This week, we heard the horrible news of the assault of Lara Logan, CBS News’s chief foreign correspondent, in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Too often, the particular dangers that female correspondents face–from sexual harassment to outright physical attack–go unmentioned. In CJR’s May/June 2007 issue, an article by Judith Matloff explored this phenomenon, in which female reporters feel pressure to remain stoic in the face of danger, and to avoid being seen as victims in a “macho” culture.
Matloff, an adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, previously worked as a foreign correspondent for twenty years. She is also on the board of the International News Safety Institute, which does safety training all over the world.
In this new CJR podcast, Matloff speaks with assistant editor Lauren Kirchner about Logan’s bravery in going public about her assault, and she also provides some safety tips to female journalists working alone or in unfamiliar places.
Listen to the episode below, and be sure to check out the CJR podcast homepage on iTunes, where you can listen to past episodes and subscribe for free.
The Editors are the staffers of the Columbia Journalism Review.