Reporter's Notebook

As the BP oil disaster unfolded, tens of thousands of people from all over the world signed up to volunteer in the Gulf of Mexico. But opportunities were scarce. Much of the clean-up was restricted to full-time workers with special training and professionals with wildlife experience. But some found ways to help the coastline, even if it wasn’t directly related to the oil spill. FSRN’S Katjusa Cisar signed up with one environmental group to help restore marshes in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. She files this Reporter’s Notebook about her experiences.

Across Africa, pressure on media workers has been increasing. A court in Togo suspended a newspaper after it published an article that linked the president’s brother with drug trafficking. In Somalia, a reporter was stabbed to death recently after leaving his radio station. The 25-year-old was the third journalist killed there this year.

Today, we’ll examine media repression in Rwanda, though the experiences of an FSRN reporter who covered the recent elections in the country. Zack Baddorf files this reporter’s notebook.

By Leigh Ann Caldwell

People cheered as the Tea Party march was billed by one of the speakers as "the largest gathering of American conservatives." Although the crowd insisted 1.5-2 million people attended, the numbers were nowhere near that high. Compared to the inauguration that hosted nearly four million people, it was a small gathering.  I would say estimates quoting 50,000 people would be accurate. Still, these "Patriots" had an air of excitement.

The work that journalists do is often daunting. Take radio reporters, for example: they have to interview a variety of sources, choose the best cuts and write around them in a compelling manner for their audience. From there, they record their own voice before combining all the audio elements into one neat package.
Most reporters have had their equipment die on them at some point – but what happens when you can’t buy a new recorder, because there are no electronic stores in your region? Well, that’s what happened to our Gaza correspondent, Rami Almeghari. When his recorder quit working, FSRN tried to send him a new one – we found out it isn’t that easy to get ship anything into Gaza. In this reporter’s notebook, Almegari describes the trek one digital recorder went through in a long journey.

In Indonesia, the former leaders of Aceh's separatist movement, GAM, are celebrating. The legitimate political party set up by former GAM rebels, Partai Aceh, has secured at least 30 of the 69 provincial parliament seats. The win represents something of a moral victory for the ex GAM leaders, who spent decades fighting the Indonesian military. FSRN's Belinda Lopez has been following the Partai Aceh party, and shares some notes from her.

A string of violent attacks by Republican Army dissidents against British Army personnel and policemen in Northern Ireland in the past two weeks has proven to be the biggest test of the decade-long peace that has held in the province. Yesterday was St Patrick's Day, an inherently political affair in Northern Ireland. FSRN's Don Duncan was there and files this reporter’s notebook.

Pakistan's Swat Valley was once probably most famous for its natural beauty, when hordes of people descended on the region during the summer holiday. But in the last year, extremists have taken full control of the scenic valley, destroying some 180 schools, banning education for girls, and establishing their own courts. Afridai Afridi is our reporter in the region – he's covered stories in an area that Western journalists have been banned from even entering.