When I watch the news, I find that much of the reporting is framed with back-imagery without any reference to when or where the images were taken. People commenting in news programs seem to have less and less to say, or are allowed less and less time to speak. And the effect? A kind of knowledge illiteracy, perhaps?
On the other hand, there are wonderful journalistic pieces, often tucked away in the mid-pages of a newspaper or in an online mainstream or alternative news site. Here is where to seek background, in-depth, fascinating information - to be informed.
My favourite journalist for informative reporting and in-depth analysis is Robert Fisk from the UK's The Independent newspaper. Fisk, this week, reports on the situation in Syria and, as someone who covered the Balkans war in the 1990s, he reflects on the parallels between the two conflicts.
'No entry to the International Red Cross. Not yet. Maybe in a few days, when the area has been secured. Men and boys separated from the women and children. Streams of refugees. Women, children, the old, few males. Stories of men being loaded on to trucks and taken away. Destination unknown. Devastation. No journalists, no freedom of movement for the UN. The place was called Srebrenica.' (Fisk 2012).
But then, just when we are swept back into the memory of the massacre of Bosnian Muslim men in Srebrenica, Fisk pulls us back into reality with a warning: 'Parallels are seductive, dangerous, frightening, often inaccurate.' But then he goes on to explain why the scenes, then in Bosnia and now in Syria, have similar trajectories.
When we take time to read a story from a well-respected journalist like Robert Fisk who has spent much of his life reporting on the Middle East, we become informed, but more than that, we recognise the compassion that one journalist brings to the understanding of conflict and the plight of peoples.
Questions
-What is the relationship between reporting and religion?
- When a journalist reports on a religious conflict like the Balkans in the 1990s, or the religious excesses of other conficts from Afghanistan to the Sudan, do they need to be specialist reporters such as Fisk?
- Why is it important to have specialist journalists who can engage with indepth religio-political questions and backgrounders, compared to the superficial, 2-5 second grab about issues at the heart of the globalised world?
Questions
-What is the relationship between reporting and religion?
- When a journalist reports on a religious conflict like the Balkans in the 1990s, or the religious excesses of other conficts from Afghanistan to the Sudan, do they need to be specialist reporters such as Fisk?
- Why is it important to have specialist journalists who can engage with indepth religio-political questions and backgrounders, compared to the superficial, 2-5 second grab about issues at the heart of the globalised world?
Reference
Fisk R. 2012. Robert Fisk: Is Homs an echo of what happened in Srebrenica? The Independent, March 7.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/
Image source: http://pixabay.com/en/alphabet-antique-character-15461/
To me it's like comparing a medical specialist to a GP, differing views of focus for different requirements. One writes and reports through exposure and feeling, the other with a more general focus and providing general information as needed for mass audiences. This is all well and good, as each ultimately serves a necessary purpose. A similar type relationship is seen in newspaper and online (some) articles by comparison to television-style reporting. I have no experience in the field but I can assume the journalists have little to no say in the content of which they are reporting on, and with the timeslots so condensed, they have to essentially give a general report in 2-3 minutes and surmise a great deal of information for the average viewer. On the other hand such “specialist” reporters have time to reflect upon past experiences and put proverbial pen to paper. And if not at the very least in the event of a live news report have the opportunity to give an individual’s perspective on the events that they personally have been exposed to, rather than simply read text from a teleprompter. Like I said both play important roles, but to have the “specialist” perspective available for reference provides people with a level of connection within the topic that would be otherwise unavailable.
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