Iraq has a brand spanking new American journalist in its sordid midst and she isn't what you would expect to see hanging around the Green Zone. The 64 year old Jane Stillwater has been blogging for more than three years now and has left her home on the west coast to report the news as an 'average person' describing events to people like herself (i.e. the rest of us).
From IslamOnline:
Tired of getting news from TV reporters who fly first-class and produce more of photo-ops, Stillwater survived on peanut-butter sandwiches for a whole year to afford a trip for Iraq.
The Internet-savvy hippy grandmother came with the simple hope of getting the very facts of war for "real people."
In addition to flying to the war zone at her own expense she had to find a sponsoring media outlet to be eligible for embedment with the US troops.
Although Jane won't be able to explore outside the Green Zone, she has come a long way to write in a way that most journalists in Iraq never will. Her reports can be found on her own blog and also by the paper that gave her press credentials, the Lone Star Iconoclast in Texas. She made it there by saving her money, then once getting credentials took a military flight to Kuwait and finally made it into Baghdad. She isn't going to be there for long, so make sure you check out what she was to say while she is there. Godspeed Ms. Stillwater!
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