War-zone journos watched

Lyse Doucet.

One of the top journalists working in global hotspots says she faces a constant battle to avoid surveillance in war zones.

BBC World chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet assumes she is under surveillance as she works in conflict zones.

"We assume telephones are tapped, and emails are tapped and people are listening in," she said.

"Sometimes we are followed," said Doucet, in Auckland yesterday for a promotional visit for BBC Worldwide.

"You are constantly trying to keep ahead of the intelligence agencies while they are spying on you," she said.

Doucet - a Canadian - has been a BBC correspondent for nearly 30 years and has reported from West Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Sometimes it was just taking common sense precautions, like not talking on phones in hotels, and going outside to the garden to talk.

Surveillance of journalists has become a high-profile issue in the United States with a lot of interest in technology.

"It's getting so much easier now. Everywhere I go I ask what's the safest way to communicate," Doucet said.

"Some people say it is direct messages on Twitter. They don't seem able to stop that," she said.

"In Syria, we had people following us. It was a bit like [TV cartoon characters] Spy v Spy - one person was wearing a dark fedora [hat] and one a white one."

In 2009, Doucet worked alongside New Zealand troops in Bamiyan province in Afghanistan.