Conflict Journalism

New York, May 17, 2004–Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq began in March 2003, twenty-seven journalists have been killed covering the war and its aftermath. Nearly all of those killed in 2003 were foreign correspondents, from the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Germany, the United States, and elsewhere. In 2004, however, 12 of the 14 killed to date were Iraqis. Six Iraqi media workers have also...

The invasion and occupation of Iraq has certainly had its share of crimes and atrocities, any of which should be cause enough to have Bush and Blair brought before the Hague, if the mechanisms of international justice could actually bring the powerful to heel, beginning with the war itself, which, as noted here at Counterpunch and elsewhere, was a crime against peace, the worst possible crime, as...

New York, May 27, 2003– Just before noon on April 8, 2003, journalists covering the battle of Baghdad from the balconies of the Palestine Hotel looked on as the turret of a U.S. M1A1 Abrams tank positioned about three quarters of a mile away on the Al-Jumhuriya Bridge turned toward them and unleashed a single round. The shell struck a 15th-floor balcony of the hotel, fatally wounding veteran...

Don’t believe a word when the Spanish government says that our brother died in a "regrettable accident", or that there were snipers or that he knew the risks. Don’t believe a word when the Spanish government says that his death will be used by the Iraqi regime, or that his death could inflame public opinion and that it’s better to put it behind us, or that it’s all a "surprise." They MURDERED our...

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) welcomed the release today of Indian journalist Iftikhar Gilani but regretted that it came after seven months of detention without evidence and without trial. The organisation supported the request for compensation his lawyer plans to make to the government for the damage to his reputation as a journalist and his arbitrary detention. "This is a...

Since violence erupted in Israel and the Occupied Territories in late September, Palestinian radio and television have covered events with their own unique spin. On the government-run Voice of Palestine, Palestinians who die in clashes are described as "martyrs" and funerals are covered intensively. Israel, meanwhile, is deemed "wicked," and Prime Minister Ehud Barak is routinely referred to as a...