Between Stories - Episode 2: War and the Interview

Behind the lines in conflict zones, journalists can find themselves dropping into people's lives, telling some of the most intimate stories in the human experience - stories of life and death, of perseverance and tragedy. 

In this instalment of Between Stories, CBC News senior correspondent Susan Ormiston and host of Radio One's The Current Anna Maria Tremonti share tales of interviewing people who experienced trauma in the Syrian and Bosnian wars, and how journalists earn the trust and preserve the dignity of the people they interview.

In Syria, Ormiston interviews a father whose son was kidnapped by the Assad regime, and was worried that the interview might jeopardize his son's release. While during the Bosnian war, Tremonti talks to a woman raped by soldiers, and had a daughter as a consequence of that attack. It was the first time she had talked openly about the incident. Ormiston and Tremonti discuss the bravery of their interview subjects, and the fine balance between being a voyeur and getting these stories out to the world.