Kim Barker and the Difficulties of War Zone Journalism

Kim Barker makes covering war zones sound easy. The ProPublica reporter and author of “The Taliban Shuffle” spoke about her time spent as a war zone correspondent in Afghanistan and the many struggles she faced, the most difficult being the choice whether to stay independent of conflict while reporting in the country.

Of all the people I’ve heard speak on the topic of the ethics of journalism, and the journalism itself, Barker is definitely a different one. It seems like many journalists believe abiding by the exactly rules and ethics of journalism is number one priority. However, I got the feeling that Barker wasn’t the same. She spoke of a few times when the human in her won over the ethical journalist. She emphasized making mistakes, being cautious when it comes to your own life and the life of your partners, and staying positive under stressful and dangerous situations. These all seem like the words of someone who understands that journalists are humans too. She doesn’t place importance on truth and accuracy, rather on learning and safety. These are not the words of an ethics professor, but of a woman who has been a journalist and has had to make decisions that counteract the ethics of her work. A more specific example is seen in a story about her work in Afghanistan, in which a young boy fell off a moving truck, and the truck drove away, leaving him on the road and in need of medical assistance. Barker picked up the young boy and held him as her team tried to find a hospital that would help the young boy. If she had followed ethics directly, and avoided a conflict of interest relating to her work, then she would have left him there. There were also other times when she was writing stories about people who were hungry, needed clothing, or were very upset. One might feel compelled in these types of situations to help the individuals of their stories, however, according to journalism ethics codes, such as the SPJ Code of Ethics, a journalist must “Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.” While helping humans in need is probably seen as a good thing by most, there is always a possibility that doing so could ruin your reputation and credibility because of an association to what you are writing about. Remaining emotionally uninvolved in stories is difficult, but it is the price paid by journalists.

According to Barker, you have to remember that you are a human first. Naturally, in a war zone, you will see terrible things. Coping with the things you see and the people you may or may not help is difficult, but necessary as a journalist. At the end of the day, you have to be able to laugh and find humor in things, and be open to new experiences. Yes, ethics codes are supposed to be followed – this is the price one pays to be a journalist. But it’s up to you to decide if you are a journalist or a human first.

Eric Newton and the Future of Journalism

Eric Newton, the senior advisor to the president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, did not discuss much about the ethics of journalism. However, he did discuss the many ways in which journalism is changing now, and how it will be changing in the future. Naturally, when something changes, the details of that thing change as well. We as journalists need to pay attention to this phenomenon and adapt a new set of ethics and principles in order to keep up with the future of journalism.

Ever since America became a country, it has transitioned between phases, or generations and ages every so often. With each change came a change in the way media and news was created and distributed. In the 1760s, during the “Compromise” generation, news was distributed through pamphlets and was mainly a way to get news of the American Revolution out. Today, in the “Cyber” generation, news is created and viewed using social mobile and social media and is created in terms of convenience and timeliness. Transitions between each generation were caused by new technologies, making news and media delivered more quickly and made more affordable to the public. But with the transition between generations and the growth in technology that comes with it, journalists need to be updating and changing along with it. For example, the code of ethics for The Society of Professional Journalists was created in 1926, and updated in 1973, 1984, 1986, and 1996 (SPJ Code of Ethics). Obviously this codes of ethics, and many others, are long overdue for an update. This is not only because of the time gap in between now and the last update, but also because of the transition that occurred between the Millennial Generation and the Cyber Generation, which began in roughly the year 2001, according to Newton.

Furthermore, ethics codes in journalism need to be updated in order to protect the people who are in the news. The growth in new media technology threatens sources and individuals in the news. Because the news can be so quickly delivered, there is little time to think about who may or may not be harmed in the creation of such news. As an amateur journalist, I can film a news-worthy story on my smart phone, edit it, upload it to Youtube, and share it on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media site, all while standing in the same spot. While this is efficient, it is also dangerous. Updating social media sites has become so normal with journalists that we rarely stop to think about what we are writing before it is published. In order to protect ourselves and those in the media, we must constantly update ethics codes with the growth of new media and new technologies.

The question now is how ethics will play into the recent changes in creating and delivering news and media. Obviously there is a need for a change in journalism ethics, but we do not know how or when this will happen. It is up to us as young journalists to create new codes in order to keep up with new technologies, and to constantly improve the codes from generation to generation in order to successfully and properly deliver news to the public.

Michael Chow and Photojournalism at ASU

Photojournalist Michael Chow talked at Must See Mondays about the difficulties he faced reporting for the Arizona Republic. Chow mostly reported on incidents in California and Arizona, ranging from political campaigns to natural disasters. Especially with disasters and other terrible occurrences, covering and photographing victims involves difficult ethical decisions.

The only thing Chow had to say when asked about ethics in photojournalism was to be careful in Photoshop, or not to edit pictures to the point where there are over manipulated in order to change the meaning of the original photograph. But throughout his lecture, he talked about a lot more serious and important things that involved ethics then how we edit photography. The main example of this is covering situations delicately when dealing with victims of loss or disaster, whether it is natural or caused by another human. In these cases, reporters and photographers are covering people in their lowest and hardest times. Being sensitive and aware of this fact is crucial in balancing the need for news and protecting the people involved in the disaster or loss. As someone who photographed natural disasters such as fires and monsoons, Chow had to deal with these delicate types of situations frequently. According to Chow, grief is the hardest thing to cover in journalism, both for the reporter and the other people involved. As journalists, we have to consider the ethics of covering grieving individuals. Is it okay to take pictures of people while they are grieving, and even publish them? Is it okay to name these individuals in articles? Can published names and photographs potentially harm them, either physically or mentally? This is better known as minimizing harm and secondary victimization. Journalists have the responsibility of protecting those featured in their articles. Publishing a name in an article can threaten their life or their reputation. Also, publishing photographs and vivid stories can potentially force the victim to relive their tragedy, which is known as secondary victimization. However, another thing to remember is that journalists and humans, too. Covering intense situations where people may be grieving is difficult to deal with emotionally for reporters as well. But according to Chow, we must learn to detach ourselves from what we are reporting on. This does not mean becoming a desensitized, unfeeling human. It means not becoming involved in what you are covering. Journalists have the responsibility to report the truth. Getting emotionally involved, whether directly or indirectly, creates a conflict of interest in what we report on.

In general, journalism ethics in photography are hard to work with. We have to choose between the public’s right to know and the safety of those in question. We also have to think about the suffering of the victims. Seeing their story could force them to relive their pain, or offend victims by publishing photographs of them in their worst and most difficult time. Obviously Chow has done a good job at balancing the many aspects of ethics and news coverage; he is someone to learn from.

Why All the Fuss?

I very frequently hear adults telling me I have a strange taste for someone so young. Led Zeppelin, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Hunter S. Thompson, and Rush – and the list goes on. Most of the time my parents tell me they played the music I listen to in their cars on the way to school in the 60s and 70s. But I can’t help but like what I like! And why not share my mild obsession with the world? Okay, so this blog is an assignment, but being a journalist in today’s world means being well versed in all things media, blogs included, so why not? Which brings me to the point. I’m Diana, a sophomore at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Anyways, if you happen to like history, particularly the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, this is the blog for you. While reading into my favorite time period in history, I realized that the era of hippies, beatniks, and rock ‘n’ roll had a much more profound effect on today’s society than most would think, mainly in the media. Everything from the rise in Web 2.0 to the media being used to start uprisings stems from the belief that the youth during that time began to feel that they had the power to change the world. Which they did.

Presently, the younger generation still has that feel to them, but it has lost some of its “gusto.” Although today’s youth does have more powerful tools and outlets with which to rebel -the Internet- it is lacking in the motivation to use this tool to protest. There has however, been instances recently in which the youth has used the Internet to rebel against their oppressors, mainly through the “Arab Revolution.”

I’ll get into the details later, but for now I leave you with a quote that sums up the general feel of the 50s and 60s:

“And that, I think, was the handle – that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark – that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

~Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”

Ready to read more about the 60s? Don’t worry, me too. But until next time, Peace.