CBS news reporter sexually assaulted in Egypt

[LtNOWIS]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0 ... quare.html

Lara Logan assaulted in Egypt

CBS correspondent Lara Logan was assaulted in Tahrir Square, CBS News is now reporting.

"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."

TIME magazine reported on February 3 that Logan was detained and, on February 7, she told Charlie Rose that she was accused of being a spy.

"There was no question after what we were subjected to that we were not safe and were were now targeted," said Logan, adding that that "can very easily get you killed and you better take it seriously."

Still, she told that she was disappointed in herself as a journalist over the episode and upset that she was unable to keep reporting.

"It's very hard for me to be away from this story," said Logan. "I feel in one sense like a failure professionally. I feel like I failed because I didn't deliver and I take that responsibility very seriously. ... Fundamentally it is in my blood to be there and to be on the streets and to be listening to people and to do the best reporting that I can."

"You try to be smart about these things and, yes, I would go back. It would depend entirely on the circumstances."

From the report offered by CBS, Logan soon thereafter returned to Egypt.

Well, this is pretty terrible. I have a lot of respect for Logan for trying to report on Iraq and Afghanistan even when her bosses felt it was of little interest.

[engr]

But this mob was just fighting for their freedom! It is natural that they feel resentment to the representatives of imperialism, like these CBS reporters. Give 'em some break. </sarcasm>

Now, I don't subscribe to the blaming-victim-is-always-always-always-bad theory but the reporter was doing her job which involves going into dangerous places. Saying her being assaulted was her fault makes about as much sense as saying firefighters who got burned in a fire or nurses who got HIV from needle stick deserved it because they knew what they were doing and placed themselves in harm's way. It's not even victim blaming, it's just plain stupid.

[Belial]

Unlocked. Play nice this time.

[mmmcannibalism]

Can we just acknowledge the difference between causal responsibility and moral responsibility so we never have to waste time in a thread about a serious problem on this crap.

Someone can be causally responsible for an event, in this case choosing to go into a potentially dangerous situation makes you causally responsible if something bad happens. This does not mean you are morally responsible, or in other words that you deserved it.

[Thesh]

I don't think either applies to this situation, TBH. It was a celebration and she wasn't expecting to be attacked by a mob. She was also part of a crew that had a security team. No one going into that situation could expect anything like that to happen. It's a horrible thing that happened, and the only people with any sort of responsibility are the people in the mob.

[mmmcannibalism]

I don't think either applies to this situation, TBH. It was a celebration and she wasn't expecting to be attacked by a mob. She was also part of a crew that had a security team. No one going into that situation could expect anything like that to happen. It's a horrible thing that happened, and the only people with any sort of responsibility are the people in the mob.

Agreed, I just wanted to formalize that because its annoying to see the same debate about victim blaming come up when it seems like people screaming past each other.

[Vaniver]

It was a celebration and she wasn't expecting to be attacked by a mob.

A... celebration that mobs ousted the U.S.-supported president?

I am terribly sorry to hear about this, and the personal courage of many journalists continues to amaze me.

[Triangle_Man]

This story is absolutely horrible.

I admire the reporter for having the courage to head into Egypt, especially in this kind of environment.