WAR CORRESPONDANTS

LOOKING AT WAR FROM THE EYES OF A JOURNALIST

OVERVIEW

What is a war correspondent? History of war correspondents. The story of Don Mc CULLIN Did journalism change the war? Changes in technology. War correspondents vs. soldiers Conclusions Questions

“We write the first drafts of history, we are the eyes and the ears of our people, we follow those in the battle, armed not with a gun but with a camera, we report what we see and what we learn, we do not hold back, we do not compromise our ideas, we report the unseen, we document history, we inform the public and report the tragedy”

HISTORY

A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first hand from a war zone.

Methods

History

From 1898- present 1898 The Spanish- American war The break out of WWI 1920- The invention of the radio 1941- Pearl Harbor The end of WWII and the beginning

of the new era The Vietnam War The first bans began War journalists face multiple threats

and censorship today.

The first war reporter

William Howard Russell 1820-1907 was an Irish reporter with The Times.

He saw himself as “the miserable parent of a luckless tribe”

Faced problems with the government

PROBLEMS WITH THE WAR CORRESPONDENTS

Banned No recognition No access to the battlefield Treated bad from other soldiers/lack of

respect http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5

R4tgGdDk&feature=related Full metal jacket

Sometimes the soldiers themselves are angry at the journalists

DON MC CULLIN

An international known photojournalist

Started his career at 17 years old

Covered the Vietnam War

Embedded with the soldiers

There was no censorship in Vietnam

He had no empathy He regrets many things

SHOT

Trauma

Michael Herr, the former war correspondent who wrote the screenplays to Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfDb5FBP-Q8&feature=related

(0.39- 5.30)

The account of the journalist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwhGz

OEtReQ

Did journalism change the war? The case of Kim Phuc (

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev2dEqrN4i0 )

Michael Nicholson's article stopped the war in Angola.

The account of the winter soldier http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8

ZutFvQ_9jo (2.38)

Changes in technology

Better cameras Less time to prepare The cameraman and soundman are not

connected More time to shoot as it is digital Easier to take many pictures or footage

Journalists vs. soldiersSIMILARITIES DIFFERENCES

HAVE A CHOICE WHEN THEY FIRST JOIN

SOLDIERS WANT TO KILLJOURNALISTS WANT TO WRITE THE STORY

A LOT OF THEM GO BACK

JOURNALISTS CAN LEAVE WHENEVER THEY WANT

BOTH FEEL EXITEMENTBOTH DO IT FOR PERSONAL EGO

SOLDIERS HAVE TO STAY THERE UNTIL THE END

BOTH LOOSE EMPATHYDEATH BECOMES NORMALTHEY ARE TRAUMATIZED

SOLDIERS ARE ARMED WHILE JOURNALISTS ARE NOT (THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE)

VIDEO GAMES EXIST TO TRAIN BOTHBOTH WIN PRIZES OR FAME ON THE SUFFERENCE OF OTHERS

WAR JOURNALIST ARE TREATED LESS GOOD THEN SOLDIERS AND ARE CENCORED AND THREATENED BY GOVERNMENTS OR PEOPLE

THE GAP IS BECOMING SMALLER!

14 Romanian war correspondents training with soldiers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M_wXXkmulE&feature=related

PROPAGANDA

http://www.marines.mil/usmc/Pages/Recruiting.aspx

http://www.marines.com/photos/-/photo-library/detail/browse/53383?_photolibraryportlet_WAR_marinesphotolibraryportlet_photo-search=

LOOKING LIKE THE ENEMY AT WAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC3I1R-kgp8

REPORTING WAR TODAY

Loss in empathy War has become acceptable Amateurs have become

correspondents Censorship Detachment of the correspondent

Questions Should I tell the truth or should I hold my

tongue? What would you do? Do you think that war correspondents are

biased? Why do you think they go to war? What do you feel when you see dead bodies of

your nationals and what happens when they are people not related to you or living in countries far away?

Do you think war has become more acceptable because of the media?

Do you think war photographers don’t have empathy?

Can we categorize both journalists and soldiers in the same group?