CBS Reporter Lara Logan Brutally Assaulted During Egypt Protests
CBS News just made this news public today:
On Friday February 11, the day Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a “60 Minutes” story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.
In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering.
The statement says this will be the only statement CBS releases about the incident out of respect for Logan’s privacy. Best wishes to Logan for a speedy recovery, physically and emotionally.
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It should be a given that all best thoughts go out to her and her loved ones.
Perhaps the lessons to be taken are that at times these reporters put themselves in some very dangerous situations, and that some of the stylized and sanitized storylines you see need to be taken with a huge grain of salt. The world isn’t as simple as those neatly packaged 30 second TV takes. Remember, many years ago in the first Gulf War, the reporter freaking out trying to get his gas mask on when the alarms went on?
The Wall Street Journal’s article on it has a comment from someone who says that the separation lasted 20-30 minutes and “was not a rape”.
Assuming that’s correct, my guess is that she got punched and kicked around while getting grabbed at by her assaulters. The latter wouldn’t surprise me – I’ve heard stories from US ex-pats about sexual harassment in Cairo.
As I said in the thread about Anderson Cooper’s incident: you can call it bravery or stupidity, but I’m thankful these reporters are out trying to get the story.
I hope she recovers as well as possible.
There is a female reporter here in Chicago who seemed to know her way around the situation who said this is actually the second time Logan had this problem, although much worse this time.
She inferred that Logan’s western (provocative) attire had set her up, and noted that when Andrea Mitchell reports from the region she makes it a point to dress according to local customs.
This was not a “she brought it on herself” commentary, but just that prudence requires accomodation to local practices.
Reporting can be extremely dangerous work.
It does not matter how deep you fall, what matters is how high you bounce back.
We wish u to get well soon
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