This paper looks at the professional and ethical failure of news organizations in reporting wars, conflicts, and crises Principles of press freedom, objectivity, and impartiality are not respected, and the journalism ...This paper looks at the professional and ethical failure of news organizations in reporting wars, conflicts, and crises Principles of press freedom, objectivity, and impartiality are not respected, and the journalism practice is different in times of war from in normal times. Very often, the news organization sides with the position of its country, and the journalist becomes ＂nationalistic＂ and ＂patriotic＂ and sides with his/her country＇s position towards the war at the expense of impartiality, objectivity, fairness, and ethics of journalism practices. Very often, the news media are used by the military and the political forces to frame wars and conflicts along the lines of the ＂national security＂ and ＂national interests＂. The second Gulf War, 9/11 events in 2001, the Afghan War, and the third Gulf War are used as case studies to assess the different kinds of mechanisms, techniques,＇and ＂rituals＂ practiced by the media to cover and report wars and conflicts to their audiences and world opinion. Results of the study suggest that an alternative theory--＂government press coalition theory＂——should be developed to explain journalism practices and behaviors during wars and conflicts.展开更多
文摘This paper looks at the professional and ethical failure of news organizations in reporting wars, conflicts, and crises Principles of press freedom, objectivity, and impartiality are not respected, and the journalism practice is different in times of war from in normal times. Very often, the news organization sides with the position of its country, and the journalist becomes ＂nationalistic＂ and ＂patriotic＂ and sides with his/her country＇s position towards the war at the expense of impartiality, objectivity, fairness, and ethics of journalism practices. Very often, the news media are used by the military and the political forces to frame wars and conflicts along the lines of the ＂national security＂ and ＂national interests＂. The second Gulf War, 9/11 events in 2001, the Afghan War, and the third Gulf War are used as case studies to assess the different kinds of mechanisms, techniques,＇and ＂rituals＂ practiced by the media to cover and report wars and conflicts to their audiences and world opinion. Results of the study suggest that an alternative theory--＂government press coalition theory＂——should be developed to explain journalism practices and behaviors during wars and conflicts.
