CBC reporter Derek Stoffel provided an vivid look at what it’s like to work as a reporter in Afghanistan last night on Dispatches. Stoffel described how the Canadian base is frequently targeted by rockets attacks and how Canadian news organization have started to pull back from their coverage.

The last week we’ve had 8 rocket attacks here on this base. But what’s different is how good the bad guys are getting at hitting things, or nearly hitting things. I can’t talk about locations where the rockets hit, but all I can say is that, one of these rockets came very close to the crew that I’m working with here one day… This is the most heavily fortified place in Afghanistan, no doubt about that, but that hasn’t stopped the insurgents from firing rockets and getting very close. Just a week ago eight Bulgarians were injured in a rocket attack, we hear about this Canadian optimism, that we’re going to break the back of the Taliban, but they’re still able to fire rockets onto this base whenever they please.

Stoffel also described how news organizations have pulled back after Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang and four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in December.

We were here about a week after the four soldiers and the journalist were killed. There has been a lot of discussion around the editorial news rooms back in Canada; my sense is that’s impacted, that’s affected us more. The editors have sort of pulled back more than the military. After you’ve been here a week on this base, the first thing you want to do, is get off this base. Because the story is not here. It’s not about airplanes and tanks and soldiers arriving, it’s out in Kandahar City or Panjwaii district or Dand district. We want to get out there and tell the stories but there has been some pullback from the Canadian side of the operations.

Stoffel was interviewed by Rick McInnes Ray, the full interview is available on the Dispatches site here.

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