War reporters risk their lives to deliver news from inside the chaos. Jackie Spinner knows this firsthand. A former reporter for The Washington Post, she delivered front-line coverage for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

While overseas, in the midst of combat, Spinner witnessed hundreds of casualties, and was almost kidnapped by Al Qaeda outside of the Abu Ghraib prison while reporting on the aftermath of the abuse scandal. “I was in danger of being kidnapped or blown up or shot the majority of the time I was in Iraq,” Spinner says. “When a war reporter is embedded with a military unit, you face the same dangers as that unit. No one distinguishes between a soldier and a journalist.”

Spinner is now an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago and a correspondent for the Columbia Journalism Review. Here, she shares five important things she learned during her time as a war reporter.

There is light to be found.

“In the midst of all of the chaos and death […] a baby is born, people fall in love, people get married and go to school and take a breath. There is a lot of life in the most dreadful circumstances of war.”

No story is worth your life.

“Don Graham, the publisher of The Washington Post, told me that when I first went to war. I knew he meant it. Being in a war zone is a risk. But unnecessary risks are just that: unnecessary. Front page glory fades. People forget. You will be forgotten. Remember that.”

Never stop reporting.

“My foreign editor, David Hoffman, told me when I went to Iraq to keep my notebook open. I still do that. There are stories everywhere and someone needs to tell them.”

Danger is relative.

“The threats are different outside of an actual war zone, and [it] depends on the situation. I am overseas right now in Morocco and it’s not dangerous. Gun violence in America is a bigger threat than anything I currently face at the moment.”



Journalism still matters.

“There is no better time to be a journalist. We are needed now more than ever to be watchdogs on behalf of the public, to tell the truth, to hold government accountable. It’s a messy, ugly time. But it’s an important time.”

Thinking about grad school?

The right graduate program at the right time can help push your career to the next level. If you want to take your passion for storytelling and truth-seeking to the next level, check out Columbia College Chicago’s Master of Arts program in Journalism. You’ll learn from award-winning faculty journalists, intern at fast-paced new outlets, and graduate with a robust portfolio that sets you apart in the ever-evolving fields of journalism, digital reporting, and public affairs. Interested in learning more?

Take the next step.