“There is no dignity here, but also no alternative.”

January 26th, 2005

Freelance journalist and videographer Kevin Sites maintains a fascinating and raw blog that truly is the future of the medium. His posts read like a highly personal travel journal while avoiding the self-absorption of so many web logs, especially those produced by other broacasters and journalists. It’s interesting to consume this blog alongside Sites’ reports for NBC Nightly News

In 2004, Sites covered both the Iraq War and the tsunami disaster for NBC. He was the embedded cameraman who taped a U.S. Marine shooting an apparently unarmed insurgent in Fallujah. Sites chose to distribute the footage to the pool feed, as was his responsibility as a pool reporter — but not without some agony. Not surprisingly, he was torn to shreds by critics.

A couple of months later, Sites found himself on vacation in Thailand when the tsunami disaster struck. In his new entry, Sites reports from Aceh Province on the bodies left behind in an unimaginable tragedy.

In Iraq, Sites would photograph soldiers and Iraqis holding a plastic hula girl toy, the kind people mount on their car’s dashboard. It gave tough pictures a soft edge, since most of the people were mildly amused by the toy. The hula girl has disappeared from his Aceh pictures, as there is no amusement to be had. Here’s to her return someday. (All images: Kevin Sites)