User:Crtew/Francesca Borri

Francesca Borri, (1980 – Present), an Italian freelance journalist from Bari,Province of Bari, Italy, who is a female war correspondent covering Syrian Civil War and the Iraq War in the Middle East, as well as Palestinian issues for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. She is notable for being one of the first Italian freelance journalist to personally be in the lines of fire while there to write about the issues taking place.

Personal
Francesca Borri has been a freelance journalist since her days in college. Borri studied at the University of Florence and The University of Pisa. While she spent her time there she majored in Human Rights and International Studies. Borri has spent most of her career in the Middle East covering the wars and bombings of Syrian and Aleppo. Borri does not have a spouse or children. Most of this being because she would not be home, and thus leaving her family wondering if she made it another day alive. She explained this in an excerpt from a story saying that with the three degrees in school, the praise for her books, and much more everything that should have been fun about her twenties was ruined at twenty-three, "when bits of brain splattered on me in Bosnia." Her life has been a constant question of is the amount of money I am getting paid worth my life? Even with the amount of danger she endures everyday Borri continues to write books, and articles giving the readers what they want. An inside look on what is left of Syria and all other countries in the Middle East.

Career
Francesca Borri has written two books Kosovo, and Syrian Dust. Being a freelance journalist is not the easiest job and she explains this in multiple interviews and talks. Borri's job as a freelance journalist is to go out into the field where all the dangerous gun fire, bombs, fights, etc. are taking place and describe what is happening in the city to their editors. For example, during the Syrian Civil War all editors wanted to cover was how much blood shed there was in Syria. Borri did not want this to be the main point of the the articles. She wanted her articles to have meaning in the aspect of explaining what she endured in her fight to stay alive during all of the explosions, gun shots, and bombings that she endured. The level of danger that she places puts her life at each day should be worth hundreds, but when you ask the editors of the freelance journalist they are going to tell you that your life is about $70 per piece written. Borri explained that $70 per piece is nothing, it does not provide you with anything. Coming from an article written Borri explains the difficulty of living in Syria while on a freelancers pay. "For example, sleeping in this rebel base, under mortar fire, on a mattress on the ground, with yellow water that gave me typhoid, costs $50 per night; a car costs $250 per day." This goes the same for wherever you are reporting a story from, each piece will always be worth $70. To the editors of the newspapers, magazines, websites they are all the same type of place with the same incidents happening. When working as a freelancer you must fight others that are in the country trying to get the same stories as you and the next person. The biggest issue is when you are in the center of the war there are often not many places to hide and stay safe because every women, child, and family are trying to stay out of the way. In October of 2012, Borri recalled being in the middle of Aleppo and they had to hurry and find shelter. Every where they went was packed with women and children. When Borri stumbled into an older building that was packed with women and children with absolutely no space left for anyone to get in. There was not even a centimeter of space to move your neck left or right. Borri remembers a kind old man that came out to her and told her, "Your life is more important than mine, because you are a journalist you can tell the world what is actually happening here in Syria.

Notable works of journalism
A few notable works of journalism that Francesca Borri is known for are:
 * Her article that she is continuously writing about Palestinians for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's main newspaper.
 * Her book La Guerra Dentro that was releases in English in 2016.
 * Borri's writing about Kosovo in 2008.
 * Borri's writing about Israel and Palestine in 2010.
 * Borri's most recent one Aleppo in 2016.
 * The Guardian Articles, "In Aleppo I only survive by looking Syrian" written on November 12, 2013.
 * The Guardian Articles, "I want to talk about Syria, not just my role as a freelance journalist" written on July 26, 2013.
 * Borri gave a TED Talk about the struggles of living in the Middle East and the struggle that comes with getting paid, the amount you receive and are told you are going to receive for working. The talk also explained the complexity of the country and how things are ruled and what members of the country go through everyday to just survive and get through the most simplest of times. Borri explains the struggles of living on the streets where gun fire is heard every minute, and every two minutes a sand bomb is going off killing at least 2 people every time while severely injuring others in the area.

Context
Syria has been at war for the past 7 years and is still continuing to battle. The Syrian Civil War has been the main topic of Borri's work due to her being in the main line fire during the war. She has witnessed the horrid events first handedly. Borri has written multiple stories about the battle for the control of Syria. With this she has been able to write many books and articles about the dangers of the civilian lives that are being effected in these wars. From Aleppo, Syrian Dust, Yedioth Ahronoth , La guerra dentro , and many more works that describe the first hand experiences that she has endured. The sight of men, women, and children fighting for their lives everyday not knowing if today is the last day. The adrenaline rush that you get when you hear a sand bomb go off and wonder if you are still alive or if you have died and have yet to realize it. There are many different thoughts and concerns that are running through your body at the same time. Along with the constant fear, the control that the Syrian government has over its refugees is scary to even think that a person could control someone like that. They use them for war and to kill those that do not belong in the war, country, and each of the people that live in the villages spread across Syria. In an article written about Iraq, Borri explains the intensity of the wars and those that are fighting are just trying to survive in them. Borri explains that the biggest issue is anyone can own a gun, but only certain people can purchase them from a store and the store owners will only sell the weapons to those in the armies, police, and other "protectors." The biggest issue with this is, "Nobody is safe. You can check who buys a gun. But you cannot know against whom it will be used."

Impact
The impact that Francesca Borri has put on this world is showing us how horrible being a native of Syria, Aleppo, and many other "Middle Eastern" countries can be. They are at a constant fight for their lives. By her being a part of the culture and explaining in detailed break downs we understand the severity of what those go through in the event. Her books have given us a very life like picture of what is endured every day from open gun fire, to not knowing if you are going to survive another street bombing. You are completely blind to what is going on around you due to the fact that you are used to all of the explosions, and killings. All you can do is hope and pray that you walk a whole other day without ending up with a bullet in your body, or all of your limbs still attached, or better yet about as alive and healthy as you can maintain in this type of environment. She gives people hope in telling the stories of these horrible things happening, she gives them the strength to believe that there are good people out there that are here to help. For example, Borri encountered a struggle where there was no shelter, but a kind old man sacrificed his safety to let her live because he said, "Your life is more important than mine, because you are a journalist you can tell the world what is actually happening here in Syria. These are the kind of people she is doing this for, these are the people that make her feel like her work is worth dying for. To explain what living in the middle of a war zone is like. The hard times that those endure in them. While her impact through journalism is very important her position with the United Nations is even more important. She tries to explain that the United Nation needs to help the people in the Middle East fight this war safely and efficiently, but it is obvious that, "The UN has no impact at all anymore." Being inside a war when it is happening and not knowing if you are going to make it out is hard, on top of that being a freelance journalist where your job is to get all the best information and first hand experience is very extreme for some people and quite frightening. That is what makes Borri different. She knows what needs to be done to get her money to survive. Yes, maybe what she does to get the story is not always the safest, or the best way possible. However, she gets the story and always has a headline for the news paper to keep everyones hopes up with the thought that maybe things will eventually get better in one part of the country, while everything else starts to follow that one growing country. In an article written about Francesca Borri it is explained what it is like in the Middle East. "Wars on wars, for many decades now, civil wars inside each country, or more often exogenous wars, unleashed by the great Western powers against enemies declared unilaterally such, against threats or dangers sometimes invented of total destruction, against fleeting ghosts of new subjects, which are certainly real but appear to be entities. Someone's wars against someone else, and willing alliances, covered at the end by the UN or NATO umbrella, in agreement or with the tacit connivance of the international community."

Awards

 * Francesca Borri won the Letizia Leviti Prize for journalism 2017.
 * In 2017 Borri was nominated for the European Press Prize award.
 * Borri was also chosen to host the PRIO Annual Peace Address on September 13, 2016.

Works

 * La guerra dentro, Bompiani, ISBN 9788858767290
 * Passaggi / [La meridiana], la meridiana, 2008, ISBN 9788861530478
 * Qualcuno con cui parlare: israeliani e palestinesi, Manifestolibri, 2010, ISBN 9788872856505
 * La guerra dentro, Bompiani, May 21, 2014 ISBN 9788845276941, which was translated by Anne Milano Appel and published as Syrian Dust in English in 2016)
 * Tunisia After the Arab Spring, January 3, 2018
 *  Meanwhile, in Syria, Libya, Bosnia, January 2, 2018
 * The War Without Front Lines, June 15, 2017
 * A Landscape of Clashes, July 14, 2017
 * "The Lost Palestine, December 16, 2015
 * Thousand and One Stories, August 20, 2015
 * Baghdad: The Other, The Differences, Dignity, June 17, 2015
 * The Water is so Contaminated That Your Skin Flares Off, April 28,2015