Wednesday, 19 December 2012

Richard Engel, Superman

I'm relieved to hear that NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel and his team are safe after being kidnapped and held for five days in Syria:


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Engel's ordeal reminded me of his theory about the four stages of stress a reporter goes through while covering war zones, outlined in his book War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq:
  • Stage One: I'm invincible. Nothing can hurt me. I'm Superman.
  • Stage Two: What I'm doing is dangerous. I might get hurt over here. I'd better be careful.
  • Stage Three: What I'm doing is really dangerous. I am probably going to get hurt over here no matter how careful I am. Math and probability and time are working against me.
  • Stage Four: I have been here too long. I am going to die over here. It is just a matter of time. I've played the game too long.
It's not time just yet, thank goodness. Welcome back, Richard.

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