalists, he also exposed the crooked political systems and local corruptions in Columbia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Russia and Iraq to readers of the book. One wonders especially how former Russian president Vladimir Putin and now its prime minister views being made culpable in the murder of the three Russian journalists Gould writes about in Murder Without Borders The tone of the Russian stories is unmistakable of how Gould views Russia's little Napoleon.

At the time of writing of this review, at least 734 journalists have died since 1992 for wanting to bring us stories, at least one in Russia - a 25-year-old female journalist. Only one in four dead reporters covered combat. Two-thirds of the murders of journalists have never been solved, making assassination the cheapest form of censorship in countries where repression of freedom of speech is the norm. It is particularly chilling to know that about 85 percent of the journalists killed had been locals.

"I first encountered this plague of murder-with-impunity while researching a book in the Philippines between 2000 and 2003," the writer informs us in the Introduction to his book, subtitled The Psychology of Sacrifice. "Fourteen journalists were assassinated outside Manila during that period and not one of their killers has been brought to justice."

In the Conclusion to the book, subtitled Journalism as an act of Courage, he tells us, "there is a prize in Russia awarded annually for 'Journalism as a Deed.' The phrase sounds vague in English, but in Russian, where deeds have always involved a degree of peril, its meaning is clear. Journalism as a deed is an act of courage. In Russia it is understood that the consequence for exposing a powerful figure is sometimes death."

The people Gould writes about have distinctly different characters. The life stories of two women and five men are well drawn individual profiles seen through personal interviews with family, friends, colleagues and even enemies. It should not be difficult to realize that what drove Gould's subjects despite their differences can also be applied to the many others he has not chosen from among the murdered, and to those who will continue to die for a cause they know may well be hopeless.

"Local journalists in lawless countries are aware they will probably lose the battle," Gould writes. "At the same time, they generally believe that something good will arise from news of their loss. And therein lies the key to understanding the hearts of the journalists I have written about."

By examining the lives of Columbian Guillermo Bravo Vega, Filipina Marlene Garcia-Esperat, Bangladeshi Manik Chandra Saha, Russians Anna Politkovskaya, Valery Ivanov and Alexei Sidorov, and Iraqi Khalid W. Hassan, Gould gives us insight not only into their lives, but the corrupt power structure of their countries, the internecine political social and religious systems that set out to devour not only journalists but anyone who might disagree with those who wield power of one kind or another.

While some may feel this book is written about journalists for journalists, anyone who thinks so cannot be further off the mark. This is a book of compelling stories written without sentimentality and exposes the foibles as well as the heroism of the seven individuals. It is a book as worthy of reading as any good crime fiction, and as difficult to put down. But it has one advantage over the crime fiction, the reader does not have to put aside disbelief. These crimes are real and the assassins or the instigators of the murders are far more sinister than any fictional character can be.