Reporting Conflict: Aiming to Stop the Story

The first World Summit on the Information Society to be held in Geneva this month is likely to affirm the need for open access to information. But there are real worries that with technological progress, television reporting especially is seen as a threat to the conduct of conflict.

The World Today Updated 10 February 2021 7 minute READ

Nik Gowing

Presenter, BBC World

There is a growing fear that some governments – especially the most militarily sophisticated like the United States and Israel – are sanctioning the active targeting of journalists in war zones. The evidence is that they want to shut down what we are there to do – to bear witness and report.

The concern is that there is an apparent culture of impunity. This is already encouraging others to believe they can get away with targeting and eliminating journalists, or at least ignoring the issue. More than ever, we are inconvenient eyes and ears who monitor and report what some in power would much prefer we did not.

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