I remember the first moments of the Iraq war coverage, and being in awe of the journalistic and technical coup.  The details of how they managed to get the signals out is in this interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGjRwEz3l0E

Imagine managing to schmooze a dedicated 4-wire circuit, and smuggle in an Inmarsat satellite phone.
Nic Robertson was a tech at the time, before being promoted to journalist.