Michael Yon is back with part two of his photo essay, Desires of the Human Heart. Check it out here.

Michael also sends word that he will be part of a reality TV series that will film his experiences in Iraq. Very cool. Finally a reality TV show that I will watch!

Verite Series Features Acclaimed War Correspondent in Iraq

Michael Yon, the acclaimed independent photo journalist and war correspondent currently embedded in Iraq covering the “surge” has signed an exclusive deal with Peace River Company LLC and Extant Media to produce a verite television series that will film his war zone dispatches from Iraq.

This television vehicle, tentatively titled “Michael Yon: Dispatches/Iraq”, will bring a new dimension to Yon’s sometimes brutal blog accounts and vivid images as he covers the life and death struggle of the soldiers and citizens of this war torn country. Yon is one of the only journalists to brave the streets of Baghdad beyond the protected Green Zone and bring unfiltered war accounts to the American public.

“This is arguably the most dangerous journalistic assignment in the world”, said writer/director Kevin Knoblock of Peace River Company. Over 100 journalists or media workers have died since the beginning of the war. Michael isn’t doing the usual 3 or 5 day or 2 week or 4 week embed that many in the main stream media opt for. I give those brave men and women all the credit in the world. But Michael is there for all of 2007, despite what happens with the surge or with Congress. Given the extreme dangers, his dedication is hard to ignore.”

Yon, a former Green Beret, has returned to Iraq and has been embedded since the beginning of 2007, posting dispatches and photos to his popular website www.michaelyon-online.com. Yon first went to Iraq to tell the stories of the soldiers so that we could better understand the lives of fellow Americans fighting there. He is currently embedded with the British in Basra, but will be returning to Baghdad shortly to embed with US forces implementing the “surge.”

Yon was first embedded with US Army and coalition forces in 2005 at his own expense. Through personal funds and later through reader donations, Yon bought a digital camera, laptop, thousands of dollars in body armor and an airplane ticket. Once in country, primarily with the Deuce Four Battalion, he began to record a history not often reported by the main stream media.

Yon’s widely read accounts of the war have frequently drawn praise from US officials. One was even read on the floor of the U.S. Senate. By mid 2006 less than 100 other Web Blogs out of some 26 million on the Internet have received more links from other Web sites.

Yon’s Iraq dispatches were excerpted by American newspapers and magazines including the Northwest Guardian, the Boston Herald, The Seattle Times, The Star Tribune, and The Weekly Standard. Though a self-taught writer Yon gained praise from well-known and respected journalists, including war correspondent Joe Galloway and Michael Barone, a senior writer for US News and World Report. Yon has been called “the single best combat reporter on the ground in Iraq today” and been compared to WWII combat writers Ernest Hemingway and Ernie Pyle for his ability to bring readers into the battle and for humanizing both the troops and local citizens.

Alex Perry, Time Magazine’s Asia Bureau Chief, said of Yon: “In years ahead, foreign correspondents may come to understand that the revolution that changed everything they do — how they work, how they write, who employs them — began with Michael Yon. Yon is the first true war blogger.”

Because Yon is not associated with any network his stay in Iraq continues to be strictly self funded—allowing him to report what he sees without filters. The producers want viewers to walk in the footsteps of a 21st century war correspondent – without the time limitations of the nightly news – and shot in High Definition video with Yon’s distinctive narrative providing the dramatic
context.

Viewers will embed with Yon in Kuwait, experience the gut wrenching ‘spiral’ into Baghdad International Airport to avoid enemy fire and negotiate the treacherous stretch of road into the Baghdad Green Zone. From there viewers will be taken to the front lines, into high level conflict areas with top US and Iraqi commanders, into Iraqi security force training centers, city jails, on
patrols and into the rec rooms for downtime with the troops.

Michael Yon: Dispatches/Iraq shows the very serious dangers faced by the modern war correspondent and his crew. Thirteen episodes are planned.