Leila Fadel, McClatchy's Baghdad bureau chief, is evidently returning to Baghdad this week with some new issues facing her. (On 9/29/07 she blogged that she would be leaving Iraq for one month.)Her first challenge is figuring out what to do with the newest reporter in the bureau, Bobby Caina Calvan. Calvan created an internet firestorm last week after making condescending remarks to a US soldier at a checkpoint then bragging about it on his blog. He hasn't been heard from in several days. His last post said he was "on assignment."
Two weeks ago, another McClatchy reporter in Baghdad, Jay Price, got alot of attention after he wrote an article about the plight of underemployed cemetery workers in Baghdad. The article was entitled, "As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch." This article was widely panned in the blogosphere. Nothing by Jay Price has been published on McClatchy's Iraq web page since then.
Fadel herself gave a speech 10/12 to a convention of professional women journalists. In the speech, Fadel complained about how hard her job in Baghdad, and she told the audience she often wonders if it is worth it. The audience gave her a standing ovation. I thought her remarks were an embarassment.
Since she has been gone, McClatchy's credibilty has taken a beating. Over the past month I have complained that McClatchy has done a horrible job of informing readers what is happening in Iraq. (How many more Blackwater stories can McCatchy readers stomach?)
We'll see if she is up to the challenge.
