When news is often confined to sound bites and brief backgrounders, some of the best stories behind the scene go largely untold.
In his new book, Beyond the Front Line, 3 News anchor Mike McRoberts expands on the events that have taken him to many of the world's war zones and disaster areas, and gives an insightful account of his experiences-the warfare, the devastation, the sadness, the humour in surprising places, and the fascinating cast of extras he meets along the way.
One of McRoberts' first foreign assignments was covering the American air strikes on Afghanistan—the beginning of US retaliation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. At the end of September 2001, McRoberts flew to Islamabad, where many journalists and camera crews were already based.
It would have been easier and a great deal safer to have stayed there with them, and file stories from the roof of the hotel. But, as Mike says, he was there to provide something the other networks couldn't, and that meant getting in amongst it to find the unexpected stories, a practice he continues to adhere to on all international assignments. From the Taliban rally and the burning of the American flag, the refugee camps, and the infamous Darra arms market—where, he was told, craftsmen could reproduce any sort of weapon from pistols to anti-aircraft guns—and the massive riot that followed soon after the first American strike, McRoberts' reportage of the events was news-breaking and right-on-the-mark.
Since then, McRoberts has become 3 News' man on the spot for many of the world's biggest events, including the Iraq War, Lebanon, Gaza, post election Zimbabwe and the earthquakes in Haiti and China. Amongst all the assignments, he rates the months he spent in Baghdad in 2005 covering the first Iraqi elections as the most dangerous. From the 'corkscrew' dive of the jet from 15,000 feet down to the Baghdad airport, the 10-mile journey into the town on a stretch of road renowned for ambushes, the constant awareness that at any stage a car-bomb could detonate, and the American military that tended to shoot first and ask questions later, the stakes were high.
McRoberts is held in high esteem amongst his peers and has won numerous awards for his work. He appreciates his television audience and strives to tell the stories as honestly and accurately as possible.
He has, however, come under some flak from media commentators for 'stepping in' to some of the stories he's covered. He was criticized for taking a five-year-old girl, who had lost her family and home in the Haiti earthquake, to hospital for some life-saving medical treatment while he was reporting the aftermath.
Questions have been raised, too, about the worth of a network using the same journalist to travel to, and report from various international events. In his book, McRoberts takes the opportunity to respond to these critics. He says that a decade of reporting on some of the world's biggest stories has given him the confidence and an accumulated wealth of experience to perform in the most challenging circumstances. On the subject of ethics, he explains that he has no regrets; he approaches stories such as Haiti as a human first, and a journalist second.
McRoberts is often asked how he remains dispassionately objective when he sees destruction and civilian loss of life on a scale such as he saw in Haret Hreik, Lebanon. 'The short answer is you can't be dispassionate or objective, otherwise you wouldn't be human,' he says. 'But, I believe as a reporter you have to check yourself and continually scrutinize your work and strive to be fair.'
Early this year, McRoberts found himself covering another natural disaster, this time much closer to home.
'While it is true I have witnessed some horrific things, and seen first-hand the tragic consequences that devastations-manmade or otherwise-can wreak on a population, I have found it relatively easy to keep separate home life and such events. The simple truth is that "those things" happen overseas, not at home; and, more often than not, New Zealand couldn't be further away from it. This tidy theory, however, came crashing down just after midday on Tuesday 22nd February with the 6.3 magnitude Christchurch earthquake, and it was happening in the city I grew up in.'
McRoberts describes the initial hours of tracking missing family members and the days of reporting from the devastated city as gut wrenching and intimate. It brought an entirely new dimension to his reporting career.
Mike McRoberts' Beyond the Front Line is a reflective and honest dialogue about the process of reporting and stories behind the scenes—the ones you don't get to see or hear about on the television—from a reporter who has seen more in a decade that one person might see in a lifetime.
MIKE MCROBERTS: BEYOND THE FRONT LINE
NZ RELEASE - OCTOBER 2011 |HARPER COLLINS - NZ RRP $39.99 |
16pp photo insert
In his new book, Beyond the Front Line, 3 News anchor Mike McRoberts expands on the events that have taken him to many of the world's war zones and disaster areas, and gives an insightful account of his experiences-the warfare, the devastation, the sadness, the humour in surprising places, and the fascinating cast of extras he meets along the way.One of McRoberts' first foreign assignments was covering the American air strikes on Afghanistan—the beginning of US retaliation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. At the end of September 2001, McRoberts flew to Islamabad, where many journalists and camera crews were already based.
It would have been easier and a great deal safer to have stayed there with them, and file stories from the roof of the hotel. But, as Mike says, he was there to provide something the other networks couldn't, and that meant getting in amongst it to find the unexpected stories, a practice he continues to adhere to on all international assignments. From the Taliban rally and the burning of the American flag, the refugee camps, and the infamous Darra arms market—where, he was told, craftsmen could reproduce any sort of weapon from pistols to anti-aircraft guns—and the massive riot that followed soon after the first American strike, McRoberts' reportage of the events was news-breaking and right-on-the-mark.
Since then, McRoberts has become 3 News' man on the spot for many of the world's biggest events, including the Iraq War, Lebanon, Gaza, post election Zimbabwe and the earthquakes in Haiti and China. Amongst all the assignments, he rates the months he spent in Baghdad in 2005 covering the first Iraqi elections as the most dangerous. From the 'corkscrew' dive of the jet from 15,000 feet down to the Baghdad airport, the 10-mile journey into the town on a stretch of road renowned for ambushes, the constant awareness that at any stage a car-bomb could detonate, and the American military that tended to shoot first and ask questions later, the stakes were high.
McRoberts is held in high esteem amongst his peers and has won numerous awards for his work. He appreciates his television audience and strives to tell the stories as honestly and accurately as possible.
He has, however, come under some flak from media commentators for 'stepping in' to some of the stories he's covered. He was criticized for taking a five-year-old girl, who had lost her family and home in the Haiti earthquake, to hospital for some life-saving medical treatment while he was reporting the aftermath.
Questions have been raised, too, about the worth of a network using the same journalist to travel to, and report from various international events. In his book, McRoberts takes the opportunity to respond to these critics. He says that a decade of reporting on some of the world's biggest stories has given him the confidence and an accumulated wealth of experience to perform in the most challenging circumstances. On the subject of ethics, he explains that he has no regrets; he approaches stories such as Haiti as a human first, and a journalist second.
McRoberts is often asked how he remains dispassionately objective when he sees destruction and civilian loss of life on a scale such as he saw in Haret Hreik, Lebanon. 'The short answer is you can't be dispassionate or objective, otherwise you wouldn't be human,' he says. 'But, I believe as a reporter you have to check yourself and continually scrutinize your work and strive to be fair.'
Early this year, McRoberts found himself covering another natural disaster, this time much closer to home.
'While it is true I have witnessed some horrific things, and seen first-hand the tragic consequences that devastations-manmade or otherwise-can wreak on a population, I have found it relatively easy to keep separate home life and such events. The simple truth is that "those things" happen overseas, not at home; and, more often than not, New Zealand couldn't be further away from it. This tidy theory, however, came crashing down just after midday on Tuesday 22nd February with the 6.3 magnitude Christchurch earthquake, and it was happening in the city I grew up in.'
McRoberts describes the initial hours of tracking missing family members and the days of reporting from the devastated city as gut wrenching and intimate. It brought an entirely new dimension to his reporting career.
Mike McRoberts' Beyond the Front Line is a reflective and honest dialogue about the process of reporting and stories behind the scenes—the ones you don't get to see or hear about on the television—from a reporter who has seen more in a decade that one person might see in a lifetime.
MIKE MCROBERTS: BEYOND THE FRONT LINE
NZ RELEASE - OCTOBER 2011 |HARPER COLLINS - NZ RRP $39.99 |
16pp photo insert
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