CNN decides to wait for war reporter to heal

Michael Ware has done some amazing reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan but as the years ticked by, you could see the changes in him. At least CNN had someone there all the time but when they failed to understand the need to heal from being exposed to war for so long, they also failed to show they understood what the troops were going through.

Imagine being a solider with PTSD and hearing CNN didn't want their war reporter to have the time he needed to be treated for PTSD and time to heal. That would have delivered the message that a wound like PTSD was less worthy and Ware should just get back to work.

Ware has been with CNN long enough to understand the way they do things, so it's doubtful he misunderstood them. The question is, what turned CNN around? Was it public pressure? Bloggers were really upset over this. What will they learn from this? Will they finally do some really great reporting on PTSD with one of their own trying to heal? Time will tell.

April 30, 2010, 7:03 pm
CNN Is ‘Standing With’ Stressed-Out War Correspondent
By BRIAN STELTER
Michael Ware has spent so much of the past nine years reporting from war zones for Time magazine and CNN that it’s almost like he’s a citizen of Iraq.

That experience, he says, has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. In an interview on Thursday, he said that CNN wanted him back in the field before he felt he was ready and, as a result, he was under the impression that he had been released from his contract. “I required further time off than I think CNN was able to give,” he said.

But there may have been a misunderstanding. On Friday CNN said that Mr. Ware is still employed by the network, disputing an unsourced report on a blog that he was no longer working for the network and that the disorder was a reason.

“We will continue to support him during this time,” the cable news network said in a statement. The network said it was “rightly regarded as an industry leader” in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, and that it offers support services to past and present employees.

Mr. Ware’s agent, Richard Leibner, said, “They are clearly standing with him now.”
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CNN Is Standing With Stressed-Out War Correspondent