By Dr. Michelle Ferrier with Terrell J. Starr
–Terrell J. Starr, Black Diplomats
“But the main thing you must do is be OK with being afraid. If you aren’t afraid in a war zone, you’re stupid. Fear is normal. You just talk with fellow journalists and work through your feelings with them. “
Can you tell us about some of the attacks that you or your journalist colleagues have faced since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began?
I don’t know of anyone who has been killed in Ukraine, so I have been pretty lucky. I have plenty of friends whose journalist colleagues died while reporting in Ukraine. Mostly Ukrainians, something we don’t discuss enough.
The real risk is trying to get footage of Russian troops, which some journalists have been able to do without incident. Most, though, face automatic fire from Russian troops who don’t care that they are journalists. Two Associated Press photojournalists in Mariupol were capturing so many great and accurate images of what was happening during the first days of war in that city, that the Ukrainian military rescued them for fears of them being captured by Russians who’d use the reporters for propaganda purposes.
As for me, I’ve missed missile strikes by a few hundred meters in places where I was reporting and buildings near me have been hit by Russian strikes.
Most of the risk, if you aren’t on the front (I have not gone, yet), comes from random airstrikes that you pray don’t have your name on them. One of the things about war is that there are a number of ways to report on them besides being near any armed conflict. Some of my best reporting came from covering simple things, such as food stockage at grocery stores or showing people the calm of my neighborhood as fighting is going on just outside of Kyiv until the Ukrainian military ran the Russians off.
What kind of security do you receive as a journalist covering the armed conflict?
It depends on where you work. If you’re at a large, publicly-traded network you are likely provided a private security team, with armored vehicles. A lot of those great shots and footage you see should, of course, be credited to the bravery of the journalist. But it is also possibly true that their security helped secure them as well.
If you are at some big news site, you are likely provided some type of private escort with hostile environment experience. At minimum, you should have a high-grade, bulletproof vest and helmet.
Independent people like me run solo. The best way I secure myself is by only going with territorial defense fighters, like I did at the beginning of the war. I’ve never ventured into hostile environments without some type of military unit that knows the territory and language. Then there is the fact that Ukraine is in a full scale war and no place is truly 100 percent safe.
What are some of the challenges you face while conducting interviews, finding sources or obtaining reliable information in this hostile environment?
For me, sources aren’t an issue because I live in Ukraine and I know who exactly to go to for most of the information I need. Most of my TV reporting was pretty simple: man on the street style. Because I wasn’t reporting from the front where the major fighting took place, I was relatively safe and folks have been incredible kind and friendly when I approached them for questions.
Now, when it comes to reliable information, that can be challenging at times because events are happening in real time. For example, at one scene in which a building was destroyed by Russian missile fire, I could not get any official on scene to talk with me because of the ongoing investigation. So I had to go with what I had. Basically, tell the audience what I am seeing and not go beyond that. It’s a lot of the type of reporting going on. In normal circumstances, you’d like to get confirmed dead, injured and other data. But sometimes it’s not available on the spot.
Have you experienced online, digital harms as a result of your journalism work? How do you navigate as a freelancer in this digital environment?
I honestly can’t say that I’ve experienced any real harm online. The most I get are trolls who dig out old tweets out of context or in context and try to drag me in an attempt to damage my reputation. Over the years, I have learned that this type of attention comes with a large following like mine. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I ignore it.
Who do you turn to when your job takes a toll on your mental health? What measures do you take?
During my time in Ukraine, I spoke with my therapist several times via streaming services to unpack everything that I was experiencing. The sounds of war were the toughest for me. Not the missed airstrikes. The mere sounds of war. Explosions woke me up at 4:30 a.m. Feb. 24 like other folks in Ukraine…and any of them could have hit me.
There were times when I thought I saw Russian soldiers during the first few days of war because my mind got away from me due to the stress of the environment. It took a few days for me to get mentally used to living in a conflict area. Through it all, I talked through it with my friends, who I lived with. By the way, staying with friends and not by myself proved to be a great support system because we were more useful to each other together than apart.
But the main thing you must do is be OK with being afraid. If you aren’t afraid in a war zone, you’re stupid. Fear is normal. You just talk with fellow journalists and work through your feelings with them.
Other than that, the most important thing is not to force yourself to live through environments that make you unproductive. Not everyone is cut out to report in conflict areas. If you realize that this type of work isn’t for you, it’s OK to call it quits and go home. No honor is lost if you do. I learned in the first week that I could do this type of reporting. You can’t be taught to be a war reporter. You either have it in you or you don’t.
Knowing when something isn’t for you is also caring for your mental health.
There were some cases where media crews and communications infrastructure were targeted, in your opinion are journalists being singled out for specific reasons?
Russia has been especially indiscriminate in its attacks on civilians, so I am sure they don’t care about journalists. Of course, we are being targeted. The reason: Russia’s military doesn’t care who they kill. Russia is one of the world leaders when it comes to journalists killed in the line of doing their work–in Russia. That Russian troops would target them abroad isn’t that much of a stretch.
Since the war began five journalists have been killed and nine have been injured by gunfire, missiles or artillery fire – what safety precautions are you taking for reporting on the ground?
The basics: no story is worth your life and if you see danger, move away from it as safely as possible. Also, where your vest and helmet if you are in a conflict area.
Generally, I never go anywhere very dangerous without being connected to some military unit, be it professional or volunteer army, or government employees. It sounds counterintuitive, but it is my belief that going in with people who are fighters or medical personnel provides better protection than going in a civilian car fishing for content alone.
If you can take a hostile environment course (they are very expensive), take one.
Dr. Michelle Ferrier is the founder of TrollBusters. She can be reached at report(at)troll-busters(dot)com.
TrollBusters offers a series of mindfulness and self-care videos and practices to help journalists stay safe online and off.
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