Media Safety News and Views
April 30, 2013 Leave a comment
By Hannah Storm
The event at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia was designed to offer practical advice on what journalists can do to before they are deployed and once they are in the field, to improve their personal safety and ensure they are more resilient to the psychological and physical stresses they may face.
December 5, 2012 1 Comment
By Helena Williams
Peter Ter Horst moderates the ‘No Woman’s Land’ panel debate in The Hague with Katya Alder (BBC) and Minka Nijhuis (Trouw, Vrij Nederland, Radio 1) (Photo: INSI)
The International News Safety Institute’s ground-breaking publication, ‘No Woman’s Land – On the Frontlines with Female Reporters’, was presented to the mayor of The Hague this week, marking the launch of the book in the Netherlands.
INSI’s Director Hannah Storm gave the copy to Jozais van Aartsen at the third international launch of the book, which details the experiences of 40 women journalists in conflict zones.
October 17, 2012 3 Comments
Pakistani children pray for the recovery of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot last week by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
Two top Pakistan TV anchors have been sent death threats by the Taliban for publicly condemning last week’s attack on schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.
Hamid Mir, of Geo News TV and ARY News, and his colleague Aamir Liaquat Hussain were declared “enemies of Islam” by a Taliban spokesperson, who ordered attacks on the two television channels’ offices.
Yousafzai, a renowned campaigner for girls’ education in Pakistan, was shot in the head on her way home from school.
October 9, 2012 2 Comments
James Rodgers has covered conflicts in Chechnya, Gaza and Iraq for the BBC (Photo: Helena Williams)
Like many former foreign correspondents, James Rodgers, who has covered conflicts in Chechnya, Gaza and Iraq, has written a book based on his experiences. But instead of taking what is fast becoming the regular line of war journalism memoirs – tales of near misses and narrow escapes – Rodger’s latest offering is an academic, in-depth study of the role of journalism in wartime. It is a fitting topic for the post he has taken as lecturer at City University London, one of the world’s leading journalism schools.
Q. Journalism and academia don’t usually go hand in hand. Why did you write an academic book rather than a punchy memoir?
My main motivation is to share with the next generation of journalists what I wish I knew 20 years ago.
Journalists don’t read much about what academics write about, but I used my experience as research material. I wanted to write a book which would give a greater understanding of the process [of war reporting].
September 19, 2012 7 Comments
A Sri Lankan journalist reads the final report of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation in Colombo, Sri Lanka, December 2011. The government-appointed war commission concluded that Sri Lanka’s military did not intentionally target civilians in the final stages of the country’s civil war and that ethnic rebels routinely violated international humanitarian law. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
I recently received a heartbreaking email saying a Sri Lankan journalist, his wife and nine year old child had spent the night with all their suitcases on a bench in a park in Paris. He’d been thrown out of the house where he was been staying, after losing his part time job washing dishes in a restaurant. It was difficult to organise emergency help because media organisations were shut over the weekend and his mobile phone was often switched off to preserve the credit.
July 26, 2012 2 Comments
BBC World Affairs Producer Stuart Hughes carried the Olympic torch on Tuesday (24 July), through Hillingdon, West London, in recognition of his campaigning work against landmines.
Hughes lost part of his leg after stepping on a landmine while covering the war in Iraq 2003. His colleague, cameraman Kaveh Golestan, was killed instantly.
July 24, 2012 1 Comment
The BBC’s Stuart Hughes (right), who lost part of his leg in Iraq in 2003, is running the Olympic torch relay today. He hopes to raise awareness of landmines (Stuart Hughes)
A journalist who lost part of his leg after stepping on a landmine in Iraq will be running the Olympic torch relay in London today.
Stuart Hughes, World Affairs Producer for the BBC, will be wearing a carbon fibre blade prosthesis as he carries the flame through the borough of Hillingdon.
Hughes was injured after stepping on an anti-personnel landmine in Iraq in 2003. His colleague, cameraman Kaveh Golestan, was killed instantly.
His right leg was amputated below the knee and he was fitted with a prosthetic leg.
July 13, 2012 Leave a comment
By Natasha Lennard and Helena Williams
Olympics rings on Tower Bridge, London. The Olympics will attract an estimated 260,000 visitors to the capital. (Flickr/ymmat)
With two weeks until the Olympic Games begin in London, journalists covering the international sporting event should be aware of the security concerns there.
The Olympics run from 27 July to 12 August and the Paralympics run from 29 August to 9 September. The events will attract an estimated 260,000 visitors to the capital.
London is already one of the most surveyed locations in the world, with more CCTV cameras than any other city, but the media’s focus on Olympic security has highlighted some of the more extreme measures taken – most notably the stationing of surface-to-air missiles atop nearby apartment complexes in East London.
London is on a high security alert ahead of the Olympics. The army, the police, private security firms and teams of hazardous materials handlers are on standby for any security-related incidents.
June 22, 2012 1 Comment
By Ilias Alami
Shabnah, a 12-year-old Afghan girl, votes for her favorite photo in the Farah Women’s Photography Club in Farah, Afghanistan. The number of Media organisations in Afghanistan has increased dramatically in the past ten years. (Flickr/Tracy DeMarco)
After the US intervention in Afghanistan, the number of media organisations there has increased dramatically.
According to an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) report from 2011, Afghanistan has more than 70 television stations, 175 radio stations and hundreds of newspapers. If we compare Afghanistan’s development in the past ten years, to what it was like 35 years ago – when watching TV, publishing newspapers and criticising the government in public was banned – we witness a big difference. Now the sudden boost in the media has provided a number of Afghans the opportunity to work in this field.
Of course, with this boost came consequences. Professional training in journalism, including the ethics of journalism, were some of the factors these new media workers lacked. This knowledge gap made Afghan journalists vulnerable to threats, harassment and beatings from the government, insurgents and other groups. According to a coordinator of the Journalists Committee in the Northern Province of Kunduz, most of the reporters in that area lack basic skills required in journalism.
Do or let die – UN and journalists vow to fight global media safety crisis
October 19, 2012 Leave a comment
Top news organisation and NGO representatives attended the conference, and approved a UN draft plan of action (CFOM)
By Helena Williams
“If a coked-up twelve year old with a Kalashnikov steps out from behind a bush and points it at me, I can’t wave the Declaration of Human Rights at him and say ‘you can’t do that, I’m a journalist.’”
Al Jazeera English’s executive producer Dairmuid Jeffreys’ comment reflected what many journalists in the room felt.
Yesterday’s Journalism Safety Conference, organised by the BBC College of Journalism and Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) was marred in scepticism. Little wonder: the discussion was made to a room full of journalists.
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Filed under Comment, INSI Blog Tagged with Anabel Hernandez, BBC, BBC College of Journalism, Centre for Media Freedom, conflict reporting, Galina Sidorova, Guy Berger, Hamid Mir, impunity, Jon Swain, Maguindanao Massacre, press freedom, security, UNESCO, United Nations, William Horsley