Dangerous Lives: War and the Men and Women Who Report It [Hardcover]

"This book will help [media] understand it’s quite normal for some of us to be affected by what we cover. No longer do we have to suffer in silence." -- Chris Cramer, President, CNN International Networks

“…a humane and absorbing account of a phenomenon that affects not only hundreds of lives, but the news we read and watch.” -- Maclean's, November 17, 2003

In January 2002, the world watched in horror as photographs of Daniel Pearl with a gun to his head flashed across television screens. When the "Wall Street Journal" reporter's body was discovered a short time later, he joined the growing list of people who have lost their lives trying to cover the news in volatile war zones such as Bosnia, Chechnya, Africa, and the Middle East. War is brutal and indiscriminate, and journalists who cover it are routinely exposed to horrors most of us cannot even imagine. To make matters worse, they now must worry about being targeted because of the nature of their work. What is the psychological impact of a life spent immersed in conflict? What effect does their work have on their relationships with friends, spouses, and children? Dr. Anthony Feinstein, a world-renowned neuropyschiatrist, initiated the first-ever study of the effects of trauma on war journalists, interviewing dozens of the world's most accomplished correspondents. As the world descends into further conflict, this important book reveals the costs of living such dangerous lives.

News. We are inundated with it and it can sometimes be disturbingly graphic. As the saying goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” What is the psychological impact of those visuals? What about on the reporters and photographers who cover it live – how does being immersed in such conflict affect them? How do they deal with it? And how might it influence the quality of news they report? Anthony Feinstein, a Canadian neuropsychiatrist who travels the world to counsel CNN’s front-line journalists, asserts that psychological trauma on war correspondents does indeed affect the news. It is one of several important issues he explores in his groundbreaking new book, DANGEROUS LIVES: WAR AND THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO REPORT IT (Thomas Allen Publishers, October 18, 2003) – the only book available to objectively investigate how emotional distress affects the men and women who bring us international news. Featuring incisive analysis combined with poignant personal anecdotes from the world’s most courageous foreign correspondents, DANGEROUS LIVES presents an in-depth study of journalists’ psychological responses to war and confronting hazardous situations. Subjects include: * coping with the psychological impact of conflict as well as physical danger * what motivates journalists to take such extraordinary risks in pursuing their work (i.e. “adrenaline junkies” vs. those in “pursuit of the truth”) * the guilt of leaving the war zone and its victims for the safety and comfort of home * shock, re-adjusting to life at home, and maintaining personal relationships * depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) * how reporters dealt emotionally with the attacks of September 11, 2001

Compelling, affecting and original, DANGEROUS LIVES addresses an important, unexplored area of war journalism. At a time when the media themselves are being targeted for violence, Feinstein’s book is essential reading not only for the media themselves, but for anyone who consumes the news.

A Brief Q&A with Anthony Feinstein:

Q – How did the idea for your book originate? From an interesting clinical problem: a journalist who was a patient of mine

Q – How much research and travel was involved? Study was funded by a foundation in the USA (Freedom Forum) and involved travel to New York, London, Barcelona, Madrid, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Windhoek (Namibia), Paris and Kampala (Uganda). The subject of my research was 140 journalists who focused on war reporting/filming.

Q – What are your avocations and interests? In an earlier life I played the violin professionally. I collect Paganiniaina. I have an interest in military history, in particular military psychiatry. I also work for CNN on a retainer, traveling to various part of the world if necessary to meet journalists who may need psychological assistance.

In January 2002, the world watched in horror as photographs of Daniel Pearl with a gun to his head flashed across television screens. When the Wall Street Journal reporter’s body was discovered a short time later, he joined the growing list of people who have lost their lives trying to cover the news in volatile war zones such as Bosnia, Chechnya, Africa, and the Middle East. War is brutal and indiscriminate, and journalists who cover it are routinely exposed to horrors most of us cannot even imagine. To make matters worse, they now must worry about being targeted because of the nature of their work. What is the psychological impact of a life spent immersed in conflict? What effect does their work have on their relationships with friends, spouses, and children? How do journalists cope as they witness the daily horrors of war through a lens, then step out of the conflict and back into their own lives, if they haven’t already been imprisoned or wounded on the front lines? Dr. Anthony Feinstein, a world-renowned neuropsychiatrist, initiated the first-ever study of the effects of trauma on war journalists, interviewing dozens of the world’s most accomplished correspondents. The results are disturbing. Though these journalists have survived the battlefield, some become casualties nonetheless, suffering from a variety of psychological ailments, especially Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, alcoholism, and depression. In frank discussions with some of the world’s leading war journalists, Feinstein exposes the tenuous psyches of these women and men at the tip of the spear. Bosnia, South Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq—as the world descends into further conflict, this important book reveals the costs of living such dangerous lives.

Dr. Anthony Feinstein is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a neuropsychiatrist at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. He is an expert on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in war journalists. Feinstein received a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship to pursue his research.

Anna Maria Tremonti joins The Current after two years as a correspondent and host on CBC TV's flagship investigative program "the fifth estate". She has spent much of her career roaming the country and the world for the CBC. Between 1991 and 2000 Anna Maria filed regular news and documentary reports for CBC Television from a rotating cast of international home bases: Berlin, London, Jerusalem, and Washington. She has covered conflict and crisis in more than 30 countries, providing the CBC with eyewitness accounts of the war in Bosnia, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the break-up of the Soviet Union.

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Anna Maria’s career began in radio. She joined CBC as host of the morning radio program in Fredericton, New Brunswick, then moved to Edmonton to work as a legislative reporter. She followed this with a four year stint in the nation’s capital, pursuing political high-jinx on Parliament Hill.

For her work as a journalist Anna Maria has won two Gemini awards, and an outstanding achievement award from Toronto Women in Film and Television. She also received an honourary doctorate from the University of Windsor, the very school where she completed her undergrad. She has behind her a string of partially learned languages—French, German and Arabic—which she uses to great and mysterious effect while lounging on the decks of international ocean liners.

The Current marks a happy return to her radio roots. Anna Maria Tremonti profoundly hopes not to have to book a moving van any time soon.