May 9, 2007
Anthony Mitchell
My friend Anthony Mitchell was one of 114 people who died when Kenya Airways flight KQ507 crashed in southern Cameroon early on Saturday May 5.
I'm writing this so late in the day because we were away out of mobile contact when it happened and only heard the news on the road. Now that we're back, it is hard to find anything coherent to say.
Ethiopia's bloggers have already been piling in the tributes. Seminawork was right to say that Anthony was the best foreign correspondent that Ethiopia has had for years, certainly since we first arrived in the country.
Les Neuhaus, who replaced Anthony as AP's correspondent here after Anthony was thrown out by the government, wrote "Anthony Mitchell made me a better reporter" in a comment after Seminawork's post. I can say the same.
The Ethiopian Foreign Correspondents Association last night finalised a letter to his family which said "Anthony led our press corps with integrity, fearlessness and a raucous spirit".
Here is the full statement from his family that sums him up perfectly:
From Catherine Fitzgibbon, Anthony's wife, his sister Jackie Jotischky and parents John and Jackie Mitchell:'We are all devastated, Anthony was a fantastic father, husband and son. He was the life and soul of every party with a wonderful dry wit and a great sense of humour. He lived life to the full and died doing the job he loved.
'He was a brilliant, intrepid journalist, who was committed to Africa. He developed a real passion for Ethiopia, where he worked for several years, before his persistent exposures of the government's abuse of human rights resulted in him being expelled by the government and we moved to Kenya. But where ever he has worked in the world he has made new friends and earned respect for acts of personal kindness and his professional integrity.
'Anthony also had a very gentle, caring side; he was devoted to his family and our two gorgeous children Tom, three, and Rose, one.'
There are so many images and memories that are crowding in at the moment.
Perhaps the most vivid is taking shelter from torrential rain in a guard's hut outside Addis City Hall on the morning of June 8 2005, the worst day of the first burst of post-election violence. We took turns wearing a big laminated 'press' badge from the Great Ethiopian Run to venture outside to see what was going on. A group of around 50 street boys charged up the road chanting, smiling, waving stones. A truck load of heavily-armed red-beret-wearing special forces sped past the other way into the Mercato. There was a long burst of heavy gunfire in the distance. About 20 minutes later, the soldiers sped back again in their truck, their job done.
It was the first time I had covered anything so big or so violent. But Anthony knew exactly what he was doing, getting close enough to report on what was happening without risking our own necks. He showed huge concern for the reporters around him and knew when to back off when it looked like our presence, with visible cameras and notebooks, was creating its own reaction from the crowd.
Later that morning, he got everyone to pile into a car and head to the Black Lion hospital to try to talk to survivors. On the way, he made a phone call to get the first estimate of the death-count – then less than 20. We all got in past the guards and spent about an hour watching the doctors doing their best to save the wounded in the wards and seeing the bodies pile up in the morgue.
His coverage of the rest of the election unrest followed a similar pattern. Official spokespeople were offering up their official, rather modest estimates of the numbers of dead and injured. Anthony spent hours touring hospitals, interviewing doctors and visiting morgues to get as close as possible to an accurate casualty list, confirmed by eye-witnesses.
It is arguable that without the credible figures and eye-witness accounts that Anthony collected, the overall coverage of the violence would have been much more muted. The international condemnation would have been much quieter – a knee-jerk reaction to one more bout of unrest in one more distant African country. There would have been significantly less pressure on international donors to change the terms of their support to the government of Ethiopia. There would have been significantly less pressure on the Ethiopian government to launch an independent inquiry into the violence. It was no surprise when that inquiry finally issued its report in October last year, it was Anthony who got the scoop on the findings, a whole day ahead of everyone else, even though he had to do his reporting from faraway Nairobi.
There are loads of other stories about his generous and kind and raucous sides, as well as his integrity as a journalist.
I remember sitting up late on the roof of the Africa Hotel in Axum with my wife Amber, Anthony, AP photographer Boris Heger and AFP reporter Lea-Lisa Westerhoff, as we waited for Italy to return its obelisk. Then there were the loud, drink-fueled arguments during the Friday night sessions at Addis Ababa's Old Milk House.
There was the last major story I covered with him before he was thrown out of Ethiopia - the drought that hit the Somali region late 2005, early 2006. It is often difficult to get foreign news editors interested in stories about yet another Ethiopian humanitarian disaster. Even local papers rarely put them anywhere near the front page. But Anthony managed to cut through all that cynicism and compassion fatigue with a story about two twins – one of them suffering from severe acute malnutrition – in the therapeutic feeding centre in Gode hospital.
As I said at the time, it was ironic that one day he was busy highlighting the plight of starving children in Ethiopia, the next he was being kicked out of the country for writing stories that were "hostile" to Ethiopia.
According to the Ethiopian News Agency, he was guilty of "tarnishing the image of the nation", "repeatedly contravening journalism ethics", "disseminating information far from the truth about Ethiopia" and, once again for luck, "[disseminating] information bent on tarnishing the image of the country". The truth was that he was simply too good at asking questions of people in authority. In the end they got so tired of his impertinent, targeted questions that they used the first possible opportunity to get rid of him, giving him 24 hours to leave the country – thereby accidentally giving him the greatest tribute a journalist could hope for.
The evening before he left, I phoned him to see if he wanted me to get people together for one last drink. He said no – that he would prefer to spend the time with his family. I didn't see him again although Amber had dinner with them in Nairobi a few months back and we planned to visit them quite soon.
It is difficult to think of a note to end on. Anthony would have found any attempt at sentimentality or grand-sounding sentiment ridiculous. The best I can say it that he was a very good man and a very good journalist. And to state the obvious - that everyone who knew him in Addis Ababa is absolutely devastated today.
Posted by aheavens at May 9, 2007 6:15 AM
Comments
I remember my first encounter with Anthony [probably one of his first press conferences in Addis] it was on one of those UNMEE press briefing encounters as usual the people would read out their usual carefully worded report with little indication of any troubles they have had. Anthony came introduced himself read through the copy of the report and kept gnawing at the people, it was fun and encouraged others to also push for more info about a certain mine accident and other details. what I will never forget is when he keeps nibbling on his pen at press conferences I always wondered what kind of bomb he would land.
Posted by: menyelenal at May 9, 2007 9:25 AM
What a loss! Condolences to his family and friends.
Posted by: Yemi at May 9, 2007 10:46 AM
Our hearts go out to his family. We never knew him personally, but he sure knew Ethiopia and wrote about us quite well.
“There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil – remain detached from the great.” ~ Walter Lippman (American journalist, 1889-1974)
Posted by: weblogethiopia at May 9, 2007 2:16 PM
All of us in Addis who knew him are very very sad. A great journalist, he will be very much missed. Our condolences to his family and friends. May God rest his soul in peace. We will pray for him at our church.
Posted by: very sad at May 9, 2007 4:36 PM
My condolences to Anthony's family and friends.
Posted by: Mamitu at May 9, 2007 6:16 PM
I am sorry to hear about your friend Andrew. May he rest in peace.
Posted by: eritus at May 9, 2007 7:00 PM
You are talking too much nonsense.He wasn't kicked out for asking important questions and reporting the truth. He was kicked out for not doing his job impartially. He was in Ethiopia for a mission to help the CUD junta being elected and misinforming the world about what they were doing to come to power.
It is a good news for me personally he is gone forever. He was useless and hope you won't follow his path of disinformation. If you do your job(reporting what you seen) without any manipulation and bias, Ethiopia welcomes you if not you will be kiicked out too.
What he (the deceased) didn't know was there was a limit for everything. He didn't know that no one can be a master for Ethiopia. He can behave as a white master anywhere except in Ethiopia.
As an AP reporter, he could have reported a lot about Ethiopia but he was a polarizing reporter who uses journalism as a disguise to misreport news and to express his hatered or dislike of the present Governemnt.
Finally, he is gone and may god rest his soul in peace.We don't need to talks.
Posted by: yohannes at May 9, 2007 7:16 PM
Dear Andrew,
I don't know why the best have to leave us first. Anthony was quite good at what he does. We appreciate all he had done for Ethiopia.
Our thoughts are with you, Anthony's colleagues and friends, and his young family. God Bless.
Posted by: SF at May 9, 2007 8:44 PM
May his soul rest in peace
Even though it is not the time to criticise his lope sided reporting about the country, and negative portrayal of the system, indeed he was courgous enough in his proffession.
I convey my Condolence to his young family.
May god give them the strength in these moment of sorrow.
Posted by: lencho at May 9, 2007 10:17 PM
This is a great loss not only to Ethiopia but also to the world and to his family. but why do you have to politicize it?? why do you have to bring this politics and his advocacy journalism gone wrong to this?? why??
dear andrew,yes you just report what you see, but just like many of us ethiopians who voted for the current ruling party-this is what the Irish committee said about the 2005 election:
""The committee heard that the situation in Ethopia had not been helped by inaccurate leaks from the EU election monitoring body which led the opposition to wrongly believe they had been cheated of victory. ""
please re-read the above quote again.
so now, we have, the "inaccurate leak" that led to the anger of one party>>>that led to the riots>>>that led to a failed/weak orange revolution>>>that led to the killing of many police officers>> and then led to an overreaction by the police causing the death of 193 rioters... this has harmed the second multiparty election in ethiopia's near 3000 years of history.....but..Sadly you reported only the last part, only the part about the overreaction by the police part. that was the only part reported and exaggerated and politicized. how unfortunate! And anthony played a big part in it.
if that was/is not advocacy journalism gone wrong, we don't know what is.
sadly even after a great person like anthony, a family man died, you talked about anthony's advocacy journalism that harmed our country instead of paying tribute to his life.. a life which was certainly more than that short stint in politics.
i hope you would pay a respectful tribute to Mr. Anthony instead of writting politics and praising a controversial event in addis ababa that was disappointed so many millions of us ethiopians.
Let us keep his friends and family in our prayers instead.
let us pray for his soul and send our condolences to his relatives instead.
May he rest in peace.
Posted by: Kassu at May 9, 2007 11:15 PM
Andrew, I am glad you finally bring it out in the open, the reason why Anthony was kicked out of Ethiopia. As I thought at the time, what you said at the time was (though very well put) was too subdued to avoid facing his fate yourself. Anthony is sorely missed. My heartfelt condolences to his family.
Posted by: tazabi at May 10, 2007 12:20 AM
It is a big loss not only for his family and friends but for the whole Africa, especially for Ethiopia, condolences to his family and friends.
Posted by: Baheilu at May 10, 2007 12:50 AM
My condolences to his family and friends
Posted by: Tyrel at May 10, 2007 4:34 AM
Very sad, condolences to Anthony's family and friends.
Posted by: 22mazoriya at May 10, 2007 5:57 AM
Dear Andrew
Thank you for posting this wonderful pictures U can see in his eyes the feeling he had for Ethiopia in that sad day of the shooting. His face express his deep felt sadness.
We lost a GREAT man GREAT journalist GREAT father gain, may he rest in Peace. Our heart goes out to his family and friends.
Posted by: selam at May 10, 2007 11:46 AM
I am sure the monsters do not have that much feeling to Ethiopia than Anthony does. He will always be our HERO.
Posted by: sululta at May 10, 2007 11:48 AM
Over the years, one could see that people with goodwill towards Ethiopia don't stay long in this World. It's heartrending.
Posted by: Mechachal at May 10, 2007 1:42 PM
Why are you posting only comments from his foot soldiers? Are you applying censorship? Now I know you are also there to do the dirty job of the losers.
Posted by: yohannes at May 10, 2007 5:26 PM
Anthony Mitchel was exteremely bias agianst the Ethiopian government. His reports were no better than the tabloid amharic newspapers in Addis Ababa. Regardless, I send my deepest condolences to his family.
Posted by: Armacho at May 10, 2007 7:59 PM
The world lost a great human being! May GOD bless his soul and give strength to his family and his loved ones.
Posted by: broomfield at May 11, 2007 2:42 PM
Ethiopia has lost a great friend...Andrew you need to learn to be a great journalist like your good friend, Anthony Mitchell...I don't know why you don't expose the Meles regime's atrocity against the Ethiopian people... I know you expats LOVE the life of living like a king/queen in third world countries with maids, buttlers and saving TONS of money, you don't want to write or do anything that affects your lively life...
Are you aware of you are called a Meles zenawi sympathiser or a dectator appeaser...
Have some guts and do the write thing!!!
Posted by: Gashaw at May 11, 2007 10:48 PM
My condolences to you, Andrew, and to his family.
Posted by: ETgirl at May 12, 2007 2:31 AM
We are all going to go some day, Anthony lift us early but i would rather go standing up for the truth and justice like Anthony than live many more years doing otherwise.
Posted by: mamush at May 12, 2007 7:24 AM
Very sad to hear his passing. May God be with his family in this very tough time. If anything, they should know that he is home.
Posted by: ethioblog.com at May 12, 2007 8:59 PM
Indeed, a great loss. And this would be the second tragic airline tragedy that has affected couageous journalists covering Ethiopia. You may recall that just over a decade ago, the Kenyan journalist Mohamed Amin who famously reported on the 84 famine, died on ET961 in the Indian Ocean. Both of these chaps were heroes to the Ethiopian people, for reporting the truth, even if it was inconvenient to the government.
RIP Anthony Mitchell and condolences to his family and friends. Ethiopians will always be grateful.
Posted by: Yonas Tibebe at May 14, 2007 1:59 PM
iam very sad about this crash.
i dont know what to say. sorry for the family
Posted by: angela at July 12, 2007 11:00 AM
This terrible loss makes me incredibly sad. Condolences to his family and friends.
Posted by: Lars at October 4, 2007 11:34 AM