What to do going forward: CBS reporter sexually assaulted in Egypt

http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/02/15/lara_logan_rape_reaction

 

I was stunned to see the photo of Logan moments before the attack. I know this argument would never fly in the US, but having spent time in Egypt, it's clear that she was very inappropriately dressed. In Cairo, women get harassed for wearing something as seemingly innocuous as a slim fitting shirt with their elbows and collarbone exposed. You do not walk around in a low-cut blouse, makeup and pearls. At night. In winter. In the middle of a pack of rowdy men. In that city. Period. They think she's a prostitute and, horribly, horrendously, treated her as such.

 

This was a terrible thing to happen.

I have one question I haven't found an answer to, and I sense it was a "let's get outta here" self preservation, but this part of the story makes me wonder: "Logan and her security team 'were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration,' according to the CBS statement. There were over 200 people in the mob. In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew."

Where did her "security crew" go? Did they (apparently) lose track of her and leave her in that mob? Not assessing any blame. Lord knows I would have wanted out of there. But were there people there supposed to protect her who left her to be assaulted? I just don't think that part of the story is explained well.

 

Logan was rescued by a group of women. Should those women not have been there because they were women?

 

Thanks for the insights, PC. I'm not sure what to make of this. I don't think it's out of the question that this could happen in the United States amid an angry crowd.

In the 1980s I worked with a reporter who was badly beaten while on assignment. He realized it was a dangerous situation but of course did not predict the severity of what could happen to him. He thought the story was worth the risk.

I've been in two reporting situations in which I was physically afraid. The first was at an ethnic sporting event in which a radical political group phoned in a bomb threat. There were about 5,000 people in a confined outdoor stadium. I was 19 years old and was with a veteran female photographer, who correctly assessed that there probably was no bomb but that our real danger was a stampede if people in the crowd became aware of the exact nature of the problem as the cops did their thing. Perhaps it was inexperience, but the idea of trouble never entered my mind going in. The photog seemed less surprised than I was.

The second time was much later in my career. We were uninvited observers at a very fringe event that we knew could turn ugly and that there was not much we could do about it if something happened. A reporter was threatened as he attemped to interview some people -- I was directly across the street when it happened. He, another editor and I made our way down an alley to my car. We were shaken up. It's one thing to predict danger, it's another to feel it as it unfolds.

 

Here's some context to why Logan was in Egypt, and what happened in the week prior to the attack:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-15/lara-logan-of-cbs-news-attacked-in-egypts-tahrir-square-what-she-faced/

What to do going going forward? I suspect if it's Logan's call, she'll head right back there.

Has Logan grown as a journalist in recent years? I confess to not paying much attention to her after finding a series of her reports, oh, a bit much for my taste.

 

Did she make a poor choice in clothing? I really don't want to put her in a bad light, but we all make bad decisions. Would she have been treated differently if she was wearing different clothes? Should she have been there in the first place?

Maybe yes. Maybe no.

Now the counter...

If Saudi TV (or any Muslim-based network) did a live hookup from Midtown Manhattan on Sept 12th or 13th, 2001 with their reporter wearing their traditional dress, how would they be treated?

Right or wrong, how do you think they would be treated? If that reporter was accosted, is that a good example of America? Would it have been a wise decision to put that reporter there?

 

You should just delete the last post.

 

This is tough for me.

I know its competitive, but the situation is unsafe and as a woman in a country that doesn't afford equal respect to both genders, it makes for a toxic environment.

She was doing her job, but, was what she delivering better than if she reported from somewhere else?

It's a tough call.

As a journalist, would you rather report from the hotel, or, get in the thick of things to provide a first hand account? Both are accurate and truthful, one is more powerful.

But, it's a dangerous situation, doubly so for a women. Her being a women increased her risk level in that crowd. That has to be a part of the equation.

It's just a terrible situation all around. I imagine the editors and her bosses are going to be a lot more reluctant putting a women in that kind of situation again. How could you not be?

 

Why?

The actions of a few should not represent the entire nation.

 

Leave it up if you want, but it's all kinds of dumb, and you're rightly going to get beat up for it.