NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel was among the journalists who briefed the U.N. Security Council yesterday afternoon, talking about protecting journalists. Engel and his team were kidnapped in Syria last year, and only escaped after a shootout with rebels left their captors dead.
Engel called for the U.N. to offer protections for journalists, according to the AP.
“We’re all bloggers and punks and rebels with cameras. There is absolutely no respect for career journalists anymore,” said Engel, who was kidnapped by pro-regime gunmen in northern Syria and held for five days in Dec. 2012.
AdvertisementEngel told council ambassadors that professional journalists should be recognized, “and just like you in the diplomatic community need protection to be objective, if you want professionals who are also objective, we need protection as well.”