Trends in international journalism 8 March 2007 Journalism

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Trends in international journalism 8 March 2007 Journalism in conflicts and war kristin. orgeret@media.

Trends in international journalism 8 March 2007 Journalism in conflicts and war kristin. orgeret@media. uio. no

Reporting war • Last century: roughly 250 significant armed conflicts killed more than 110

Reporting war • Last century: roughly 250 significant armed conflicts killed more than 110 million people • This century does not seem to be a less bloody one so far • The number of journalists imprisoned and killed worldwide raised for the second straight year in 2006.

Today’s lecture: • • • War journalism, rhetorics and disinformation Embedded journalism The role

Today’s lecture: • • • War journalism, rhetorics and disinformation Embedded journalism The role of images Reporting war from an African perspective Reporting on women and war The war correspondent Peace journalism The objectivity doctrine – the only possible? Potential media roles in conflict prevention and management

War journalism • Rhetorics and disinformation in war journalism. • There are two wars

War journalism • Rhetorics and disinformation in war journalism. • There are two wars in Iraq – a military assault and a media war. The former is well covered, the second less so.

 • On May 23, 2004 the New York Times apologized to its readers

• On May 23, 2004 the New York Times apologized to its readers for misleading them on the existence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – crucial in the arguments for the Iraq War. • What role did the media as a whole play in preparing the public for war?

Framing war • Media frames involve principles of selection, emphasis and presentation and influences

Framing war • Media frames involve principles of selection, emphasis and presentation and influences our understanding and interpretation of news events. Sometimes there will also be framing contests and framing conflicts between different actors, both inside and outside, the media.

Reporting war Disinformation in war journalism – the case of Jessica Lynch, 2003

Reporting war Disinformation in war journalism – the case of Jessica Lynch, 2003

Reporting war Embedded journalism – Journalists attached to military unit involved in war or

Reporting war Embedded journalism – Journalists attached to military unit involved in war or conflict. – Training, closeness and socialization. – Genuine access to military action – Processes of identification, clothing, language. Knowledge. Sympathy. The process may emphasize the ’us vs them’ dochotomy: ’Our soldiers’ have many faces, ’the enemy’ is a grey mass.

Reporting war ’Inbedded’ versus ’unilaterals’ • ”Once you bond with these guys (the soldiers),

Reporting war ’Inbedded’ versus ’unilaterals’ • ”Once you bond with these guys (the soldiers), once reporters have come to like these guys, they are not going to report how terrible anybody can be in war, how they were laughing as they shot people” (Broadcast network correspondent, in Tumber 2004).

Reporting war The embedded journalist seemed to be tempted to play a double role,

Reporting war The embedded journalist seemed to be tempted to play a double role, but that fact perhaps made us more aware of possible bias. The result of the embedding was that it provided any one correspondent with a fragmented view of the war in his/her sector , with US officials reluctant to furnish a more strategic overview. But it produced only a fragmented view of the war and fostered in too many journalists an unhealthy identification with coalition troops, consciously or unconsciously with a pro-American slant. The embedding process also promoted a sense of identification with the troops and an ‘us-versus-them’ pro US-boosterism among too many of the American media (Editor quoted in Rantanen 2004).

Reporting war The journalist’s emotional choice (Made in Hollywood) ” I don’t take sides

Reporting war The journalist’s emotional choice (Made in Hollywood) ” I don’t take sides – I take pictures!”

The war pictures’ stories • There are more images in war time than in

The war pictures’ stories • There are more images in war time than in times of peace. • Images function more in wartime like non-journalistic modes of visual representation than in times of peace. • Images graviate more in wartime toward familiar depictions of the past than in times of peace.

The war pictures’ stories

The war pictures’ stories

The war pictures’ stories Soweto 16 June 1976

The war pictures’ stories Soweto 16 June 1976

The war pictures’ stories The banality of evil. Abu Ghraib Prison.

The war pictures’ stories The banality of evil. Abu Ghraib Prison.

Media and war • Korean war 1950: the first war covered by television •

Media and war • Korean war 1950: the first war covered by television • Vietnam war 1961: Introduced graphic images of war • Gulf War 1991: Cable images 24 hours a day. The CNN war. • Iraq war 2003: Internet, broadband, interactive maps , websites with live video,

War from an African perspective • The Western media continues to shore up the

War from an African perspective • The Western media continues to shore up the myths that justify the continued denigration of the African continent. . The media exert great power and influence over the minds of governments, investors and the general public alike. In continuing to spread the bad news, and failing to have eyes to recognize the good news when it is there, the media play a potent role in maintaining ancient prejudices – and these prejudices can hardly be overstressed, considering the rolethey have played in allowing Northern audiences to turn a blind eye to the ravages committed against the continent and its people, from slavery, to apartheid to the on-going, longrange economic control of the post-colonial era (John Matshikiza)

Reporting on women and war • Avoid ’add-women-and-stir-formula’ • Male and female journalists both

Reporting on women and war • Avoid ’add-women-and-stir-formula’ • Male and female journalists both need to be made aware of the importance of gender sensitivity • Appoint more women managers, editors and mentors. • Ensure that gender training programmes are attended by both men and women.

Women and conflict/ war • Examples from South Africa • Why cannot men do

Women and conflict/ war • Examples from South Africa • Why cannot men do all stories too? “One subject that really irritates the living hell out of me is if there is a woman abuse story, a rape story, it will end up on my desk. I am saying ‘Why cannot one of the males do this story? ’ They say ‘He just cannot get the right perspective on it’. And I am going – ‘Why not? ’ And men are a bit scared of those stories, they will do anything to avoid a story on rape or woman abuse. But in general, I mean in crime stories I was doing anything, I was doing all the horrible things. So that is the only topic they would only give to a girl” (interview, Mc. Cowen 2004).

Women and conflict/ war • Examples from South Africa • Why do I have

Women and conflict/ war • Examples from South Africa • Why do I have to be ladylike when covering a war? Being in Baghdad during the war they told me to comb my hair. Yes! My bosses had this whole issue and apparently in the meetings here they had a topic discussion about my hair, that I looked a mess and everything else. And well if you see the tapes my hair did look a mess. […] They did tell me that I was doing great, but – ‘Please for God’s sake put a comb through your hair. ’ I was so out of it, so tired – ‘What do you expect, there is no water in this place. I have bottled water. Do you want me to tell my cameraman that I need all the water for my hair? Really, we do not know how long this war is going to last’ (interview, Horne 2004).

Reporters Sans Frontières (www. rsf. org) • With the speed they are killing journalists

Reporters Sans Frontières (www. rsf. org) • With the speed they are killing journalists in Iraq you’ll soon have to go there and get the news yourself

Journalists in war The psychological hazards of war journalism: Posttraumatic Stress Condition (PTSC) –

Journalists in war The psychological hazards of war journalism: Posttraumatic Stress Condition (PTSC) – Re-experiencing -– Avoidance -– Arousal

Peace journalism • Peace journalism is when editors and reporters make choices about what

Peace journalism • Peace journalism is when editors and reporters make choices about what to report and how to report it, which create opportunity for society at large to consider and value non-violent, developmental responses to conflict.

Peace journalism • Many journalists have never subscribed to the ’objectivity’ doctrine promoted by

Peace journalism • Many journalists have never subscribed to the ’objectivity’ doctrine promoted by the Western liberal model of journalism. • They would argue that to truly understand a conflict or a war and to report it fairly and in all its complexity, journalists must place themselves at the very centre. Not necessarily in the middle of the violence, but at the interface of the conflict.

Peace journalism • • Media’s preventive potential Channelling communication Educating Confidence building Counteracting misperceptions

Peace journalism • • Media’s preventive potential Channelling communication Educating Confidence building Counteracting misperceptions Analysing conflict Identifying the interests underlying the issues

Peace journalism • • • Media’s preventive potential Providing emotional outlets Encouraging a balance

Peace journalism • • • Media’s preventive potential Providing emotional outlets Encouraging a balance of power Framing and defining the conflict Face saving and consensus building Solution building