NEWSDAY reporter missing...& I knew him

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Diane L

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Freaked out in a Moonage Daydream, oh yeah!
I was watching CNN just now, and a news update mentioned that a reporter and a photographer from the Long Island newspaper NEWSDAY were missing. They showed a picture of them...and I used to work with the reporter, Matt McAllester.

Matt is one of the shining lights at NEWSDAY. He was born in England and raised in Scotland, which means he has one of those British accents that makes women weak in the knees. He's also good-looking, easy to talk to, and has been an Oasis fan--one of his first assignments for the paper was a review of one of their concerts. Matt started out as a Long Island reporter, then became a computer columnist. Then he became a foreign correspondent.

I was an editorial assistant for NEWSDAY's national and international news desks in the late '90s, and one of my duties was to book flights and hotel rooms for foreign correspondents. Matt covered the war in Kosovo, and I remember one especially tense afternoon when we weren't sure that he had a room anywhere...it looked like he was going to have to sleep in the street! Luckily, we did find him a place to stay eventually.

Matt was always in the center of the action. He couldn't avoid breaking events even when he went on vacation. In the summer of '99, he was vacationing in Newport, Rhode Island when John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane went down. He called the paper to see if he was needed, and he wound up filing articles about this sad event.

I left the paper in August '99, and when I said goodbye to Matt I said "When you win the Pulitzer Prize I'll say I knew you," to which he laughed and said, "Oh, stop that!" But I really believe he has the talent to win prizes for his reporting, and it would be good to see someone with his pleasing personality do well.

I am worried about Matt McAllester, and I pray that he will come home safely. I guess I started this thread to let people know about a really neat person who only wanted to report news, and now has become news. Thanks for reading this.
 
:hug: I will say a prayer Matt's safe return and all our troops and all those missing and POWs
 
As a journalist myself who works for the Wall Street Journal's Web site, the death of Danny Pearl last year was hard for us. I'm sure its not easy on Newsday either right now to not know the fate of two of their own.
 
I'll add him to my prayers. It's very likely he is just without communication at the moment and is making every effort to get back in touch with everyone at home.

:hug:
 
Interferencers Have The Biggest Hearts

I'd like to thank everyone who has sent their prayers and :hug:. I hope one day I will be able to post the happy news that Matt and his photographer have been found.

Sharky, I send my :hug: to you and your Wall Street Journal colleagues who were affected by the tragic and horrific death of Daniel Pearl, and to Marianne Pearl and their baby Adam as well.

Diane
 
I'm watching CNN right now and they just mentioned the two missing Newsday reporters and showed their pics (just standard file pics, nothing recent)...one of whom was Matt, and all they said was they believed they were being held by the Iraqis. I know it's not much, but it is hopefully some sign that they are still alive and have some clues to where they might be.

:hug:
 
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I found this article...I hope they are found soon

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentS...StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1048313306895

Missing newsmen from US 'held by Iraqis'
By Tim Burt, Media Editor
Published: March 30 2003 22:35 | Last Updated: March 30 2003 22:35

Two US-based journalists covering the war in Iraq are thought to have been detained by the government in Baghdad after a week in which almost a dozen reporters went missing.

Newsday, the New York-based newspaper, urged the Iraqi authorities to disclose information about Matthew McAllester, a British-born reporter, and Moises Saman, a photographer. Both journalists disappeared from their Baghdad hotel a week ago. It was initially thought they would be deported, amid reports they only had tourist visas.

Fears for their safety followed news that seven Italian journalists, who went missing near Basra on Friday, had been detained by the Iraqi authorities and had been taken to Baghdad.

The reporters, including correspondents for Corriere della Sera and Il Messaggero, were taken into custody after trying to get into Basra, which has been surrounded by coalition forces.

Meanwhile, ITN, the British news broadcaster, announced that Gaby Rado, foreign affairs correspondent for Channel 4, had been found dead at a hotel in Iraq.

ITN said Mr Rado fell from the roof of the Abu Sanaa hotel in the Kurdish-controlled town of Suleimaniya, northern Iraq. His death was not thought to be the result of military action.

Mr Rado is the third journalist known to have died since the conflict began. Last week Terry Lloyd, another ITN correspondent, was killed in Basra. Paul Moran, an Australian journalist, was killed in a separate incident in northern Iraq.
 
ABEL, thank you so much for posting that article. And thank you for your continued interest in Matt and Moises' well-being. That goes for everyone who has posted hugs and messages of concern.

The last I heard, Matt's London-based sister was hoping to get Jesse Jackson involved in trying to negotiate their release.

As I've written before, I hope one day to post the happy news that Matt and Moises are safe and returning home.

Diane
 
GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two journalists of New
York's Newsday newspaper who disappeared from a Baghdad hotel
a week ago while covering the Iraq war, have made contact with
the daily and are safe, Newsday said Tuesday.
Matthew McAllester, 33, and photographer Moises Saman, 29,
crossed the border into Jordan on Tuesday and were safe and in
good health, the newspaper said in a statement on
Newsday.com.
McAllester telephoned Newsday foreign editor Dele Olojede
at 1:06 pm EST to say the pair had been released
by Iraqi authorities.
``They said they are well. They said there is nothing wrong
with them,'' Olejede said to cheers in Melville, New York,
newsroom on Long Island.
 
Re: GREAT NEWS!!!

HOORAY!!! :applaud: :dance: :dance: :dance:

Sharky, thank you so much for posting that great news.

Matt and Moises will have quite a story to tell! And I'm sure they would be happy if they knew that people on Interference had been praying for their safe return.

Interference :hug:

Diane
 
I just heard this on the news too! I'm so happy to hear they're safe!

:happy: :hug: :happy: :hug: :happy:

:applaud:


make sure they post their stories here Diane! ;) jk lol!
 
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