While covering the Lebanese elections for the Globe & Mail, reporter Patrick Martin had to obtain media credentials from Hezbollah.
It was at the Hezbollah media relations centre, of all places, that I found myself admitting guiltily that I didn’t have a local press card. Without a government press card, I was told, I couldn’t complete the application for the Hezbollah press card, without which I couldn’t hope to see the people I had sought to interview . . .
At one point while waiting, I told the Interior ministry official that in the many trips I’d made to Lebanon, I had never needed a permit until now. He was surprised. But he was completely bowled over when he heard it was Hezbollah that followed the law and forced me to abide by the regulations.
Which raises a question more associated with red tape than with journalistic ethics and law: Do journalists pay Hezbollah a fee for the terror group's media credentials?
Simply put, reporting from Hezbollah areas requires the organization's permission. It's not just a bureaucratic issue. The credentials allow Hezbollah to throw its weight around, and keep tabs on journalists and the stories they file. So even if money doesn't change hands, journalists registering for a press card are already playing Hezbollah's game.
I'll let Chris Albritton (via Michael Totten, also worth reading) explain the significance of that. He covered the Second War in Lebanon for Time, and wrote on his blog:
Every morning since I’ve been here, I’ve heard the thump-thump sound of the pamphlets being dropped by jets. To the south, along the curve of the coast, Hezbollah is launching Katyushas, but I’m loathe to say too much about them. The Party of God has a copy of every journalist’s passport, and they’ve already hassled a number of us and threatened one.
Journalists working under the constraints of Hezbollah don't typically disclose that information. CNN's Anderson Cooper was a rare and laudable exception.
How many so-called "political parties" issue their own media credentials independent of the state anyway?
