A CNN team reporting live from Tel Aviv had to rush for cover as missile alarms sounded and Israeli defense systems tracked incoming Iranian ordnance overhead — a stark example of the risks reporters face while covering the intensifying Middle East conflict.
CNN anchor Erin Burnett and correspondent Jeremy Diamond were on location near Israel’s Ministry of Defense on Tuesday, March 10, when citywide emergency alerts began blaring. They had been speaking with retired Major General Randy Manner about allegations that Iran was planting mines in the Strait of Hormuz when the sirens forced them to evacuate.
Burnett stayed composed, gathering gear and moving toward shelter while still on air. “Alright, so Jeremy and I are, obviously we’re having trouble hearing because we have the sirens going on here as we are going to seek shelter,” Burnett said while relocating.
The CNN crew took cover in a concrete stairwell as the sirens kept wailing across Tel Aviv. Israel’s defenses tracked projectiles overhead while interceptors attempted to stop incoming threats. The network said its crew heard explosions during the barrage, which followed heightened tensions after U.S. and Israeli operations against Iran.
This was the second live broadcast in just over a week in which Burnett had to take shelter. On March 3, she evacuated during an interview with Dan Diker of the Jerusalem Center for Security & Foreign Affairs, estimating they had around five or six minutes from the initial alert before impacts might occur.
Earlier, Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst hurried his camera team to safety on Saturday, February 28, as Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv during a live segment. Fox footage showed Israel’s Iron Dome tracking rockets while others hit the city behind him.
CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen also had a close call while reporting in Iran when a location he was filming was struck by air raids. “That just goes to show how fast things can turn bad here,” Pleitgen reported after seeking shelter in Tehran.
The situation raised press-freedom concerns when a CNN Türk crew was detained live in Tel Aviv after the March 3 Iranian missile strike. Correspondent Emrah Çakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman were taken into custody by Israeli security forces while reporting near Israel’s Ministry of Defense; officers approached, cut the live feed, and confiscated the journalists’ phones.
The CNN Türk team had been documenting the aftermath of Iranian strikes, showing civilians leaving shelters, when security personnel intervened. Turkey’s Communications Director Burhanettin Duran condemned the detention as an attempt to hide the truth, and AK Party spokesperson Ömer Çelik called it “an attack on press freedom” and demanded their immediate release.
These episodes underscore the extreme hazards journalists accept to report from war zones. With tensions rising between the United States, Israel, and Iran, reporters face not only the physical threat of missile attacks but also operational limits imposed by authorities near sensitive government sites.
The U.S. military has coordinated with Israeli forces on strikes against Iran, triggering a wave of counterstrikes across the Middle East. Tel Aviv has repeatedly been targeted, with Iranian missiles continually testing Israel’s defensive systems.
For reporters like Burnett and her colleagues, live coverage from Tel Aviv has become a form of crisis management — juggling their duty to inform with split-second safety choices. Concrete stairwells and bunkers have been repurposed into makeshift broadcast locations, where correspondents keep reporting even as explosions echo nearby.
With no immediate end to the conflict in sight, news teams remain deployed across the region, ready to take cover at a moment’s notice while chronicling the unfolding crisis. Their broadcasts from bunkers and reinforced stairwells are stark reminders of the human toll of war and the resolve of journalists to bear witness despite the dangers.
