Key Challenges in Journalistic Professionalism of Front-Line Reporting - Essay Example

Section/# Reporting: An Analysis of Key Considerations, Difficulties, and Threats that Can Meddle in the Journalistic Professionalism of Front Line Reporting Whereas reporting from the front lines used to be something that was nearly impossible, or at the very least extraordinarily difficult for reporters, changes in the way in which governments have identified with the overall usefulness of such reporting, as well as key changes in technology that the past few decades have brought, have meant that the reporting of today hardly resembles the reporting of but a few decades past. As a function of these changes, the role that front-line reporter plays in relating, disseminating, and expounding upon the news that they come in contact with plays a dominate role in the way that the viewing public interacts and integrates with the stories and viewpoints which are being presented and/or related. Due to such a high level of overall importance with relation to the role that the these reporters play in integrating key facts to the general public, this analysis will consider the key challenges that front line journalists face, key challenges that roof-top journalists face, the issue of balance/bias in reporting, and the implications for reporting upon and understanding conflicts in the current system. As a function of this, this short analytical piece will seek to define the roll of a rooftop reporter as well as the role of an embedded reporter, seek to draw inference to the types of situations they have been, and likely will continue to be exposed to within the near future as well as drawing a level of interpretation with regards to overall bias that such journalists must face. Firstly, with regard to the front line journalist, this is something that has been in existence since the earliest conflicts in human history. There have always been citizen reporters that had sent letters or messages home so that these could be read by the appropriate authorities/loved ones as a means of better understanding the given conflict (Cameron et al 2005). After the Crimean War, the role of the war journalist and front-line reporter was greatly aided by the inclusion of photographic images that detailed the plights of the combatant and the harsh realities or patriotic fervor that was intended to be represented. Of course the advent of film greatly added to the means whereby the front line reporter could hope to integrate key information to the audience. Likewise, the availability of the internet and the use of satellite phones enabled with video has only served to further enhance the role that these reporters play in bringing key facts to the viewing populace at home (Boylan 2011). Although the role of the front-line reporter has enabled individuals half a world away to quickly understand and integrate with certain aspects of the situation that is unfolding on the ground, it does represent a unique level of key challenges which will be discussed. The first of these determinants is of course the full scope and overview that the front-line reporter is able to understand and integrate with. Although it is useful to integrate with the viewing public how the situation appears on the micro scale, this is of course invariably at the expense of a more full and nuanced view of how the broader conflict is progressing (Hannon 2008). Similarly, with regards to the overall balance and bias that is interjected into the report, the proceeding section will cover this in some depth; yet, suffice it to say that the level to which non-bias can be presented with a reporter who is ultimately embedded with shareholders within the conflict is quite high (Emeigh 2003). The use of the embedded reporter was perfectly exhibited during the recent invasion of Iraq. The United States, as well as the United Kingdom and other actors, participated in the action all the while utilizing embedded reporters within their armies as a means of reporting back to the citizen at home with regards to the nature of the conflict as it was unfolding. This highly effective and real-time means of information relay allowed for the viewing audience to be kept highly abreast of the situation while at the same time generating a uniquely measurable level of support among the population at home for an action that may have otherwise been viewed as more foolhardy than it was at that time. Another type of “on scene” reporter is that of the rooftop reporter. Although slightly less involved than the oftentimes embedded front line reporter, the rooftop reporter is still quite present directly within the scene of action that is being reported upon. Primary among the key challenges that the rooftop reporter faces is the fact that due to his/her removed presence from the action that is taking place, the reports have the threat of being somewhat scripted upon delivery. This threat is one that affects all reporting and has for many years. With the rooftop reporter, the threat is necessarily to engineer or to create a report based upon the way in which the scenes that may or may not be unfolding behind them match the visual stimulation that the viewer is receiving. Likewise, such a biased agenda encourages them to match a particular set of goals that the station/newspaper/magazine, or government may wish to convey. Elements of this fog of war related back to the viewer have been seen in numerous conflicts around the world in which the news broadcaster was unfamiliar with the types of action that were taking place and wholly unqualified to give what can only be counted as educated conjecture with regards to what might be happening at any given moment. A specific instance of this took place in the earliest stages of NATO’s air war against the Serbian regime where rooftop reporters of the BBC admitted that although they were hearing explosions, they were unable to determine or differentiate whether these were the result of shelling/ground combat or an aerial bombardment by NATO forces (Fox & Park 2006). Perhaps the single most important issue that this analysis will consider is the level of bias that both front line reporting and roof top reporting can engender. When one envisions bias in the news they are almost invariably led to assume that it is indicative of a type of top down structural bias that exists. Yet, this is an exemplification of merely one particular type of bias. The fact of the matter is that litany of biases, which are not inherently related to the one which has thus far been mentioned, exist. One can and should consider the type of bias that could be realized in a situation in which the news network or group is contacted by shareholders of the military leadership and “encouraged” to present a situation in a given way. Such an exemplification of blackmail and coercion may sound somewhat odd within the context of the current world model; still, it nonetheless exists. One need look no further than the way that certain large media firms within the United States have buckled under governmental pressures to ascertain the full degree and depth that such influence can extend. Evidence of such a practice can readily be seen in the way that the US Army sought to engage embedded reporters with regards to the situation in both Tora Bora immediately following the US led invasion of Afghanistan as well as the means by which the US military sought to influence reporting of the war through its public relations blitz that became known as CENTCOM to understand the unique way in which embedded reporters can oftentimes play right into the hands of how the military wishes to portray a given situation (Fahmy & Johnston 2012). Beyond such a familiar form of bias, there exists another type of bias that can develop within both the roof top reporter and the front line reporter; nevertheless, it is of course much more common within the front line reporter. Due to the fact that the front line reporter is ultimately embedded with the individuals and the conflict upon which they are asked to report, the fear of a judgmental bias that can only be compared to the Stockholm syndrome may well develop. Although the Stockholm syndrome is indicative of identifying with one’s captors, the same level of bias of course can develop with regards to a reporter coming to view the conflict and the situation through the eyes of those that they are living, eating, and sharing their life experience with (Fahmy & Johnson 2012). No doubt this level of identification and understanding is one of the prime reasons why governments have been so willing to include front line and roof top reporters within the conflict; as it ultimately serves to engage the viewing populace at home with the precise level of understanding that the shareholders of the big picture themselves seek to represent. Strangely enough, one of the key drawbacks and challenges that front-line and roof top reporting exhibits does not have to do specifically with the field of journalism (Cohler 2006). This is a function of the fact that the information that is provided and relayed, oftentimes in real time, to the viewing audience back home can have a direct and measurable impact on the overall health and safety of the individuals participating in the action. This is of course the result of the fact that the opposing side can easily utilize the reports as a means of targeting troop movements, even reporters, and silencing their voice (Gunter 2009). Ultimately, the presence of such reporters in the zone of conflict is determined by the opposing side as a form of propaganda; as such, there is little if any respect for the role that these journalists play and a consequent lack of concern for any collateral damage that might be generated in seeking to silence such a voice. As a result of the information that has thus far been presented, it is the not the goal of this author to definitively state that the role in which the roof top or front line reporter is necessarily good or bad. As can be seen, the extent to which incomplete information and shoddy reporting can both mislead the reporter as well as the viewing audience is one of the primal shortcomings that have been exhibited by rooftop reporters time and time again throughout the years. Furthermore, with relation the primal bias that the embedded reporter necessarily exhibits, this too serves to weaken the overall journalistic integrity and merit of the reports that are coming from the field. Although it cannot be argued that these types of reporters have no place within the spectrum of journalism, it can be argued that the reader/reasearcher should be intimately aware of the unique threats that can derail the process of adequate journalism. With a greater appreciation for the practice and the innate levels of bias that is engendered therein, the reader can also begin to understand the unique levels to which non-intentional biases can easily creep into a reporting of the news. References Boylan, SA 2011, 'The Military-Media Relationship: An Exercise in Strategic Patience', Military Review, 91, 5, pp. 2-11, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 February 2013. Cameron, G, Shin, J, & Adhikari, D 2005, 'What Matters in Embedded Journalism: News Sources, News Credibility, News Control in Embedded Journalists' Reports', Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, pp. 1-39, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 February 2013. Cohler, D 2006, 'Keeping the Home Front Burning', Feminist Media Studies, 6, 3, pp. 245-261, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 February 2013. 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