Technology `changes how we see the war'

Whiz-bang gizmos zap words, images from the battle front to the home front

Gosk can send images by the satellite phone more quickly, but she says it's proved problematic at times. Instead, she hooks up the digital camera to the laptop; edits her shots with specialized software; compresses the information so it consumes less computer space; and sends it via a cable to the satellite dish, which zaps it back to ABC in Manhattan. It can take 45 minutes to transmit a minute's worth of broadcast-quality video - and that will consume the power of both her computer batteries.

Gosk also has a high-speed link to the Internet, which lets her follow developments on news sites and to e-mail colleagues in the United States. Often, she prints out articles and hands them to soldiers. "These guys are just dying for information," she said during an interview by satellite phone. "They get fed very, very little from above."

It is all quite high-tech. But it doesn't always feel glamorous.

Gosk says she spends about 40 percent of her time reporting, interviewing soldiers and writing and filing stories. "The rest of the day is spent trying to maintain equipment in this environment - it gets covered with dirt - and trying to maintain myself."