When she arrived in Iraq in May 2004 as the most junior member of the Washington Post bureau staff, Jackie Spinner entered a war zone where traditional reporting had become impossible. In her new book, "Tell Them I Didn't Cry: A Young Journalist's Story of Joy, Loss, and Survival in Iraq," Spinner reveals the challenges of reporting news when danger and fear accompany journalists everywhere.
Spinner will talk at DukeUniversity at 4 p.m. April 6 about her experiences in Iraq. The talk, in classroom 04 at the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the DeWittWallaceCenter for Media and Democracy at Duke.
From her first day on the job, when she dodges an angry mob and is shut out of Baghdad's safe Green Zone, Spinner describes in her book the difficulties of being a woman in a country where women are not free, and being a reporter in a place where journalists themselves are targets. She talks about learning to cope with mortars, car bombs, body guards and flak jackets as well as her disillusionment at the negative responses from Post readers in the States.
Spinner also describes in her book life-changing events, such as barely escaping a kidnapping and being embedded with a Marine unit, and personal stories of people she meets and places she visits, of warm friendships with the Iraqi staff who became a family to her, and of internal conflicts, such as being torn about whether to return to the United States for her grandmother's funeral. "Tell Them I Didn't Cry" also features brief vignettes from Spinner's twin sister, Jenny, that offer a window into families waiting and worrying at home.
Spinner has been a staff writer for The Washington Post since May 1995. She was a co-winner of the 2005 Distinguished International Reporting award from the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild.