#conflict reporting

Tragic Loss of Journalists in Gaza Strike In a devastating incident early Thursday morning, five journalists tragically lost their lives when their vehicle was struck by an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat area of Gaza. This information was reported by various Palestinian news outlets, highlighting the increasing perils faced by those covering the ongoing conflict. The Israeli military confirmed…

On the 9th of every month, the anniversary of the morning after the 2016 election, we will donate to an organization engaged in the hard work of standing against and undoing the damage of the presidency a minority of voters put into place. In tribute to Hillary Clinton’s greater share of the popular vote, we will donate $48.20 to the organization in question and invite others to join us in doing the same. The original post that explains it all is here.

Above: James Foley, an American photojournalist who was kidnapped and murdered while reporting on the Syrian Civil War. He was abducted in 2012 and killed two years later. 

As with seemingly every week since last year’s presidential election, there was such an exhausting onslaught of assaults against the norms and value of U.S. civic life — and the nation’s corresponding leadership on the global stage — that some infraction can easily be downplayed or dismissed. As dismaying information about the current U.S. executive branch’s aspirational coziness with despotic Russian rulers continues to come in steam-shovel-sized doses, the ugliness of this particular exchange was too commonly ignored.

That’s a roomful of people having a laugh over Vladimir Putin playing to the U.S. president’s persecution complex over journalists who treat him “unfairly,” entirely because they occasionally report information that is unflattering or otherwise problematic to the White House. This isn’t cute or funny. In Putin’s Russia, journalists are arrested, bullied, beaten, and murdered with shocking frequency. This was the equivalent of a movie mobster surveying a room of partygoers and asking a new associate which are causing them trouble. The threat is veiled, though only barely.

By some assessments, the U.S. media is deeply unpopular, even more so than the widely loathed president and the even-more-roundly-decried Congress. In some instances, it’s not hard to see why. Too much of cable news is turned over to blustering commentary. And when they take a sliver of time to provide detailed coverage of governmental policy that will impact the citizenry — for good or for ill — the tenor of the discussion is often framed in horse race considerations of which politicians will reap popularity point rewards rather than a considered rundown of the likely results of implementation.

But the attempts to marginalize and malign the U.S. media are abjectly wrong. Arguably, they represent the most transparently un-American stance taken by any administration. And the vehement, out-of-proportion hatred is spreading in dangerous ways, with CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski (and his family) facing harassment and threats for identifying the creator of an idiotic, bullying video that the U.S. president felt worthy of sharing with the nation on his Twitter account. 

All this rage is being leveled at a profession that it vital to the nation and the world. It was reporters who uncovered the criminal acts perpetrated by the White House in the Watergate era, and it is reporters who expose instances of inhuman brutality taking place around the world, offering a chance for justice to take hold. They regularly stand on the front lines and put themselves in grave danger, just to keep their fellow citizens of the Earth informed. It is a noble calling, and precious few are looking out for the well-being of journalists around the world. One group that is offering such support to reporters is the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

According to organization’s website, “CPJ promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. CPJ ensures the free flow of news and commentary by taking action wherever journalists are attacked, imprisoned, killed, kidnapped, threatened, censored, or harassed.”

That’s why we’re giving CPJ our July 2017 donation of $48.20.

How can journalists tell stories of tragedy and crisis — stories that undoubtedly need to be told — without subjecting themselves to psychological burden?

It’s a question that has become increasingly pertinent as psychologists have gained a better understanding of the significant mental health risks that come with viewing violence and traumatic imagery as part of one’s occupation.

For Russell Lewis, @npr’s Southern Bureau Chief, coordinating large-scale disaster coverage is just another part of the job. As part of NPR’s Go Team, Lewis helps journalists get basic supplies and rotates reporters to help them avoid crisis-coverage burnout. He recently shared his tips on protecting one’s psychological well-being with Current.org.

Covering war for the first time--in Syria

Conflict reporting and media in FATA

Role of Media in Conflict Management: How media became the voice of public in present day tribal areas — 

The guest lecture held by FATA Research Centre (FRC) at FRC Seminar Hall on 7th February, 2013 on the topic of “Role of Media in Conflict Management: Conflict Reporting From FATA” is the part of series of guest’s lectures to explore the ways to achieve peace. FRC invites guests who are…

News Outlets to Syrian Rebels: Help Us Stop Journalist Kidnappings

Syria is the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist. As former New York Times reporter David Rohde wrote last month, roughly 30 journalists, half of them foreign reporters, are now missing in the country—marking the "single largest wave of kidnappings in modern journalism." Just in the last few weeks, we've learned that two Swedish journalists were abducted near the Lebanese border, two Spanish journalists were kidnapped by al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in the northern province of Raqqa, and an Iraqi cameraman was executed by the same jihadi group in the northern province of Idlib. A total of 55 journalists have been killed covering the two and a half-year-old conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Pro- and anti-Assad forces have both had a hand in the bloodshed.