Mann talks about covering the war
Greenwich Lions Club was a great audience
By Ken Tingley
What I noticed most was what Brian Mann was not saying.
Mann, the long-time bureau chief for North Country Public Radio, joined National Public Radio as its national addiction correspondent in 2020, then volunteered to cover the war in Ukraine.
He was 57 years old.
That seemed kind of old to be going to a war zone.
Mann had previously provided front-line coverage of floods, hurricanes and mass shootings, but the Ukraine conflict was taking his journalism to new danger level.
Mann talked to NPR’s Rod Milam last week about his experience in Ukraine.
He talked about the people he worked with, the people he met and the danger he faced, but he never really addressed the why.
“It was something I wanted to cover,” Mann said after taking a question from a listener. “I felt compelled to be part of the story. I’ve always been drawn to big stories.”
Most journalists feel that way. They feel an obligation to be at the front when big stories break, but wars are an entirely different matter. I asked how his family felt about it.
“They don’t like that I went,” he said simply. “They don’t like that I hope to go back.”
For those of us who just watch the coverage on television, being part of that reporting is frightening. Yet, Mann seems to have found what he was looking for in his coverage.
“To watch the way normal Ukraine people would pick up their lives, even in the immediate aftermath of the violence…. Cruise missiles would hit, the air raid sirens would go off. Sometimes you could hear the Russian tanks firing in the distance. And then you would find Ukrainian people out sweeping the sidewalks,” Mann said. “These were moments when I was afraid for my own safety and they would stop and offer a kindness and hospitality. They would say, `Come in for a bowl of borscht.’”
“I feared for my safety many times,” Mann continued. “The entire country is being hit by Russian cruise misses as a daily experience. Sometimes, relaxing outside your hotel, all of sudden a cruise missile would explode over head having been intercepted by Ukraine. That is disconcerting.”
That danger was real.
Mann, who regularly used social media to update his readers about his stories and reporting, made references to a hospital stay in July before finally clarifying he had been injured in a car accident.
At the time, he avoided telling the whole story of how he was injured. Even this past week, he characterized it as a car accident.
This was no fender-bender.
“We were part of a military convoy in the south and we came under surveillance of Russian drones,” Mann explained. “Fearing we were about to come under attack, my driver began driving evasively. My driver lost control and there was a violent crash where I injured my leg and had to be evacuated.”
Mann later tweeted an X-ray of his leg with a line of screws holding the bone together. He says he should make a full recovery.
“ At the end of the day, there are variables you cannot anticipate,” Mann concluded. “I’ve worked in hurricane zones, covered mass shootings. This is part of what I do. I think hard about the mission of the project. Do I think it matters. I feel it is an important thing to do.
“I would like to go back (to Ukraine), but that is up to NPR,” Mann said. “I’m very committed to this story. I fell in love with the Ukrainian people. Their democracy is being tested in a very profound way. I do still have a lot of my heart and mind there.”
But with that comes risk to his physical and mental health that he admits stays with him.
“I don’t numb myself. I really feel these experiences,” Mann said. “Since I’ve been home from the war, I’ve been in counseling which has been part of the process.”
But he hasn’t stop reporting. He returned to covering the opioid crisis, which has not been easy either.
“I’ve lost a lot of sources over time (on the opioid crisis),” Mann said. “Self care, being transparent. I do experience sorrow and depression. There are times I am overwhelmed with what I have seen and have a hard time processing it. I have a great support network. You do not do this by yourself. I accept the sorrow of it, the difficulty of it. I do work hard to see the beauty of it. But I also try to keep in mind the mission. I believe in journalism. I think telling these stories has a profound meaning. That energizes me to keep doing it.”
That’s what makes journalists different, and special.
That’s what you should consider the next time you criticize a reporter. Most have a passion to do the job and get the story right. And some put their life on the line.
Greenwich gathering
Over the past few months I have done close to a dozen events to help promote my new book “The Last American Newspaper.”
The goal of the book was to remind readers of the important mission newspapers fulfill in our communities. It was asking the important question: Who will do the journalism in the future?
On Thursday, more than 50 were on hand for the Greenwich Lions Club holiday dinner. It was a great evening filled with fellowship and conversation about newspapers and journalism. It was clear the audience was not just there for the meal, they were concerned about the future of their communities as well.
The questions were sharp and focused and both Joe Donahue and myself would push back if we felt they conclusions about the media were off base.
When you write a book, this is exactly the type of conversations you hope to inspire. Thanks again to Craig Roods and the rest of the Lions Club for being such a great audience.
Good journalism
A few months ago, The Post-Star and its parent company Lee Enterprises promoted its new public service journalism team.
It promised that the national team would take on local issues for its readers.
This Sunday, they delivered on that promise with an in-depth look at the leadership and realities surrounding the proposed Saratoga Biochar Solutions project in Moreau. The company has proposed taking raw sewage and converting it into usable and safe fertilizer. There has been an enormous amount of local skepticism about the project.
National writer Hayleigh Columbo wrote the main story while Post-Star reporter Jana DeCamilla wrote sidebars asking experts whether the chemical process is feasible and whether the leadership of the company knows what it’s doing.
It is an excellent read, a community service and perhaps the best in-depth journalism the newspaper has produced all year.
Smart appliances
When we bought our last refrigerator, it had this new feature to alert you when you left one of the doors ajar.
The problem is that when you leave the door ajar, it doesn’t chime at you until you have already sat down in the next room. Anyone else notice this problem?
Finally, out of frustration, I blurted out, “If the fridge is so damn smart, why can’t it close its own door?”