Zones of Conflict: Colvin Center Lecture Highlights Challenges of On-Location Journalism

Events unfolding thousands of miles away reverberate around the globe in minutes. During those often-fraught times, society relies on the people on the ground ⎯many of them international correspondents willing to risk their lives ⎯to tell us what's going on, why it matters, and what it may mean for the rest of us.

The Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting, part of the Stony Brook University School of Communication and Journalism, presented the lecture, Zones of Conflict: The Art of Investigative Documentary Filmmaking, before a standing-room-only audience October 8 at the Charles B. Wang Center. Robin Barnwell, a documentary filmmaker and an accomplished cinematographer/director of photography who has worked in the most challenging and hostile environments on the planet, offered attendees a first-hand look at his life and the evolving challenges and dangers the profession is faced with.

"I was going to cover the story of the first Islamic revolution since 9/11," Barnwell said of a 2006 trip to Somalia. "I was nervous because months previous, a Channel 4 journalist was shot dead, and a few months before that, a BBC journalist was also murdered. Mogadishu had become a no-go zone for international journalists. But we forged a relationship with the Islamic Court's new de facto government of Somalia, and we received an invite."

On arrival in Mogadishu, Barnwell was warned about Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, the leader of Al Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated Sunni Islamist militant and terrorist group based in Somalia.

"He was wanted by the CIA and we were told he didn't like westerners and he didn't like us being there and that we should avoid any contact with him," said Barnwell. Making matters worse, Barnwell found out that Ayro would be staying in the same hotel.

Forging a trust with one of the de facto members of the government, and assuring him he was a journalist and not an operative, Barnwell was able to secure unique and valuable access to the Islamic Courts over the next three weeks.

The resulting film, Somalia: Hearts, Minds and Holy War, by Barnwell and Aidan Hartley, provided an eye-opening account of a successful Islamic revolution and the setting up of a new Taliban-style state that threatened the entire horn of Africa. Incredibly, Barnwell even got access to Ayro himself.

"He gave us a trip out to the front line where the Ethiopian army on the other side was preparing to invade," said Barnwell. "In 2008 they invaded and the Islamic Courts were overthrown."

Ayro was killed in an American drone strike not long after.

"I tell you this story not to highlight any personal bravado, but to show how the world has changed for filmmakers and journalists over the course of my career," he said. The access my colleague and I got wouldn't be given today. These organizations have their own media outlets. They don't need the traditional mainstream media to report for them and these organizations wouldn't trust the Western media. We're seeing that in our own countries as the traditional media is challenged by the new independent sources."

Barnwell said he is happiest in the field, reporting first-hand on the ground. "But I've had to adapt over the years because there are lots of countries now where I just can't step foot. The rise of authoritarianism globally and the restrictions on journalists, sadly, even in Western countries, has made it increasingly difficult for us to do our jobs."

One of the biggest challenges in his industry, Barnwell said, is advancing viewers' understanding of the subject and how to tell the story in an exciting, engaging way.

"In 2017 people started going missing in northwest China. By the time I started looking at the story the next year the Chinese government had placed more than a million Muslims in specially built camps," he said. "It was the largest incarceration of an ethnic population since the Second World War. The BBC had been on the ground, but the Chinese government had hindered their coverage. Though their reporting was powerful, it wasn't telling a bigger picture. I thought the larger frame for the documentary was to cover the new form of government that was being developed to control humans through technology, which is called digital authoritarianism."

Barnwell wanted to tell the story of the Uyghurs, but also the bigger story of digital authoritarianism and the export of surveillance technology around the world to repress humans. "That's what I thought would take the journalism forward in this case," he said.

Getting valuable input from local witnesses eager to tell their stories, Barnwell came up with a plan which he was able to execute. The resulting film, Undercover: Inside China's Digital Gulag, won multiple awards and provided vivid insight into how the Chinese government held an estimated million or more Muslims in detention camps without trial.

Throughout the lecture, Barnwell mixed personal stories with compelling video taken from these stories as well as first-hand accounts from Israel and Palestine, and a heartbreaking active story of a Ukrainian girl kidnapped and adopted by a Russian government official. He also discussed the challenges of journalism in an up-to-the-moment digital world, including sourcing, verification, fact-checking, and misinformation.

In the enthusiastic Q & A session that followed, Barnwell described the importance of maintaining relationships and following up on stories.

"These are very powerful relationships and I keep in touch with as many as I can," he said. "These people put their heart and soul to give something stronger to the world by telling their story. We have a responsibility to keep in touch and to understand how their stories have developed."

"Much like Marie Colvin herself, Robin Barnwell puts people at the heart of his investigative storytelling," said Sarah Baxter, director of the Colvin Center. "We're very lucky to have him here and tell us about his extraordinary life and work."

- Robert Emproto