Do ‘ordinary Russians’ support the war?

There was a whiteboard in the BBC Baghdad bureau for noting down phrases we hoped to ban from the airwaves. It had nothing to do with political correctness or self-censorship. This was all about self-improvement. The list of words was titled ‘Not Martha Gellhorn’, in honour of the veteran war reporter who wrote so well – especially when compared with us. We were perfectly aware of our shortcomings, though, and strove to do better, with the whiteboard serving as an aide memoire. It helped keep the prose fresh when deadlines were hectic, and when the temptation was to reach for the cliché closest to hand.

We were keen not to put to air reports jammed with ‘rafts of initiatives’ and ‘grim milestones’ with more ‘innocent civilians’ mourning yet more ‘loved ones’. Avoiding cliché was central to the effort of keeping it affecting. It wasn’t simple: the world seemed to have tired of what was happening in the country.