MetaFilter posts tagged with journalism and war

"It is necessary to be bothered from time to time."

heeeraldo — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:38:08 -0800

"It is a scene from which many of us would naturally recoil, or at least avert our eyes: a grievously injured young man, fallen on a rough patch of earth; his open-mouthed and unseeing stare registering — who can know what? — horror or fear or shock; being tended desperately by two companions in what are the first moments of the final hours of his life."
The New York Times' Lens Blog explores the circumstances and consequences of the Associated Press releasing Julie Jacobsen's photo depicting Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard after he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in a Taliban ambush. more links: The AP's article about their decision to release the photo. Death of a Marine, a narrated slideshow from Julie Jacobsen.

Frozen Scandal

homunculus — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:37:57 -0800

"Scandal is our growth industry. Revelation of wrongdoing leads not to definitive investigation, punishment, and expiation but to more scandal. Permanent scandal. Frozen scandal." [Via]

Friendly fire coverup

homunculus — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:58:27 -0800

New friendly fire coverup: Army shreds files on dead soldiers. "Hours after Salon revealed evidence that two Americans were killed by a U.S. tank, not enemy fire, military officials destroyed papers on the men."

When Prague Spring Gave Way to Winter

chunking express — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:57:07 -0800

When Prague Spring Gave Way to Winter. There is also a small slide show of images discussed in the article at the NYT, and a post over at Magnum which contains more images.

Apparently he missed 5% of it.

Pope Guilty — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:56:03 -0800

War is Boring.

The Frontline Club

criticalbill — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:42:28 -0800

The Frontline club is a media club in west London supporting international independent journalism. Started by Vaughan Smith (prev) after the Frontline TV agency closed, it has a restaurant, cinema and hosts talks by leading journalists. The website has blogs, articles and phot ogra phy, and you can watch full length videos of talks, with people like Jeremy Paxman, David Horovitz and Robert Thomson

Travels in a Militarised Society.

chunking express — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:50:07 -0800

groundviews is Sri Lankan citizen journalism initiative. There is a lot of good stuff here. I started by reading Travels in a Militarised Society (Part one and two). What Liberation, on the government taking control of the East, is also an interesting read.

Inside Iraq

homunculus — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:30:46 -0800

As Iraqis See It. "About a year ago, McClatchy Newspapers set up a blog exclusively for contributions from its Iraqi staff. 'Inside Iraq,' it's called, and several times a week the Iraqi staff members post on it about their experiences and impressions. 'It's an opportunity for Iraqis to talk directly to an American audience,' says Leila Fadel, the current bureau chief. As such, the blog fills a major gap in the coverage." Previously discussed here. [Via disinformation.]

...GE had long done business with the bin Ladens. In a misguided attempt at corporate synergy, I called GE headquarters...

amberglow — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:31:03 -0800

"You Don't Understand Our Audience" --what John Hockenberry (formerly of NBC, now at MIT Media Lab) learned about network news--good guys and bad guys, the "emotional center", synergy, facts, and why fewer and fewer watch nowadays.

An update on the 'Marlboro Marine'

salvia — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:18:02 -0800

Photo-Essay on the Marlboro Marine and PTSD. An update on this story: 1, 2.

Cats and War

homunculus — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:35:22 -0800

What Cats Know About War. A reporter adopts cats to reconnect with life amid unremitting death. [Via linkfilter.] Another War's Stray: An interview with John Laurence (.mp3), the author of “The Cat From Hue: A Vietnam War Story”.

"The proprietor of the Journal was as good as his word..."

Effigy2000 — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:03:32 -0800

Frederick Remington was an American artist who in 1898 became a war correspondent and illustrator for the New York Morning Journal during the Spanish-American War. The Journal's editor in chief, William Randolph Hearst I was an American newspaper magnate whose paper had, circa 1895, fought to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule by writing sensational stories of Cuban virtue and Spanish atrocities in an attempt to influence US opinion. In 1898, Hearst sent Remington to Cuba to report on the war which Hearst was certain was about to begin. However when Remington arrived, he telegrammed Hearst saying "Everything is quiet. There is no trouble here. There will be no war. I wish to return." Hearst responded "Please remain. You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war." Not long after, the war began. These telegrams are often cited as one of the most famous (if not the first) examples of yellow journalism (so much so it is mentioned in Citizen Kane) and is meant to speak to the powerful potential effects of the news media. But did The Remington-Hearst "telegrams"actually ever take place, or is this simply another urban legend?

Catering to a Lebanese cliché

CKZ — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 02:30:53 -0800

Catering to a Lebanese cliché. The story behind the World Press Photo of the Year 2006.

the war you don't see

sergeant sandwich — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:52:35 -0800

Iraq: The Hidden Story is a very interesting 48 minute Channel 4 report on the news you see and the news you don't. Not for the squeamish. via

Anna Politkovskaya 1958 - 7 October 2006

hoskala — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 13:12:42 -0800

Newsfilter: Chechen war reporter found dead - Anna Politkovskaya. Courageous reporting from the "forgotten" conflicts in Caucasus. I guess she found out the truth too often.

One evening in November, 1914, I found myself in Calais

mwhybark — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 14:58:22 -0800

The Great War: "People at the time experienced it differently. We may think they were misinformed and deluded, and perhaps they were, or maybe we have become incredibly cynical and mistrusting. What were once considered to be civic virtues are now thought to be quaint anachronisms at best or grand delusions at worst. Things change." The site proffers an incredible variety of popular-press articles and imagery concerning the unfortunate European events of 1914 to 1918.

Is the News Media in Iraq practicing "compensatory criticism"?

Skygazer — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 10:10:57 -0800

The big payback in Iraq. Last night on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, ROBERT LICHTER, President, Center for Media and Public Affairs put forth the following: You know, Charlie Peter, a great Washington journalist, once said, "The message of Watergate was dig, dig, dig, but journalists thought the message was act tough." And so I think you're getting negative coverage that may be kind of compensatory criticism.

Should the news focus more on the optimistic elements or is it reflecting public opinion. Is "compensatory criticism" justified for what it might wrongly perceive as possible White House manipulation during the run up to the war?

Don't Bomb Us.

edverb — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 09:59:48 -0800

Don't Bomb Us. In response to credible reports that Bush wanted to bomb al-Jazeera's HQ in allied Qatar (discussed here and here on MeFi), Al Jazeera staffers start their own English-language blog. Their site contains remembrances of their fallen colleagues, firsthand accounts of US attacks on their offices, links to relevant reports on the controversy, Flickr photosets of protests calling for an official investigation, and al Jazeera's code of ethics. Also, a quick note to Tony Blair: " P.S. Thanks for talking Mr. Bush out of bombing our offices!" Not surprisingly, their blog is generating some comments.

hotzone or notzone

pasd — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:13:53 -0800

In the Hot Zone Yahoo! have hired journalist Kevin Sites (previously discussed here and here) to 'cover every armed conflict in the world within one year... to provide a clear idea of the combatants, victims, causes, and costs of each of these struggles - and their global impact'. The NYT (reg required) quotes Lloyd Braun, Head of Yahoo! Media Group, saying that he hopes they can combat the "growing public distrust of network news... [with] a transparency I think the Internet user wants and the news audience is craving".

there was no checkpoint

muckster — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:33:20 -0800

From her perspective, it was just opening fire by a tank. Giuliana Sgrena, the freed Italian journalist who was shot at by American troops upon her release, sets the record straight: there was no checkpoint, she was on a secure VIP road that runs directly from the Green Zone to the Baghdad airport, and her car was shot at from behind. Transcript, audio, and video of an interview with Naomi Klein, who talked to Sgrena in Rome.

Like dare-devil bloggers with journalism degrees

iffley — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 01:29:24 -0800

Unembedded reporters in Iraq: Fadel al-Badrani, Da hr Ja mail, Nir Ro sen, Christopher Allbritton. Where they go, what they see, and what they report on gives words to the photographs at Crisis Pictures (warning: some photographs may upset you, and the site has an obtrusive agenda) .

US Troops Killing and Torturing Journos in Iraq

fenriq — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 11:34:50 -0800

US Military 'still failing to protect journalists in Iraq' (Guardian link, reg. req use bugmenot.com)
This isn't the first time allegations of mistreatment of journalists have been levelled at the US troops. Nor is it the second and the military has even admitted to killing an Arab journalist and some are questioning if the US military wants to kill journalists? The list of dead journalists and another list from AlJazeera.net, continues to grow.

And, because I'd not seen if before and don't recall seeing it here before, the Iraq Body Count database (the civilian death toll) and here it is, all on one big page.

War

four panels — Mon, 15 Nov 2004 15:06:35 -0800

Fallujah in pictures. Graphic images of destruction and loss.

five days as an Iraqi hostage

madamjujujive — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 10:50:33 -0800

Five Days in Hell - what's it like to be an Iraqi hostage? Canadian war journalist Scott Taylor provides a harrowing account of his recent 5-day ordeal as a hostage of notorious Islamic mujahedin groups. Christopher Delisso has an interview with Taylor, and blogger Zeyad of Healing Iraq offers informed local commentary on kidnappings in his post, "On clerics, fatwas and terrorism."