Reporting From the Danger Zone

FEATURING MARIA ARMOUDIAN – Journalism is a rapidly changing field with many pressures. Among them are the on-going corporatization of media outlets that prioritize profits over reporting, and the increasing use of the internet that has forced a redefinition of the field.

Those pressures are greatest when it comes to war reporting. In conflict areas such as Syria, solid journalism is increasingly needed but most companies are unwilling to risk their staff in the age of videotaped beheadings by groups like ISIS.

But the survivors of war are themselves reporting on their conditions directly through social media, albeit without the rigors of journalistic standards.

Maria Armoudian is a Lecturer in Media and Politics at the University of Auckland and also a radio host on KPFK Pacifica and other stations. She is the author of Kill the Messenger: Media’s Role in the Fate of the World. Her new book is called Reporting From the Danger Zone: Frontline Journalists, Their Jobs, and an Increasingly Perilous Future.