British Journalist Tim Hetherington Killed In Libya
Photojournalist Tim Hetherington was killed Wednesday in the Libyan city of Misrata while covering the conflict there. Hetherington may be best known for co-directing the Oscar-nominated documentary Restrepo with fellow journalist Sebastian Junger. Hetherington was 41 years old.
NEAL CONAN, host:
You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
And we have some tragic news to pass on from Libya. CNN, Vanity Fair and others report that photojournalist Tim Hetherington was killed today in the besieged city of Misrata. Other photographers were killed in and - excuse me - were injured in the incident.
Hetherington and journalist Sebastian Junger co-directed the documentary "Restrepo." For a year, they followed a platoon of soldiers who were stationed in one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan, the Korengal Valley. The two joined us here on TALK FO THE NATION in February, when the film was up for an Oscar.
Hetherington was injured while making the film. He explained what they were trying to convey about life in a war zone.
(Soundbite of archived interview)
Mr. TIM HETHERINGTON (Director, "Restrepo"): Many of these young men were going through some less traumatic experiences of their life. They were dealing with big existential questions, and most of them we deal with as we get older. I mean, both the idea of killing and have been - the threat of being killed or seeing your, you know, having a friend die in your arms, as Doc Restrepo did.
You know, they tried to save his life, but he bled out on the side of a mountain. And it affects them deeply. And we wanted to bring the public into that emotional terrain.
CONAN: Photojournalist Tim Hetherington, on this program in February, killed today covering the war in Libya. He was 41 years old. Four other photojournalists were injured in that incident. Tomorrow, more on the siege of Misrata and the ongoing conflict in Libya. Join us for that. This is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan in Washington.
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