British journalist and Medill alumna Ruth Morris didn’t think her day could get any worse.
While reporting in Colombia, she ran out of cash, fixed a flat tire and learned that a friend of fellow journalist Scott Dalton had disappeared while reporting.
Little did Morris or Dalton know that on that day, Jan. 21, they would be kidnapped themselves by leftist rebels at a roadblock in the eastern Arauca province, one of the most violent regions of Colombia.
“I don’t know if you’ll believe this, but I was actually working on a kidnapping documentary before I was kidnapped,” Morris, 35, told a class of Medill students Thursday.
She and Dalton, 34, were working on a freelance assignment for the Los Angeles Times when they were kidnapped. Morris is returning to Colombia this week to complete the project.
With a sense of humor, Morris related the story of her 11 days in captivity to an audience of about 80 people in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum on Thursday afternoon.
Embroiled in a 38-year civil war, Colombia is rife with violence, but foreign journalists have usually enjoyed a sort of “diplomatic immunity,” she said.
“Some people think that the war in Colombia is no longer a war of ideology but has deteriorated into a territorial war over drug-trafficking routes,” she said.
Morris and Dalton were abducted by a 5,000-strong rebel group known as the National Liberation Army, or ELN. They were stopped at a roadblock and told they had to speak to a rebel commander.
Morris said her captors treated her well, surprisingly.
“We had special privileges, even though we were kidnapped,” she said.
Morris’ daily diet of spaghetti, plantains, potatoes and rice didn’t sit well — she didn’t eat much and began losing weight. When she managed to eat a meal of sardines, one of the rebels offered her his portion as well.
To prevent the audience from getting a “rosy picture,” however, Morris also talked about the hardships she and Dalton fared. Moving six times in 11 days, they walked through thick jungles and stayed in makeshift camps.
“The further up we went, the further away our release seemed,” Morris said. “We thought ELN would ask for a ransom and were thinking of our families being wiped out financially.”
Morris said she blacked out the names in her address book so the ELN had no way of finding that information.
She tried to adopt a daily routine to maintain her health, she said.
“I would get up, bathe in the river, read, do yoga to calm my nerves and play marathon runs of gin rummy with Scott,” she said.
Morris and Dalton were finally released on Feb. 1 without ransom, although rebels had originally insisted the military halt operations in the Arauca region before their release.
Colombian president Alvaro Uribe delivered a discouraging speech the same day instructing the international press to “restrain” itself.
“He said he was going to press on with the military offensive, even considering our delicate situation,” Morris said. “He was telling the country that press freedom is secondary to troop morale.”
Morris encouraged journalism students to take precautions when working abroad.
“I strongly recommend that you speak with your staff about the risks involved,” she said.
Heidi Koester said she was impressed that Morris is still willing to return to Colombia.
“She had a sense of humor through the whole thing and seemed really genuine,” said Koester, a Medill sophomore .
Prof. Jack Doppelt, director of Medill’s Global Journalism Program, said Morris gave students a good sense of the vulnerability of journalists working abroad.
“We’ve always known about the dangers in Colombia, but we just don’t think about it,” Doppelt said. “Now is the time to appreciate it, because those kinds of things can happen anywhere.”
