War Update: Journalists Perish in Hotel Bombing

NPR | By Melissa Block

Published April 8, 2003 at 12:00 AM EDT

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Craig Nelson, a reporter for Cox Newspapers, at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad where many reporters are staying. The hotel was attacked today by an American tank, killing two journalists. U.S. officials say journalists are not a target, and the tank was returning fire against a sniper. Nelson says the reporters staying at the hotel thought there would be danger in covering the war from errant bombs, but never thought their hotel would be deliberately targeted.

Melissa Block

As special correspondent and guest host of NPR's news programs, Melissa Block brings her signature combination of warmth and incisive reporting. Her work over the decades has earned her journalism's highest honors, and has made her one of NPR's most familiar and beloved voices.

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