These are not good times for reporters who take their work seriously. Lest our ethnocentric thinking leads us to the false conclusion that only representatives of Western institutions are at risk, this morning Al Jazeera faced the unpleasant task of reporting on the fate of their own staff:
Afghan intelligence services holding two Al Jazeera producers have demanded a copy of a report the pair made two days before their detention.
Al Jazeera was on Tuesday still awaiting information from the authorities about Qais Azimy and Hameedullah Shah, who were detained after being told to report to the country's intelligence headquarters in Kabul two days before.
Their detention follows the broadcast of a report produced by Azimy on Thursday June 11 in Kunduz province of Afghanistan, close to the border with Tajikistan.
In one interview in the report, conducted by Azimy, a Taliban leader said he had hundreds of men under his control and 12 suicide bombers waiting to strike.
'No news'
David Chater, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the capital Kabul, who helped compile the report, said he was trying to find out more information about what was happening to his colleagues.
"We don't know what they are charged with. We don't know when they might be released. We know absolutely nothing," he said.
"Intelligence forces that are holding our two producers ... accuse us of producing something that is unbalanced, with no government representative.
"That is clearly untrue. We interviewed, at the same time, the commander of the German forces in Kunduz, and he put his point across very clearly. That was a balanced report.
"They also accuse us of shooting essentially what is fake material, staged action from the Taliban. Qais Azimy and myself know the difference between fake footage and real footage. We did not," he said.
"It would appear that we are suffering from the fact that we are delivering an uncomfortable and unpalatable truth in our messages.
"So that means, once again, that somebody, somewhere in Kabul and in the government is trying to shoot the messenger."
Report approved
Al Anstey, Al Jazeera English's director of news, said: "We stand by the report filed by David Chater on Thursday June 11 which was produced by Qais Azimy in Kunduz province of Afghanistan.
"We were involved in the commissioning of the piece and approved all elements of the production.
"All stories we air on Al Jazeera English go through the toughest scrutiny and uphold the highest standards of balance and journalistic integrity.
"We would never tolerate any content being "artificially created" for AJE.
"Qais Azimy is a trusted member of our full time staff, and is one of the best journalists in Afghanistan," he said.
I was not surprised to find this account on the Al Jazeera English Web site. Beyond the usual reaction that this sort of thing has become normative, particularly when it involves "an inconvenient truth," I found myself wondering whether I shall see coverage from any other news source. I shall not be surprised if the American media let this one slip through the cracks, but I shall be watching my BBC sources very closely today!
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