Bangkok--Jan 14--Francom Asia
Sri Lanka
“I remember seeing one little girl who was probably about 3-4 years old, stiff with rigor mortis and these guys were working hard to shift bodies and bury them. One of these guys picked up this girl’s body by the arm and sort of turned and flung the body into the hole. We weren’t filming any of this at any stage; we were trying to convey the notion of mass graves, the necessity for them and that sort of thing. But I looked at that scene and I saw the cameraman who wasn’t rolling at that time looking at it and a few seconds later, he turned around and our eyes just sort of met for a second. There is nothing you can say. There is nothing that needed to be said about it.”
CNN Anchor/Correspondent Hugh Riminton
Northern Sri Lanka
“I was only here for about an hour or so when the full enormity of this story really hit me. We become a bit numb really to the big picture, the big images. We came across a group of bodies in the distance and from where I stood I could see that they were children - no more than babies really. But somehow these three little kids had hung together and died together and in those moments you stop being a reporter. “Being a reporter just doesn’t cut it anymore. I remember standing there looking at it and I couldn’t help thinking about my own children because I have three little boys of my own. Looking at three little babies with their arms around each other reminded me so much of my own kids. And I started thinking about the little things that matter.”
The tools of our trade, the objectivity and the distance that we need to be able to do our job effectively in most cases desert you.
CNN Correspondent Stan Grant
Thailand
“In terms of moments, covering this story has been unlike anything else I have ever done. Each moment I think is permanent, indelible in my mind. I have never had a situation before where every day I was seeing things of just such obscene tragedy, of incredible inspiration, such visceral emotion. The moments I know that I have seen here are permanent. They are here forever. It’s hard to imagine them going away.”
CNN Correspondent Aneesh Raman
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
“In a situation like this, reporters’ neutrality, I don't know if it even exists. You get so swept up in what is happening and the best you can do is try and maintain your professionalism and remember what you are doing is communicating the story. You could be emotionally affected by it, but you have to make sure you get that story out because that is the one thing that they want the most. And when we visited that hospital in Banda Aceh, surrounded by so many people saying, “Why isn't the world helping us? You have to tell the world to get aid here faster.” That by far was the most overwhelming moment because that is when it hits you that your job isn't just edit a story and put it out that you are helping people, even if you are just telling the world what's going on. These people on the ground, these kids they are relying on you to get the word out.”
CNN Correspondent Atika Schubert
India
“I have covered wars. I have covered situations where I have often feared for my life. In this instance, I don't think I was scared of being killed by some random bullet or being shot at by an insurgent. But the difference here was that you are face to face with people who have lost everything and the suffering is very much in your face at every turn.”
CNN Correspondent Ram Ramgopal
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands
“Most people ask me if it’s hard seeing the bodies, especially the bodies of children. But for me what is hard is seeing the people left behind, those that are mourning the dead. It’s the faces of parents whose children and world are gone. It’s the images of confused children not knowing what comes next. There’s no way of shielding or sheltering the children from the tragedy of what’s happened, and you can see how frightened they are. Above all, it’s the immense dignity of people who have lost every last belonging but are still prepared to talk to us and share their stories.”
CNN Correspondent Suhasini Haidar
Click for photo release at www.thaipr.net End.