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Can journalism survive modern media warfare?

Can journalism survive modern media warfare?

If truth really is the first casualty of war, is journalism itself among the victims of the conflict in Gaza? If truth suffers in the charged atmosphere of death and destruction, can proper professional and ethical objective journalism survive intact and can journalists – the truthmongers – still tell war’s stories fairly and accurately for the rest of us to understand? It is a question many thoughtful journalists have asked over the years from places as … Read entire article »

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When journalists fall from grace – sometimes they’re victims too

When journalists fall from grace – sometimes they’re victims too

The jailing of an Australian foreign correspondent in Singapore for drug taking highlights yet again that dangers for journalists come in many forms. Worst of all are the hundreds of deaths every year of journalists working in their own or other people’s countries. These continue to be tolled out regularly on professional websites such as the Committee to Protect Journalists at http://www.cpj.org/, together with the thousands of media workers seriously injured every year while doing their … Read entire article »

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Why media freedom is important to us all

Why media freedom is important to us all

It is a sad truth of journalism that we are often liked best when we are at our worst, and disliked most when we are at our best. Or, at least, that seems to be so in the often rocky relationship between the media and those in authority, whether in government or big business. Very few governments like a free and unrestrained media. They dislike us when we criticise their policies or performance, they despise us … Read entire article »

Filed under: Journalism, Media

When campaigning journalism backfires

When campaigning journalism backfires

A decision by an Australian court that an accused paedophile must be set free because he cannot get a fair trial sends yet another clear warning about the limits of campaigning journalism in free democracies. The accused man, Dennis Raymond Ferguson is, according to many people in Queensland and in that state’s media, the kind of man who should never be allowed into the community – and certainly not near children. For obvious legal reasons, this column … Read entire article »

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Dilemma of receiving lost documents

Dilemma of receiving lost documents

The revelation this week that a top secret file left on a train in London was handed to a BBC journalist raises all sorts of issues, one of which is the ethics of journalists using information they have come across by chance. The dossier in question was left on the train by a senior British intelligence officer and found by a fellow passenger who handed to the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner. It was, of course, the … Read entire article »

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Prince Harry at war

Prince Harry at war

When a number of overseas media outlets – including a German newspaper, an American website and a women’s magazine in Australia – ran a story that Britain’s Prince Harry was serving on the front line of the war in Afghanistan, they were probably unaware of the controversy this seemingly simple story would generate throughout the world. Certainly the Australian women’s magazine did not know the minefield they were entering with their story. They definitely did not … Read entire article »

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Journalists killed on duty

Journalists killed on duty

The death of TV cameraman Fadel Shana in the Gaza Strip highlights yet again the dangers faced by many journalists when doing their job. The 23-year-old Reuters cameraman was killed on 16 April 2008 by a shell from an Israeli tank. Eye witnesses say the tank fired directly at the group of journalists who were covering the aftermath of an Israeli air strike. Video footage from Shana’s camera shows he may have filmed the shot which killed … Read entire article »

Filed under: Journalism