"Becoming the Story examines the transformation of war reporting in the decade after 9/11. Lindsay Palmer delves into times when print or television correspondents themselves received intense public scrutiny because of an incident associated with the work of war reporting. Such instances include Dan
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iel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder; Bob Woodruff’s near-fatal injury in Iraq; the expulsions of Maziar Bahari and Nazila Fathi from Iran in 2009; the sexual assault of Lara Logan; and Marie Colvin’s 2012 death in Syria. Merging analysis with in-depth interviews of Woodruff and others, Palmer shows what these events say about how post-9/11 conflicts transformed the day-to-day labor of reporting. But they also illuminate how journalists’ work became entangled with issues ranging from digitization processes to unprecedented hostility from all sides to the political logic of the War on Terror." (Abstract)
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"This article has addressed the level of journalists’ safety in Pakistan, revealing the diverse threats to journalists’ safety and their right to freedom of expression in the country. Freedom of expression is an individual right, for which no one should be attacked or killed. However, in this st
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udy, journalists’ feedback reveals that not only their lives but their right to freedom of expression is at risk because of the prevailing unsafe environment in Pakistan. The study suggests journalism is a dangerous profession in Pakistan because of physical, psychological, financial, social, emotional and topic-specific risks, which constrain journalists’ right to freedom of expression and affect them most while doing their routine jobs. Despite the unsafe environment and constant threats, this study indicates that only 18% of surveyed journalists have received safety training to protect themselves in conflict and non-conflict situations. The following questions need to be addressed when analysing issues around journalists’ safety training in Pakistan, namely: who are the trainers? Are trainers themselves trained for journalists’ safety training, bearing in mind the local safety circumstances? What is the role of local and international NGO’s in promoting journalists’ safety education either at university or media organisational level? Further research on these aspects is crucial for the better training of journalists. This study reveals that the education of conflict reporting and peace journalism is not the major part of journalism curricula in Pakistan’s public and private sector universities. The curriculum in most of the universities do not reflect distinctively the local aspects of journalism teaching and approaches, which is important for enabling journalists to understand the context within which they perform their work. As highlighted by Abit and Kenneth in their article, the case of Kosovo is quite similar to Pakistan – where journalism education lacks local teaching approches. Therefore, in this article, I emphasize certain initiatives such as: the inclusion of journalists’ safety and peace journalism modules in curriculum; collaboration with international universities for innovative pedagogical models; regular curriculum revision and local-context teaching and research within this field. Others have underlined the need for a few more significant inititatives that I think are crucial as far as journalists’ safety education is concerned, such as: enhancing journalists’ awareness of their rights and physical and psychological safety; protection of their equipment, and legal protection while covering war or conflict." (Conclusion)
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"In the last Afghan solar year (22 March 2015 – 21 March 2016), twelve journalists and media workers were killed, exceeding any previous year in recent history. In June 2016, the US photographer David Gilkey and his interpreter, journalist Zabihullah Tamanna, were killed in a Taliban attack in Maj
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rah, southern Afghanistan. Approximately three hundred journalists left Afghanistan in 2015. More may follow. The journalists who left last year are relatively few considering the quarter million Afghans who came to Europe in 2015 to seek asylum. Nevertheless, they all share some of the same reasons for leaving. Most important are the high level of threats and the lack of security, both of which affect media workers seriously. In a broad-based Deutsche Welle-report, journalists complain of being “under suspicion from all sides”, and claim that besides the Taliban, the government as well “puts journalists under pressure. Then there are the mafia and the warlords”. The situation has parallels in other countries ravaged by conflict, today not least in Syria and Iraq, but also in neighbouring Pakistan. The difference is that Afghanistan has been in a situation of constant war, occupation, and violent conflict for close to forty years, meaning that a vast majority of the country’s population has not experienced any lasting period of peace and stability. This may be one of the more profound explanations for the current exodus. Hopes have been raised too many times, only to be dashed. Many journalists do not see a future for free media and journalism in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the Constitution guarantees free expression." (Introduction)
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"It has become a pattern to find academics, professionals and students of journalism bragging with the scope, techniques and dilemmas of investigative journalism. But there is one gaping hole: nowhere was information collated about the heroic contributions, and often the sacrifices, that were made f
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or the profession by African investigative journalists across Africa. Writing a history or complete account of African investigative journalism is outside the scope of this article. But I am trying to offer here a series of contributions – some current, some historical – on the topic of safety of journalists, that will, hopefully, lay the foundations for further research, and also lay to rest decisively the myth that journalism which exposes social problems and criticizes the powerful is ‘un-African’." (Abstract)
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"The Iraq War was a landmark in war reporting. The design and implementation of the embedded system enabled nearly 700 journalists to live and work alongside soldiers of the United States and British armies. Nearly 30 countries took part in the system, including Spain, one of the main supporters of
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the USA in its decision to start the war. This article discusses the advantages and drawbacks of the embedded system and the risks it entails for the security and protection of journalists. It offers a reflection on the challenges to be faced now that the embedded system has been consolidated as a way of covering a conflict… and has also proved to be the most economical way of doing so. This research focuses on the situation in Spain, where this debate has not been addressed by either academia or journalism. An in-depth interview method was chosen as the principal research tool." (Abstract)
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"This study investigates the challenges faced by local journalists caught between the global “war on terror” and its local consequences in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Threats and impunity are commonplace in this buffer zone bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, compell
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ing scores of native journalists to flee with their immediate families to the relative peace of nearby Peshawar, where they continue to report on issues back home. In-depth interviews with local journalists reveal how threats and impunity work as structural constraints that affect reporting. Working under the logic of neoliberalism, media outlets extract what they can out of these reporters, but the risks are often considered journalists’ personal responsibility and add to their dependence on colleagues. This chapter offers valuable insight into the concerns of local journalists, and demonstrates how they resist the power holders in Pakistan and adapt to the complicated intersections of state, militant and foreign interests." (Abstract)
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"Digital technologies are changing the way in which journalism is performed. Today, reports by citizen journalists (CJs) are extremely relevant when traditional journalists cannot access hostile and dangerous areas. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 90% of murdered reporters were lo
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cals (CPJ 2015). CJs are among the most affected journalists because they are locally based; therefore, their protection is essential. This article explores the legal instruments available to protect CJs during armed conflicts, and how distortions in the interpretation of norms can put them at risk. First, I present the legal arguments supporting the simultaneous application of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, and the protection mechanisms available for the legal protection of CJs. Second, I highlight the problems that arise when CJs are identified as combatants (spies), rather than as civilians, and discuss the effects this has on the conflict." (Abstract)
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"This chapter investigates safety challenges journalists face when reporting on democratization conflicts and their impact on journalistic work. It builds on a comparative case study within the EU-funded project “Media, Conflict and Democratisation” (MeCoDEM), which explores journalistic work pr
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actices, ethics, roles, and working conditions across a set of democratization conflicts through interviews with journalists from Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa. Findings show that journalists experience safety threats at personal and organizational levels ranging from insults, intimidation and phone tapping to physical attacks, legal proceedings, and imprisonment. Journalists describe limitations to the professionalization of the working environment, which is perceived as providing neither sufficient training on safety measures nor proper safety equipment. Also highlighted is the psychological safety of journalists experiencing trauma from witnessing violence. The reported safety challenges greatly affect journalistic practices, roles and ethics. Based on these findings, the chapter outlines possible measures to increase the safety of journalists reporting on democratization conflicts." (Abstract)
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"This chapter deals with whether war journalism in mainstream media is fit to take a fourth estate role in reporting the new wars, from the end of the Cold War in 1989 to the present war against the so-called Islamic State. In particular, it is a critical study of shortcomings when it comes to provi
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ding the public with relevant information about the legality and legitimacy of the ways in which the humanitarian operations under the UN declaration on the “Responsibility to Protect (R2P)” are pursued. However, in almost all respects, journalism is a national institution with competence deficits in the field of international law and humanitarian rights. The new and asymmetric wars – in which established distinctions, e.g., between civilians and soldiers, between embedded reporters and combatants as well as between war and peace are blurred – make such shortcomings a growing and severe democratic problem. A global journalism with higher professional standards in this field is important as one of several correctives in order to reverse the current threat spirals that jeopardize our collective security." (Abstract)
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"Journalism is a dangerous business when one’s "beat" is a war zone. Armoudian reveals the complications facing frontline journalists who cover warzones, hot spots and other hazardous situations. It compares yesterday’s conflict journalism, which was fraught with its own dangers, with today’s
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even more perilous situations—in the face of shrinking journalism budgets, greater reliance on freelancers, tracking technologies, and increasingly hostile adversaries. It also contrasts the difficulties of foreign correspondents who navigate alien sources, languages and land, with domestically-situated correspondents who witness their own homelands being torn apart." (Publisher description)
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"Research suggests between 80 and 90% of journalists have been exposed to a work-related traumatic events such as murder, mass casualties, war and natural disasters. Most journalists exhibit resilience despite repeated exposure to such traumatic events. However, a significant minority are at risk fo
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r long-term psychological problems, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and substance abuse. Unsurprisingly, the greater the exposure to violence, suffering and death, in particular involving children, the more likely people are to break down. And those are the situations exactly what many journalists have to deal with as part of their job. Due to the 30 years of war in Sri Lanka, many journalists suffer PTSD as they witnessed many horrible events involving death, violence, bomb attacks and human suffering. Even though the war ended eight years ago, trauma is still there in many minds. Currently, many of the younger journalists are more likely to report occupational dysfunction due to PTSD. This article will analyze what impact such traumatic situations had on journalists and what methods and training can better prepare fresher journalists to face such traumatic events well in advance." (Abstract)
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"Although war journalism has existed for centuries, changes in the nature of armed conflict and its coverage have put the danger for modern journalists at an all time high. The traditional war correspondent has been replaced in recent years by the independent freelance journalist. While the former r
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eceives the full protection and financial backing of his respective news organization and the American military, the latter works on his own, often living in dangerous war zones with little or no training, insurance, or equipment. This new mode of journalism has proved especially dangerous in the current conflict in Syria, where terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State intentionally capture journalists for use as propaganda pieces and bargaining chips. The U.S. government and news organizations worldwide have issued policies and entered into agreements aimed at offering better protection to journalists reporting from dangerous conflict zones. Recently, many voices have advocated for legislative amendments to the Geneva Convention that would establish new protections such as a press emblem or a special status. This will not solve the problem, however, as the major players in current conflicts systematically ignore codified law. The most feasible action to mitigate danger and reduce targeted attacks against journalists is to put an end to the impunity that has allowed the Islamic State and other violent military groups to carry out these acts unprosecuted." (Abstract)
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"The war journalist is often portrayed as a ruggedly masculine individual who survives on hard work, self-sufficiency, and heroic dedication to the truth in a stoic culture and dangerous environment. Yet, the growing number of female war journalists subtly complicates this traditional narrative. Fem
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ale war reporters navigate the precariousness of the conflict zone through the strategy of shape shifting—of switching gender performances depending on the environment and the audience. This article examines the shape-shifting phenomenon in the field, relying on 72 qualitative interviews conducted with English- and Arabic-speaking female journalists who have covered various wars and conflicts in the Arab region and beyond. On one level, interviewees say that they can work in precisely the same way as their male counterparts, downplaying their femininity and accentuating their own masculine qualities. On another rather paradoxical level, women war correspondents also sometimes foreground their feminine accessibility and intuition, especially when engaging female sources and entering private spaces inaccessible to male journalists. Finally, female conflict reporters sometimes perform an exaggerated version of feminine weakness or tacitly accept sexist treatment, especially when shape shifting can save them from danger or help them circumvent obstructions." (Abstract)
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"The non-international armed conflicts prevailing in the Middle East nowadays, have been witnessing a large number of atrocities committed against journalists. The study examined the extent to which international humanitarian law is able to provide special protection for Non-embedded (independent) j
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ournalists when covering non-international armed conflicts, and the initiatives taken by a United Nations organization to enforce the rules of this law and compel the conflict parties to respect it. The study found that United Nations Orgnization is playing a very vital role to enforce the international law of Journalists, especially during armed conflict situations. In recent years, United Nations seriously deal with this issue through a set of resolutions and plans, especially the 2015 UNSC resolution, which endorsed group of effective tools and mechanisms, the most important of them, from our point of view, is the need to end the impunity of the perpetrators of such crimes and prosecuting them before national or national courts as well as to take this issue in consideration with UN peacekeeping and special political missions. In our study, we agree with the view that the Conflict parties that deliberately target journalists will arguably not be deterred by a new treaty that affirms that journalists should not be made the object of attack. Therefore, promoting of understanding of the existing laws through media campaigns to support their enforcement, giving more coverage to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) breaches, and better training for journalists in IHL and International Criminal Court (ICC) processes, will be more effective." (Abstract)
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"The study is focusing ‘Reporting is becoming a life threatening profession in Pakistan’ as a topic for research. International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) declared Pakistan as one of the most dangerous countries for Journalists. Amnesty International called Khuzdar ‘a graveyard for Journa
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lists’. Rank of Pakistan in the World Press Freedom Index is going down year by year. However, the number of journalists who lost their lives in Pakistan is on the rise. It would be safe to say that at least 67 journalists lost their lives in Pakistan from 2002 to 2014. It is claimed by Committee to Protect Journalists that from 1992 to 2014 majority of journalists who lost their lives in the line of duty are reporters. The situation in Pakistan has been going worse with each passing day for journalists especially for reporters since 9/11. Government as well as media organizations have failed to provide proper security to reporters resulting an increase in the number of crimes against journalists as well as the impunity in their cases. Although the conviction in the cases of two murdered reporters is a ray of hope and has improved Pakistan’s rank in Global Impunity Index but still there is a lot needed to be done in order to control the increasing rate of crimes against journalists." (Abstract)
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"The vulnerability of journalists to kidnappings was starkly illustrated by the killing of James Foley and Steven Sotloff by Islamic militants in 2014. Their murder underscored the risks taken by journalists and news organisations trying to cover developments in dangerous regions of the world and ha
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s forced news enterprises to more clearly prepare for and confront issues of safety. This book explores the complex organisational issues surrounding the capture or kidnapping of journalists in areas of conflict and risk. It explores how journalists ‘becoming news’ is covered and the implications of that coverage, how news organisations prepare for and respond to such events, and how kidnapping and ransom insurers, victim recovery firms, journalists’ families, and governments influence the actions of news enterprises. It considers how and why journalists are kidnapped, how employers and journalists’ organisations respond to kidnappings and why freelancers are particularly at risk as well as suggesting best practices for preventing and responding to kidnappings." (Publisher description)
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"The chapter takes as its starting point the notion that journalists’ safety is a precondition for free expression and free media. Based on interviews and discussions with experienced female war and conflict journalists from seven countries worldwide, the discussion evolves around questions linked
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to what particular challenges and opportunities women journalists face, and how their security can best be ensured when covering war and conflict zones. The deliberations are believed to have a direct bearing on debates about female journalists’ safety online and offline, the importance of the presence of female journalists covering wars and conflicts, and how their being there may serve as an indicator of freedom of expression, civil rights and media freedom in general." (Abstract)
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"Purpose: More journalists died in Syria during 2013 than in any other country experiencing conflict. This statistic raises concerns about the psychological wellbeing of journalists covering the internecine violence. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: The study sample
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was made up of 59 western journalists currently covering the Syrian conflict. To place these results in the broader context of war journalism previously collected data from a group of 84 journalists who had reported the war in Iraq were used as a control sample. Outcome measures included indices of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Impact of Event Scale-revised) and psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire-28 item version (GHQ-28)). Findings: Compared to journalists who covered the Iraq war, the journalists working in Syria were more likely to be female (p = 0.007), single (p = 0.018), freelance (p = 0.0001) and had worked fewer years as a journalist (p = 0.012). They were more depressed according to the GHQ-28 (p = 0.001) and endorsed more individual symptoms of depression including worthlessness (p = 0.012), helplessness (p = 0.02) and suicidal intent (p = 0.003). A linear regression analysis revealed that the group differences in depression data could not be accounted for by demographic factors. Research limitations/implications: An absence of structured interviews. Results not applicable to local Syrian journalists. Practical implications: Western journalists covering Syrian appear to be particularly vulnerable to the development of depression. Journalists and the news organizations that employ them need to be cognizant of data such as these. Given that depression is treatable, there needs to be a mechanism in place to detect and treat those in need. Originality/value: This is the first study that highlights the emotional toll on western journalists covering the Syrian conflict. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)." (Abstract)
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"During the last decade, the image of war correspondents in the news has shifted dramatically. Reports are no longer full of cheerleading stories of embedded journalists. Instead, stories of war reporters being attacked, kidnapped or injured prevail. Sadly, the former heroic witnesses to war have be
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come victims of their own story. In this book, Nina Burri provides the first comprehensive analysis on how international law protects professional and citizen journalists, photographers, cameramen and their support staff during times of war. Using examples from recent armed conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Gaza and Syria, Burri explores the means, methods and risks of contemporary war coverage and examines the protection of news providers by international humanitarian law, international criminal law and human rights law." (Abstract)
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"This article examines the unique ways in which the figure of the freelance war correspondent is entangled within both the material and discursive logic of the digital in the age of the “war on terror.” Because freelancers increasingly work across media platforms and without large crews, these m
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edia producers are lucrative replacements for staff correspondents, especially since news organizations can opt out of paying for their insurance or safety training. Yet, freelancers can also be abused and discarded as soon as they begin to trouble accepted notions of journalistic authority—authority that is both a discursive and a political-economic construction. Following this, I offer two case studies in which a mainstream news network aligns a freelance journalist with the purportedly more interpretive and subjective space of the digital in order to regain control over the political narratives engendered by the freelancer’s experience in the war zone. Ultimately, I argue that these instances reveal the larger ethical poverty of mainstream news reporting in the digital age." (Abstract)
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