Open Media Watch

Humanitarian Media

Media in conflict & post-conflict situations

Following are articles from other sources related to the role of media in conflict and post-conflict situations. The opinions and views expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Internews.

Crackles of hatred, The Economist, Jul 23rd 2009. LAST year, as Kenya slid into mayhem, the words that sputtered forth from crude transmitters were cryptic but, to those in the know, horrifying. “People of the milk”, a reference to the cattle-owning Kalenjin people, were urged to “take out the weeds in our midst”— in other words, the Kikuyus. Meanwhile Kikuyu broadcasters inveighed against the peril posed by “animals from the west”: this meant the rival Luo (from which Barack Obama originates) and Kalenjins.

Who wants to silence the Tamil newspaper Uthayan?, Reporters Without Borders, 30 June 2009, A hitherto unknown group calling itself the Tamil United Force to Safeguard the Country has threatened to kill all the employees of the Tamil-language newspaper Uthayan, the leading newspaper in the Jaffna peninsula, if they have not resigned by the end of today.

Serbia investigates media role in war crimes, Reuters Alert Net, 08 June 2009, Serbia's war crimes prosecutor has launched a probe into the role of journalists in stoking war crimes during 1991-1995 wars in the former Yugoslavia, an official said on Monday.

Israel arrests journalist critical of Gaza war, Press TV, 13 May 2009, Israeli police have arrested a journalist upon her arrival from the Gaza Strip over charges of entry into and residence in an "enemy state."

Afghanistan: What Gains for Press Freedom from Hamid Karzai's Seven Years as President?, Reporters Without Borders, March 16, 2009
Reporters Without Borders today released the report of a fact-finding visit to Afghanistan in January. Entitled “We have free speech, but we’re not safe and we don’t act responsibly,” it evaluates the gains for press freedom from Hamid Karzai’s seven years as president.

Egyptian bloggers unite in the face of terrorism, Global Voices, March 4, 2009
Eman AbdElRahman wrote about how the Egyptian blogosphere reacted to Al Hussein bombs on February 22 that resulted in the death of a French tourist and the injury of more than 20 people.  Today, I will write about a group of Egyptian bloggers and their initiative to combat terrorism.

Bangladeshi Journalist, Champion of Free Speech in the Muslim World, Attacked, The Huffington Post, February 27, 2009
On Monday, a gang of thugs stormed the newspaper office of The Weekly Blitz, an independent newspaper based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and physically attacked its editor, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. Choudhury, 39, advocates normalized relations between his country and Israel, and also has worked to expose the widespread brainwashing of Bangladeshi youth into radical Islam.

Sudanese government launches media campaign against CIHRS over controversial documentary on Darfur, International Freedom of Expression Exchange, February 26,2009
The Sudanese Embassy in Cairo is currently in the course of launching an extensive media campaign in Egyptian and Arab mass media in the wake of the release and distribution of the documentary "Darfur Destroyed" that was released on February 10, 2009.

Greek militants threaten to kill journalists, International Herald Tribune, February 21, 2009
A Greek militant group that opened fire outside a television station in Athens last week issued a statement published Saturday in which it threatens to kill journalists.

A glimpse of the hidden war in Sri Lanka, Committee to Protect Journalists, February 20, 2009
The government has barred independent journalists from travelling to the war zone"--the description of the Sri Lankan conflict has been among the most often-repeated for almost two years. News outlets want the latest pictures of the war in Sri Lanka and its civilian refugees. But displaced civilians who do manage to leave the war zone are held in government-managed camps to which there is no media access.

'You Saved My Life' ... A Reason to Keep Reporting, OneWorld US, February 19, 2009
After six years of war in Iraq, it is easy to get exhausted and depressed -- to think that all your repeated exposures to the trauma of war are for nothing, that you are screwing yourself up for next to no money for no reason. Then something happens that suddenly gives all your work meaning, that gives you the strength to continue.

Pakistan-Reporter murdered, a press club destroyed, a journalist threatened and another briefly abducted in the tribal areas, Reporters Without Borders, February 18, 2009
Journalists in these regions who are victims of this war should also get the support of the authorities and the international community. Without that, these regions bordering Afghanistan are at risk of becoming news ‘black holes’.

Obama Urged to Ban Military Detention of Journalists, The New York Times, February 11, 2009
The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Obama administration Tuesday to end the indefinite detention of journalists by the United States military overseas.

Conquering Television to Control the Narrative, Committee to Protect Journalists, February 10, 2009
Mikhail Saakashvili and Vladimir Putin used strikingly similar tactics to create uncritical television media. The one-sided, one-dimensional coverage of the conflict in South Ossetia was the product of their efforts.

Why Did the BBC Censor a Cry to Help Gaza Victims?, The Huffington Post, January 28, 2009
Gaza is recovering from Israel's latest assault, which ended in a cease-fire earlier this month. In the UK, the British Broadcasting Corporation has let down its worldwide viewership by refusing to broadcast this charity appeal to help Palestinian victims of the violence

Editor's Killing Underscores Perils of Reporting in Sri Lanka, Washingon Post, January 15, 2009
Anticipating his own slaying, Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga, 52, a fierce critic of his country's government, wrote an editorial called "And Then They Came for Me," a dramatic essay to be printed in the event of his assassination.

Despite Gaza toll, Israeli media focus on Israel, Associated Press, January 13, 2009
Israel's TV screens, radio broadcasts and newspapers have been filled with images of terrified Israelis fleeing to shelters, damage from Hamas rocket barrages and casualty reports.

The Big Story on the Back Streets – Crew of 'Slum TV' Chronicles Kenya Through Views of Common Folks, Washington Post Foreign Service, March 25, 2008
NAIROBI -- The three-person crew of Slum TV set out under the hot noon sun, slinging a video camera and microphone through the crooked labyrinth of iron-sided shacks, graffitied beer joints, rickety-stick markets and open sewers that is their home, Mathare. Walking along dirt paths in dainty white ballet flats, reporter Esther Wanjiru, 19, found her first interview: a man sitting in the shade of Glory Med clinic.

AFGHANISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE CASE HAS CHILLING EFFECT ON PRESS FREEDOM, Eurasianet, February 21, 2008
The death sentence given recently to a 23-year-old journalism student in Afghanistan has fast emerged as the focal point in a culture clash, the outcome of which stands to heavily influence the country’s future political direction.

CBS interpreter’s murder brings toll of journalists and media workers killed since start of war to 200, Reporters Without Borders, August 30, 2007
Reporters Without Borders voiced dismay on learning of the murder of Anwar Abbas Lafta, an Iraqi translator and interpreter employed by the US television network CBS News. Lafta’s body was found on 25 August, five days after he was abducted in Baghdad. His death brings the number of journalists and media workers killed in Iraq since the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003 to 200.

Mata Hari: The Voice of Reconciliation, International Rescue Committee, July 9, 2007
Poso, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia 09 Jul 2007 - Kodrat Mokoginta puts on the headphones, turns down the music and leans forward towards the microphone. “We are back on the air,” he says in a soothing radio voice. “And as usual we are speaking about the issues that affect the youth in this community.”

Kurdish journalists face execution, Index for Free Expression, August 12, 2007
The EU this week expressed its concern over the sentencing to death of journalists Hiwa Butimar and Adnan Hassanpour. Kerim Yildiz reports on the grave situation facing minority journalists in Iran.

Turning Back the Clock, National Public Radio, May 11, 2007
Since 2001, independent media outlets have flourished in Afghanistan. But now the Afghan parliament is considering legislation that could severely curb press freedom. Saad Mohseni, founder of Afghanistan's most popular TV network, says Afghan media outlets will not fold under government pressure.

Pioneering TV show exposes Pakistan's dark secrets, The Globe and Mail, April 20, 2007
KARACHI, PAKISTAN -- It's 10 o'clock on Friday night in Pakistan, a prime-time television spot when viewers often settle down to watch a popular series. Instead, the camera takes them to Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan's notorious gun market in the lawless tribal belt to meet a series of gun sellers advertising their wares: Kalakovs, Kalashnikovs and pistols.

A Week of Arabic Blogs, Kadhafi and freedom of expression, Magharebia, April 4, 2007
Saturday (March 31st) was the last day of the first "Week of Arabic blogs." Initiated by Mohamed Said Hjiouij, the roundup was intended to "facilitate following original blogs" by having prominent Arab bloggers post on the site of the online magazine Madarat.info.

MEDIA: FREEDOM FIGHT AGAINST 'FREEDOM CHAMPIONS', Terraviva Europe, April 3, 2007
The al-Jazeera television network could be emerging as a freedom champion against U.S. pressures on the channel, leading media figures say. "I support al-Jazeera because al-Jazeera has done more to propagate democracy in the Middle East region than anybody else, certainly more than the American government has done," media specialist Hugh Miles told IPS. "It's strange to me that people refer to al- Jazeera as a 'terrorist network' because that couldn't be further from the truth."

Media in Iraq At Risk, Assyrian International News Agency, March 26, 2007
For more than three decades before the fall of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime in 2003, the Iraqi media was controlled by the government. Print, radio and T.V. news outlets were all run by the ministry of information which was directly monitored by the regime itself.

Information access and journalism in Iran: beyond the stereotypes, International Journalists Network, 26/02/2007
Iranians are sophisticated and eager consumers of news, who find ways to get around the limits their government puts on media, explained a panel of journalists and academics who took part in a discussion in Washington, D.C., United States, on February 21.

Sri Lanka:Newsprint shortage adds to curbs on media, OneWorld South Asia, February 21, 2007
Residents of the embattled northern Sri Lankan town of Jaffna who get to see the ‘Uthayan’ newspaper often get a copy that is thumb-worn and soiled from having passed through the hands of many avid readers.

A Shrinking Realm: Freedom of Expression since 9/11, by Dinah PoKempner, Human Rights Watch World Report 2007
When one speaks of the danger to the norm against torture since 9/11, it is fairly obvious what that means. Torture, after all, draws up rather specific images of the individual under assault, despite the Bush administration’s attempts to muddy the issue. But the same is not true for freedom of expression, a norm that applies to an expansive range of human activity.

Iraq: Search for free press, Editors Weblog, January 15, 2007
After the collapse of the old regime, the number of newspapers in the country increased to over 200. The BBC now estimates that there are around 50 newspapers publishing regularly.