“In those days, there weren’t any mobile phones or email, so most stories had to be dictated to copy-takers in London,” says the Guardian’s Middle East editor, Ian Black, speaking about his early days as a foreign correspondent. We meet in the Kings Place canteen at the end of a week in which the terrible events in Paris have dominated the headlines.
The breadth of the Guardian’s coverage (including video, interactives, reader contributions and a live blog) of those atrocities, illustrates just how much things have changed since Black started working for what was then strictly a newspaper 35 years ago. “While journalists have always been expected to respond quickly to events, what we had to do then was nothing compared to the speed and intensity of today’s reporting, the sheer pace that is required, in the wake of internet technology, the mobile phone and social media,” he says.
Black studied history at university, taking a particular interest in the Middle East, and learnt Arabic. His first role at the Guardian was as a sub-editor, then a news reporter, before becoming the paper’s Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem in 1984.
“Then, as now, it was a challenging posting,” he explains. “In effect, you had to report from two different countries, Israel and Palestine, at the same time. It is a minefield for journalists, but it is a fascinating part of the world and it was a great privilege to do that job.” He has vivid memories of covering the Iran-Iraq conflict. “A sort of Middle Eastern version of the first world war, with men praying in trenches, huge artillery barrages and deadly charges through minefields.”
In 1993, Black returned to London, ahead of the signing of the Oslo Accord (the first face-to-face agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation), until then bitter enemies. “Timing is everything in life,” he remarks. “I left my post just a few months before what was a huge moment in the history of that conflict. Mind you, it didn’t turn out very well.”
Back at base, in the role of diplomatic editor, Black continued to write about the Middle East. But, like the rest of Europe in the mid-90s, his main focus was on the break-up of Yugoslavia, the Bosnian war and Britain’s role in it. After that came a four-year stint as European editor in Brussels, where he grappled with the intricacies of the EU. He was called back to London to become a leader writer on foreign affairs. These belong to an elite group of journalists who are responsible for shaping and presenting the Guardian’s collective view in daily editorials.
“We were known as the ‘pipe smokers’,” laughs Black. “Being away from the hurly burly of the newsroom, there was a hint of academia about it. It’s not an easy brief, being responsible for representing the Guardian’s opinion, but the upside is working with smart and well-informed colleagues from whom you can learn a lot.”
In 2007, Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian’s editor at the time, asked him to become the London-based Middle East editor. A few years later, the Arab spring erupted.
Responding to a big breaking story in one country is challenging enough, but what happens when a whole region is in turmoil? “There was revolution in Tunisia and Egypt, armed rebellion in Libya and protests in Syria and Bahrain. They were all different situations, but the common language was a unifying factor, which helped things to move at a pace, with information and images being shared via satellite TV and social media.”
Like all other papers, the Guardian had to improvise. ”We did this pretty successfully,” says Black. “At the time, we didn’t have many correspondents on the ground, but we had stringers in different places and local journalists and bloggers to help. We had an excellent stringer in Damascus who filed vivid reports in difficult and dangerous circumstances. In any conflict situation, having a team that you can trust is paramount.”
Correspondents build relationships with local fixers and interpreters over time and journalists usually help each other out with contacts, putting each other in touch with people who can help. “Local people are often keen to come forward to provide their services as it provides them with a livelihood when things are hard.”
Ironically, at the start of the Arab spring, Syria didn’t attract much attention. Now it’s centre stage in world politics; the situation becomes more complex by the day, stretching news organisations, their journalists and their resources. “In some ways, the most demanding part of the job is to accurately reflect the environment you’re in, to communicate a situation without resorting to stereotyping,” reflects Black. “The biggest challenge is to illustrate, despite the differences between us, how much we actually have in common; that humanity is universal. That’s what challenges you – and moves you – the most as a correspondent abroad.”
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