Di Giovanni is no stranger to conflict, with work spanning the first Palestinian intifada, the Bosnian war and much of the upheaval of the Arab Spring. Her latest book is the result of numerous official and unofficial visits to Syria, weaving accounts of human tragedy into the country’s wider political picture. For di Giovanni, focusing on those trapped in a war beyond their control was the most striking and impactful way to cover the conflict.

“For me, far more interesting than being on the frontline in Homs, was going to the military hospital of Assad’s soldiers,” di Giovanni said. “I went early one morning when they were having their mass funeral… These were the regimes soldiers so you would think that we could perceive them as monsters… They were kids, they were 18, 19 years old… they just found themselves in this time and this place, but they were basically just kids.”

Sackur asked di Giovanni what it was like to witness Syria’s “terrible descent into full-on civil war,” and the rise of Daesh.

“As early as 2013 we started seeing, or maybe even earlier in 2012, the radicalisation of Aleppo… My trips back there became increasingly difficult,” commented di Giovanni. She recalled one particular incident that made her realise how dangerous the situation had become for Western journalists, in which herself and photojournalist Nicole Tung were attacked by an angry crowd frustrated by the West’s failure to intervene in the war.

“In the worst days in Sarajevo, the population never turned on us… And now we were getting attacked, as women we were being subjugated even with our former colleagues, and worse than that, Steve (Sotloff) and Jim (Foley) were beheaded.”

A major focus was the West’s inaction over the Syrian war, and the frustration that this has generated. Referring to a recent spate of Russian airstrikes on hospitals and schools in northern Syria, one audience member asked if there was any hope of bringing Assad and Putin’s impunity to an end.

Di Giovanni responded by saying Assad shouldn’t be allowed to continue his reign of power, but also conceded that “the more that Daesh continue to push and do these horrific acts publicly… the more that people who before had been supporting the opposition went back to supporting Assad. If you pull Assad out right now – this is a man with blood on his hands, a war criminal – you’re going to have a power vacuum in Damascus… There is no one yet ready to step into his shoes.”

Sackur added that a more cynical view would “argue that for all of the hopes we had for street politics and uprisings… actually removing the Gaddafi’s, or the Assad’s, or the Mubarak’s unleashes a form of chaos that is worse.”

An audience member asked what Assad’s endgame might be, given that Daesh’s actions are bolstering support for his regime. Di Giovanni replied: “I think he’s won. The Russians are on his side. He’s managed to turn the UN into a laughing stock. The diplomatic channel has basically been made a joke.”

On a final note, an audience member asked di Giovanni if she had any stories of hope from Syria. She recounted meeting members of the White Helmets, a group of ordinary civilians in Syria who rescue people from the wreckage of airstrikes – despite the enormous risks to their own lives, particularly in light of Russia’s ‘double-tap’ bombing strategy. “In war time you get horrible things, but you also get the human spirit capable of doing good… I came away thinking superheroes really do exist.”

Click here to find out more information on the White Helmets.

Purchase a copy of The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches From Syria here.

In May 2012, Janine di Giovanni travelled to Syria, the trip would mark the beginning of a relationship with the country that would continue to draw her back, as the situation rapidly became one of the most brutal conflicts in recent history.

Seeking out personal stories, in Dispatches From Syria di Giovanni tells of the rebel fighters thrown in jail at the least provocation; the children and families forced to watch loved ones taken and killed by regime forces with dubious justifications; and the elite, holding pool parties in Damascus hotels and trying to deny the human consequences of the nearby shelling.

Di Giovanni will be joining us, in conversation with BBC HARDtalk presenter Stephen Sackur, to share the stories of the people she has encountered in Syria, as well as her experience of covering the country’s recent history.

Janine di Giovanni has reported on war for over 20 years. She has written seven books, including Madness Visible, The Place at the End of the World, and, most recently, a biography of the Magnum photographer Eve Arnold. She is the Middle East editor of Newsweek, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and a regular contributor to The New York Times, Granta and Harper’s among many others.

Purchase a copy HERE and get 30% by quoting SYRIA at the checkout.

l-r: Charles Glass, Sigrid Rausing, Janine di Giovanni

On Tuesday 5 May, Middle East editor of Newsweek Janine di Giovanni and veteran broadcaster and journalist Charles Glass joined an audience at the Frontline Club for an insightful discussion chaired by Sigrid Rausing, editor of Granta magazine.

Reflecting on the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and the human realities of war, di Giovanni and Glass discussed their recent contributions to the latest edition of Granta: The Map is Not the Territory, which explores the distinctions between representation and reality.

“The theme that comes to me over and over when I think of Iraq is loss,” said di Giovanni. Her article, After Zero Hour, looks back on her time reporting on the Iraq conflict, remembering old friends who have since disappeared, emigrated or fled.

Di Giovanni described driving the length and width of Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion, aware that, as the impending war approached, many of the places she visited would soon cease to exist.

She read an extract from After Zero Hour: “With that invasion and the insurgent war that followed, Iraq would virtually disappear. The land of date trees, oasis and desert would be marked by checkpoints and graves.”

Glass followed with a short extract from his article, The Battle of Kessab, which examines the fate of the eponymous town in Syria. Kessab was the last remaining Armenian town in Syria, after the Turkish army relinquished control of portions of its border with Syria to Islamist rebels in 2014.Rausing responded to the reading: “What you describe so beautifully in the piece is really the context of the Armenian genocide. How everything that happens reminds people of the original genocide.”

An audience member asked Glass and di Giovanni to comment on the importance of lyrical writing in journalistic articles.

“We have the great privilege of writing poetically for Granta,” said di Giovanni. “For me, writing in a lyrical way in terms of narrative and characterisation is much easier.”

“This kind of language is so important,” said Rausing. “It’s the only kind of writing that will endure and have a life after.”

The discussion then covered the role played by journalists in stimulating positive political change, by providing on-the-ground evidence that can filter into policymaking.

“In some sense there’s a limit to what journalism can do. We can bring awareness, we can tell the story,” said di Giovanni. “The gap between reporting and policymaking is huge… there is an enormous gap between what is happening in the Security Council and in Obama’s office and what is actually happening on the ground. And that is hugely frustrating.”

A final audience question discussed the role of long-form journalism and an increased focus on human stories to encourage empathy and eliminate compassion fatigue.

“For the most part newspapers don’t have space… there are very few outlets. Thank god these things exist, but it’s hard to make a living doing that,” said Glass, highlighting Granta, The New York Review of Books and The Guardian as some of the few publications that champion longer pieces.

“For me it always comes down to the people,” said di Giovanni. “Then you could weave in the humanitarian disaster, you could get the political involvement in it, you could bring in the diplomacy… but I think it’s coming back. I think people want to read longer pieces.”

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“She was propelled by this extraordinary curiosity to find out about the country and the people. She really was an anthropologist in many ways.”

Speaking at the Frontline Club on Tuesday 14 April, journalist and author Janine di Giovanni reflected on the life of photographer Eve Arnold and her in-depth, immersive approach to her work. “My own mad conscientiousness,” as Arnold herself referred to it.

Di Giovanni was joined by Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas, as the pair presented the Magnum Legacy illustrated biography of Eve Arnold, sharing the stories and work of one of the most prolific photographers of the twentieth century.

Di Giovanni discussed the process of unraveling the various aspects of Arnold’s life, sorting through boxes of her meticulously archived records, notes and photographs to create the final compilation of her work and stories.

Arnold was a 38-year-old housewife and mother living in Long Island when she stumbled across photography. In 1948, she enrolled in a six-week photography course and, tipped off by her son’s nanny, went to photograph a black fashion show in Harlem. It was the start of a long career spanning the rest of her life, documenting stories throughout the world. In 1951 she became the first woman to join Magnum Photos, and went on to create a vast photographic portfolio of immense depth and diversity.

From intimate portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Malcolm X to the documentation of migrant workers and disabled veterans, she indiscriminately captured a wide range of people and subjects.

“She would dive into a subject and spend so much time. Nothing was rushed; nothing was what journalism has become now,” said di Giovanni. “For her it was the art of sitting down with people, spending time, investing an extraordinary amount of energy.”

Janine di Giovanni

As they discussed the processes behind Arnold’s work, the conversation moved onto the loneliness of her work and the challenges she faced, particularly as a single mother away from her child. She often travelled alone, a petite women carrying huge equipment, usually not familiar with the local language.

“You have to put yourself in her shoes and imagine the absolute tenacity, courage, bravery and fearlessness of doing this in a time when women did not do that,” said Di Giovanni.

An example drawn upon was her persistence to photograph in China, an experience that took nine years to accomplish.

“The stamina, the determination, the waiting nine years for a visa. Believing that she wanted to be one of the first women photographers to go to China, that inspired me,” added Meiselas. “You felt that in every bone of her body there was no stopping.”

Meiselas read a quote from a card that Arnold had titled ‘freelancing,’ shedding light on the complex relationship she had with her work: “Feel bereft when a project ends. Like all the attention and concentration is gone, like a child that has grown up and gone away. And suddenly you’re alone, right on, freelancing.”

As the conversation opened up to questions, the challenges facing freelance photographers in today’s media world was addressed.

“The assignment culture has diminished dramatically,” said Meiselas. “When you look at the online culture, its pretty discouraging… There may be a day when they [news outlets] don’t need to pay anyone because there’s so much content being produced.”

“There are ways,” added Di Giovanni. “You have to be resourceful and determined… As long as we all agree that this kind of photojournalism is essential, it’s the first draft of history, we have to have it, you can’t let it die.”

Watch and listen back below:

Granta 131 explores the gaps between representation and reality, and what happens when those distinctions blur. Looking at the human realities behind the topographies of war, Janine di Giovanni and Charles Glass will be in conversation with Granta magazine’s editor Sigrid Rausing about their contributions to the issue.

Janine di Giovanni is the Middle East editor of Newsweek. A war and conflict reporter for twenty-five years, she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was recently made an Ochberg Fellow at Columbia University for her work on trauma victims. She also advices the United Nations Refugee Agency and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. In ‘After Zero Hour’ from Granta 131, di Giovanni recounts her experiences reporting on Iraq’s seemingly endless cycle of conflicts and remembers old friends who have disappeared, emigrated or fled.

Charles Glass is a broadcaster, journalist and writer, who began his journalistic career in 1973 at the ABC News Beirut bureau and was chief Middle East correspondent from 1983 to 1993. Since then, he has been a freelance writer, and is the author of four books on the Middle East including the forthcoming Syria Burning. In ‘The Battle for Kessab ’ from Granta 131, Glass recounts the fate of the last Armenian town in Syria, after the Turkish Army relinquished control of portions of its border with Syria to ragged units of Islamist rebels in March 2014. Glass places this event in the wider context of the 1915 Turkish genocide of Armenians and Turkey’s continuing denial of those events.

Sigrid Rausing is the publisher of Granta magazine and Granta Books. In 1993-4 she lived on a collective farm in Estonia doing fieldwork for a PhD in Social Anthropology at University College London, followed by a two-year honorary fellowship in the same department. Her book Everything is Wonderful: Memories of a Collective Farm in Estonia was published by Grove Press in 2014. She serves on the advisory board of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, and is an Emeritus member of the international board of Human Rights Watch. In 2010 she was made an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Economics.

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT WILL BE FILMED AND STREAMED LIVE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Born to a poor immigrant family in Philadelphia in 1912, Eve Arnold became a photographer by chance. She was a 38-year-old housewife living in Long Island when she enrolled in a six-week photography course which led to her groundbreaking photo essay on black fashion models in Harlem, and later to her becoming the first woman to join Magnum Photos.

In a career that spanned most of the latter half of the twentieth century, she captured intimate portraits of figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Malcolm X, and Queen Elizabeth, and documented the lives of migrant workers, disabled veterans, and civil rights activists in the US and against apartheid in South Africa.

In the first volume of a major new series of illustrated biographies of Magnum photographers, journalist Janine di Giovanni traces the life and achievements of Eve Arnold. She will be joining us in conversation with documentary photographer Susan Meiselas, to share the story and show the work of one of the most accomplished photojournalists of the twentieth century.

Janine di Giovanni is the award-winning Middle East editor of Newsweek and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. She knew Eve Arnold personally and considered her a mentor of sorts. Di Giovanni’s books include Ghosts by Daylight, Madness Visible and The Place at the End of the World: Essays from the Edge.

Susan Meiselas is a documentary photographer and member of Magnum Photos since 1976. She is the author of Carnival Strippers, Nicaragua, Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History, Pandora’s Box and Encounters with the Dani. She has co-edited two collections: El Salvador, Work of 30 Photographers and Chile from Within. She is currently the president and acting executive director of the Magnum Foundation.

This event is organised by Granta.

In the new issue of Granta magazine, themed Betrayal, veteran war reporter Janine di Giovanni writes of her recent trip to Syria, the people she encountered there and their stories of life in a country torn apart. Janine di Giovanni has reported on more than a dozen wars for nearly twenty years. She is an award-winning reporter and author, and the former president of the Jury of the Prix Bayeux for war reporters. Her latest book is Ghosts by Daylight: A Memoir of War and Love. ‘Seven Days in Syria’ was supported by funding from The Nation Institute.

She is joined by Frances Harrison who lived in Sri Lanka for 4 years, working as BBC Correspondent and Bureau Chief. She is one of few Western journalists to have travelled extensively in the war zone reporting on the Tamil Tigers during the peace process and one of only a handful of outsiders still in touch by telephone with people inside the conflict area at the height of the fighting in 2009. For many years she worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC posted in South Asia, South East Asia and Iran. She has worked at Amnesty International as Head of News and while writing Still Counting the Dead – her acclaimed book about the Sri Lanka conflict – she was a visiting research fellow at Oxford University.

With readings and conversation focused on the Syrian and Sri Lankan conflicts moderated by Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey, this event explores the ethics of venturing into war zones, the line between truth and fiction and how to tell the stories of war.