A Guiding Voice Amid the Ruins of a Capital City

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A veiled female journalist (who also happens to be wearing a snug denim skirt) sits in a soundproof studio with a fuzzy microphone in front of her face. “Salaam Aleikum,” she says, greeting a man who has called in to the radio station. “Yes, hello,” he replies anxiously. “I want to talk about pirates. These guys aren’t being treated fairly.”
In a booth next door, news producers prepare the daily diet of mayhem and more: three bodies found in Bakaro market; President Sheik Sharif preaches reconciliation at a mosque; Islamic scholars speak out about the Shabab insurgent group cutting off hands; the livestock market is looking up and the price of goats, thank God, is steadily rising.
Good Morning. . .Mogadishu!
This is a typical day at Radio Mogadishu, the one and only relatively free radio station in south central Somalia where journalists can broadcast what they like — without worrying about being beheaded. The station’s 90-foot antennas, which rise above the rubble of the neighborhood, have literally become a beacon of freedom for reporters, editors, technicians and disc jockeys all across Somalia who have been chased away from their jobs by radical Islamist insurgentsmore... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/world/africa/30mogadishu.html