By Skylar Yoder
The Armenia Project, a new NGO promoting accuracy in the coverage of Armenia, hosted a webinar last Thursday on the challenges of covering contemporary conflicts. The event, which was held in partnership with the American University of Armenia and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and featured a panel of prominent journalists, opened with an introduction to the deeply complex conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Caucasus.
Dan Perry, who headed the Associated Press in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, offered an overview of the war currently raging between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Marc Champion, a Bloomberg columnist and former bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, introduced Russia’s invasion of and war with Ukraine, where he reported from. Astrig Agopian, a freelance multimedia journalist for Getty and former France 24 reporter, provided an explainer of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The panelists highlighted how the public is most interested in conflicts they perceive as impacting themselves or their country, making it important that journalists write compelling stories that connect the dots for readers and illustrate the global impacts of local conflicts. Without this context, consumers can become overwhelmed with conflict fatigue and disengage from the coverage.
Debating the nature of objectivity, Mark Turner, an Associate Professor of Journalism at Ohio University, argued that there is a fine line between having empathy for those affected by the conflict and advocacy, which he asserted was not the role of journalists. Panelists noted that amid conflicting narratives in many of the conflicts, there was a need for judicious used of words that are not perceived as political.
The discussion also covered how technology has transformed the profession. They noted that although the internet and social media provide access to more real-time data than ever before, it also allows for the spread of misinformation and disinformation, and so journalists need to fastidiously source and verify. As artificial intelligence continues to develop, fact-checking and verification of sources will become even more relevant.
Looking to the future, Champion noted that another potential conflict looms in Taiwan, which is covered by China. He explained that coverage would continue for years to come, regardless if there is a full-blown war, because of the significant geopolitical implications.
The panelists encouraged those interested in a career in conflict reporting to prepare themselves by pursuing training and acquiring proper equipment before going to a war zone. While they noted the difficulty of being a conflict reporter in the contemporary era, the panelists emphasized that the career path is highly rewarding for strong storytellers who want to make a positive impact on the world.
