The Whole Truth Matthew Yglesias

Hannah Allam's first-person account of what it's been like covering Iraq for Knight-Ridder as the situation deteriorates is fascinating. I wish news organizations would let more of their foreign correspondents do this sort of writing along with the more conventional hard news pieces they turn out. Not only is it interesting in and of itself, but these kind of accounts make it easier for you to understand the more traditional kind of reporting that gets done by giving you some context in which to place the work and the limitations circumstances place on reporters' ability to get information.