From the archives: journalists under fire

This week brought the sad news of the deaths of two journalists — Marie Colvin
and Remi Ochlik — in Syria. As a testament to their bravery, here’s a first-hand insight into the dangers of war reporting written for The Spectator in 1991 by Con Coughlin, who was covering
the Gulf War for the Sunday Telegraph.

Trying to sleep in a gas mask, Con Coughlin, The Spectator, 26 January 1991


Con Coughlin in Saudi Arabia explains how journalists survive Saddam’s Scuds

Thanks to Saddam Hussein and his Scud missile batteries, our lives are dictated by the wail of air raid sirens. For the thousand or so journalists who have congregated from every corner of the
globe to witness Saddam’s Gulf Armageddon, the outbreak of hostilities was heralded by the then unfamiliar wailing of sirens at the large American air base in eastern Saudi Arabia we must not
identify for fear of tipping off the Iraqis as to what the allies are up to.