Anthony Shadid, New York Times Reporter Held Captive In Libya: The Story Wasn't Worth It

Anthony Shadid, the New York Times reporter who was held captive by the Libyan military last spring, said that the story he had been pursuing at the time wasn't worth the harrowing ordeal it led to.

Shadid, the paper's Beirut bureau chief and a Pulitzer Prize winner, was covering a battle in Libya when he was captured along with three other Times journalists. They were held for six days, during which time they were threatened and beaten.

Now, in an interview with Mother Jones, he reflected on the experience. He said, "What's so regrettable to me about Ajdabiya [where he was kidnapped] was that I didn't feel like that story was worth taking that risk for, and I was too late in understanding that, and at great cost: the cost of our driver's life. That's something that all four of us have to live with."

He weighed it against another risk he took traveling to Syria illegally just months after being held captive in Libya. In comparison, the story in Syria "felt as if it wouldn't be told if I didn't go there," he explained. "It's a decision that's a lot easier to make in hindsight."