THIS year TIME correspondents ' once again are learning firsthand the physical and journalistic perils involved in covering war, insurgencies or riots--whether they be in Indochina, the Middle East or on a U.S. college campus. Last week showed that being on the scene of the fray can be as frustrating an experience as not being able to get there at all.

In war-torn Jordan, TIME Correspondents Roland Flamini and Gavin Scott carefully worked out a plan to assist each other and speed delivery of their dispatches to New York. They shook hands in Amman, the capital, and Scott flew off to Beirut with his notes while Flamini continued to cover the fighting between Jordanian troops and guerrilla insurgents. The two correspondents' plan called for Scott to return as soon as possible so that Flamini could leave and file his reports. Uncertain transmission facilities in Jordan made the awkward hand-carrying procedure essential.

But the plane on which Scott was a passenger turned out to be the last one permitted to leave Jordan. Flamini could not get out, and Scott could not get back in. "Our little game of hopscotch didn't work," Scott lamented in Beirut. "We haven't heard from Roland since." Presumably, Flamini was trapped with other newsmen at Amman's besieged Inter-Continental Hotel.

As borders are closed and rigid curfews enforced by the threat that any violators will be shot on sight, reporters lose a fundamental of good reporting--mobility. And in the case of the Jordanian fighting, telephone and telex circuits were cut within minutes of the first shot, leaving reporters dependent upon a single Morse code connection to Beirut. Soon they did not even have that. A power failure cut off electricity to all of Amman, ending the link.

To augment reporting done on the scene earlier, Scott monitored rival claims broadcast by Amman radio and by fedayeen outlets in Damascus and Baghdad. His efforts were supplemented by the contributions of both news and analysis from Correspondents James Bell, John Shaw and Wilton Wynn in Rome and from Marlin Levin in Jerusalem and Monica Dehn in London. Drawing on State Department sources in Washington, Diplomatic Correspondents Herman Nickel and B. William Mader were able to supply important assessments.

In New York, Associate Editor Spencer Davidson wrote the cover story, which was edited by Ronald P. Kriss. Davidson's understanding of the complex situations and scenes was enhanced by a trip in April through Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Researcher Ursula Nadasdy went on a similar backgrounding excursion to the Middle East last year.

Others with key roles in developing the finished product were Associate Editor David B. Tinnin, Contributing Editor William R. Doerner, Researchers Sara Medina and Genevieve Wilson.

The Cover: From a poster by Ismail Shammout for the Palestine Liberation Organization.

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