In the Sierra Leone conflict, French war correspondent Patrice Vanoni saw child soldiers maiming people with shocking indifference. They would ask their victims whether they wanted ‘short sleeves’ or ‘long sleeves’ to decide how to chop their hands, he told audience in an interaction, ‘My life as an international reporter and war correspondent,’ at the Alliance Francaise (AF).
The session was moderated by AF director Olivier Litvine.
Mr. Venoni, in a career spanning 30 years, has reported on some of the toughest conflicts and political events. From Iraq and Syria to Africa, he has seen it all. He has worked as a freelance journalist for Le Monde and with several French channels such as TF1, Canal +, I TV and Arte. He has also worked in magazines and radio. In India, he has worked as the audiovisual attaché for the Embassy of France based in Mumbai.
The profession, he admitted, was a tough one, especially for families of journalists. “I have travelled to 105 countries. I was hardly around at home. For me, my work always took priority,” he said.
In another interaction with journalists, Mr. Vanoni said a good ‘fixer’ — one who can arrange for travel across borders — is essential to reporting in war zones. With Arabic having different dialects, Mr. Vanoni used the services of an interpreter to help him.
While on the one hand, competition in war reporting has gotten fierce, on the other, news organisations are getting increasingly unwilling to take the risk and spend money on putting journalists in war zones, said Mr. Vanoni. This has meant increased dependence on local journalists and freelancers. “Almost all the best photographers are freelancers,” he said.
For international journalists, there is also the big risk of getting kidnapped and being held for ransom. Commenting on the recent spate of kidnappings by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) group, Mr. Vanoni said risk had increased not only for journalists but also aid workers. French journalists were kidnapped more frequently because there was a strong expectation that the ransom would be paid, said Mr. Vanoni.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Vanoni spent time with students of the Lycee Francais who had quite a few good questions, he said. “They wanted to know how we decide about what footage to show viewers,” said Mr. Vanoni.