On Thursday, 12 March, Anne Bennett (Executive Director, Hirondelle USA), Roy Gutman (Middle East Bureau Chief, McClatchy Newspapers) and Charlie Sennott (Executive Director, The GroundTruth Project and Co-founder, GlobalPost) joined HREA for a roundtable discussion on the role of the media in reporting on armed conflict. The event also introduced HREA’s new self-directed e-course Reporting Conflicts: International Humanitarian Law for Media Professionals. HREA’s Executive Director, Frank Elbers, moderated the session. Click to watch the recording of the event.
The panelists shared different perspectives on how media professionals should cover conflict situations, how journalists should report on violations of human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL), and how journalists working in conflict zones can be protected.
“Reporting accurate news and information really contributes to the protection of populations that are caught up in conflict,” said Bennett. An understanding of IHL, she added, helps journalists “ask the right questions”.
Like any story, armed conflict “needs to be explained. It needs to be understood,” Gutman said. “Wars happen…but what we can do is monitor how they’re being fought.” He called IHL a “yardstick” or “toolbox” that the media can use to highlight violations of human rights and of the laws of the war.
Sennott compared IHL to the “ground truth”, the human measurements NASA uses to calibrate satellite measurements. Just as the ground truth determines if satellite data is accurate, IHL helps media professionals and the public assess violations of the laws of war. He described journalists’ role in conflict situations as “bear[ing] witness to the dramatic human failure that is war.”
HREA staff also presented the new self-directed e-course “Reporting Conflicts: International Humanitarian Law for Media Professionals”. The course provides a primer on IHL for media professionals. It explains the principles and application of IHL, including how IHL is enforced, and which groups are afforded special protections. Learn more about the course and enroll.