Reporting War: Exploring the Way Forward

Media responsibilities in conflict situations

A Centre for Journalism and Communication Research Symposium

Bournemouth University

2 July 2010

Ben O'Loughlin has been invited to present to a workshop exploring how conflict reportage can be improved. Questions to be discussed include:

 What can the analysis of the reporting of past conflicts tell us about future ones?

 What role should ‘peace journalism’ have in the future media landscape?

 In what ways does the training of journalists need to change?

 How are citizen journalists challenging traditional practices of war reporting?

 What are the ethical issues posed by social media, such as Twitter?

 How might media professionals and academics help government, military and NGO institutions redefine the priorities of war reporting?

Ben will examine how news media stage public opinion and 'global conversations' in the run up to, and aftermath, of conflict situations. War and conflict reporting is a field full of criticisms and laments about the nature and quality of coverage, so constructive discussion about how to improve journalistic practices and the structural conditions journalism occurs within can only be a good thing.