28. War Coverage in the Media

• What are the main journalistic principles of covering wars and military operations on TV?

Principles of covering wars and military operations divide into strictly moral and partly technical. However technical principles haven’t a clear provision for that in the law, thereby a journalist also should follow his morality here.

What’s about moral principles. Journalist should be objective. He shouldn’t separate opposite sides into “good” and “bad”. Ignoring of this rule can lead to breach of trustworthiness and integrity of picture what is going on. The main aspect in war events covering is objectivity and facts trustworthiness.

Now about technical principles. One of the common concepts of “visual” broadcasting during war conflicts and catastrophes CNN, ВВС World and Euronews is founded on sparing and sympathetic treatment of audience. That’s why violence scenes and dead bodies aren’t shown without a good reason. Human victim’s and disfigured people have an influence on audience and children especially.

Politics also creates nonsimple conditions for correspondents of global TV-broadcasting. The first, they should know about propagandistic information of sides and separate real facts. The second, death threat for journalist can limit frames of their reports. But detail’s omission leads to unfull context. The third, very often political figures of powerful side show their decisions to the best advantage in attempts to have influence to society opinion.

• Do they differ from country to country?

This principles are common for all countries. But it work not everywhere. In countries, where government interfere in mass-media work (especially in countries with totalitarian regime) journalism can’t be independent. There it opperates according to interest of the leaders . In case we speak about war, business or something else. Therefore we should admit, that Journalism ethics and standards are written for everyone, but have power in democratic country only. In Great Britain. Not in North Korea.

• How should war be covered on television and on the Web? Express your own point of view?

I suppose, that people’s fear during a war is too big, that it isn’t necessary to increase it again and again by the use of terrible pictures. The main point for psychological and physical health of people during a war is to keep calm. TV and the Internet should give objective information at most. Information about what’s going on battlefields, number of killed and injured. But journalist should avoid too cruel and weepy reports.

29. William r. Hearst

• Describe Hearst’s ten-step method that helps create a reader-friendly newspaper

One record of promotion of the “reader orientation” comes from what at first seems an unlikely source: the papers of yellow-journalism baron William Randolph Hearst.

Hearst is probably best known for his jingoistic bombast, such as his infamous cable to artist Frederic Remington. When he found none of the promised saber rattling or war preparations to illustrate after Hearst sent him to Cuba in 1898, Remington asked to return to the mainland. Hearst wired: “Please remain. You furnish the pictures. I’ll furnish the war”.

Some of Hearst’s later messages, however, were templates for the modern discussion of reader orientation. Newspaper designer and consultant Tony Sutton collected 10 steps to reader satisfaction from a set of memos Hearst wrote to his editors in the 1920s: 1. A reader-friendly newspaper uses a writing style that makes complex stories easy to understand. 2. A reader-friendly newspaper edits stories simply, but not dumbly. 3. A reader-friendly newspaper writes headlines that are arresting. 4. A reader-friendly newspaper writes subheads that are explanatory, without convolution or confusion. 5. A reader–friendly newspaper uses intriguing photographs. 6. A reader-friendly newspaper writes detailed, informative captions. 7. A reader-friendly newspaper uses graphics that are useful and easy to understand. 8. A reader-friendly newspaper uses a layout that is organized to make things easy for the reader. 9. A reader-friendly newspaper is printed as well as possible. 10. A reader-friendly newspaper is response driven.

Notably absent from Sutton’s list, however, is discussion of objectivity or public service.

• Are Hearst’s principles applicable today?

Of course. But I would like to add two another points:

“A reader-friendly newspaper is not expensive” and “A reader-friendly newspaper has it’s own website”. You know, it’s not reputable if mass-media hasn’t page in the Internet.