Bob Woodruff, former “ABC World News Tonight” anchor injured in Iraq last year, said reporters are being used in a very different way in this war by insurgents trying to get their message out.

Instead of meeting with reporters or abducting them to get their stories told, he said militants prefer to get their message across by kidnapping and killing journalists and posting their actions on the Internet for the world to see.

Woodruff, who was nearly killed by a roadside bomb, and his wife, Lee, discussed the bombing incident, his recovery period and how it changed their lives in a panel interview in the gymnasium attended by more than 1,200 people April 16. Afterward, the couple signed copies of their book, “In an Instant,” a memoir chronicling his injuries and how their family persevered through a time of trauma and uncertainty.

The event was part of the School of Comunications' Dean's Distinguished Visitors Series.

The Woodruff family established the Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury to raise money to assist members of the military with cognitive rehabilitation and care following a traumatic brain injury suffered in service to their country.

Woodruff, who recently returned to work at ABC, joined the network in 1996 and has covered major stories throughout the country and around the world. He was named co-anchor of ABC's “World News Tonight” in December 2005. On Jan. 29, 2006, while reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces, Woodruff was seriously injured by a roadside bomb that struck his vehicle near Taji, Iraq.

Lee Woodruff operates her own freelance writing and marketing business from home. Previously, she worked as a vice president for Porter Novelli in New York and San Francisco and as an account supervisor for a public relations agency and at an American marketing firm in Beijing.

ABC newsman Bob Woodruff with Dana Owen ’07, editor of the Chronicle student newspaper, and Thomas Fritz ’08, student representative to the board of trustees.	Kimberly MacDougall, a junior pursuing a degree in physical therapy, spoke with Woodruff about the traumatic brain injury she endured and her recovery after a car accident three years ago.