MEDIA REPORTING: ARMED CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE South Asian Senior Editors' Conference, 2007 Dhaka, Bangladesh Editors Philippe Stoll Surinder Oberoi Press Institute of Bangladesh MEDIA REPORTING: ARMED CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE South Asian Senior Editors' Conference, 2007 Dhaka, Bangladesh Editors Philippe Stoll Surinder Oberoi 28th - 29th October 2007 Press Institute of Bangladesh Seminar is dedicated to Late Mr Tahir Mirza, Editor Dawn, Pakistan who was one of the speakers in the 2006-2007 Senior Editors conference held at New Delhi Designed & Printed at Multiplexus (India), New Delhi, India Media Reporting: Armed Conflict & Violence Content/Programmes PAGE Foreword 7 International Humanitarian Law and Protection of Media 9 professionals working in armed conflicts by Knut Dormann, Head of the Legal Division ICRC, Geneva Inaugural Session 17 Chair: Dr. Shaikh Abdus Salam, Professor and Chairman, 17 Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Dhaka Welcome Address: Mr Finn Ruda, Head of Mission, ICRC Bangladesh 17 Chief Guest’s address: Barrister Mainul Hosein, Hon’ble Advisor 20 Ministry of Information Address: Ms Mridula Bhattacharya, Director General, Press Institute of 23 Bangladesh SESSION ONE: The Media, violence and torture 27 Chair: Mr Mahbubul Alam 27 Editor, The Independent Bangladesh Glamorizing violence – What should be Media response: 27 Mr Swapan Dasgupta Senior Editor and columnist India Impact of Media on society while reporting violence: 31 Mr Ugyen Penjor Deputy Editor, Kuensel Bhutan Impact of Society on media while reporting violence: 34 Mr Murtaza Razvi Senior Editor, Daily Dawn Pakistan Torture reporting in the media – an outcome: 38 Mr. Abdul Aziz Danesh Editor, Pajhwok Afghan News Afghanistan 3 Media Reporting: Armed Conflict & Violence Violence, torture and ill-treatment in films/TV, and its impact 41 on a daily life: Mr Philippe Stoll Communication Coordinator, ICRC Panel discussion followed by Question and Answer session 44 Session two: 53 Media and protection - What does the law says about it Chair: Mr Bazlur Rahman, Editor, Sangbad 53 Price of truth – Media persons are dying to tell the truth: 53 Mr Farid Hossain Bureau Chief Associated press (AP) Dhaka, Bangladesh Violence against journalists is increasing with passing years: 55 Mr Lankabaarage Anura Solomons, Deputy Editor, Foreign News and Feature Editor, Daily Divaina, Sri Lanka Who kills journalist and why? What are the protection measures 57 for them: Mr Amitabh Roy Chowdhury Senior Editor, Press Trust of India, India Freedom of Expression and dangerous assignments: 61 Mr Dharmendra Jha, News Editor, Annapurna Post, Nepal Civil Society view of Media persons and their protection: 64 Dr. Mizanur Rahman Shelley Chairman, Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh Editor, Asian Affairs Dhaka, Bangladesh Panel discussion followed by Question & Answer 68 4 Media Reporting: Armed Conflict & Violence SESSION THREE: 76 The Media and the law of armed conflict Chair: Mr Mahfuz Anam, Editor, The Daily Star Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in 78 areas of armed conflicts – State response: Mr Nurul Kabir, Editor, New age Bangladesh Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas 80 of armed conflicts – Employers’ response: Mr Gopal Guragain Managing Director Ujyalo FM and Satellite Channel, Kathmandu, Nepal Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas 83 of armed conflicts – Journalists response: Mr Amit Barua, Foreign Editor, The Hindustan Times India Journalists in danger – a new law needed? 88 Mr Surinder Oberoi Communication Officer ICRC Civil Society view on media and the danger they face in 91 conflict reporting: Amb. Farooq Sobhan President, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, Bangladesh Panel discussion Followed by Question & Answer 94 SESSION FOUR: War/Conflict time responsibility of media 106 Chair: Mr Iqbal Shoban Chawdhury, Editor, Bangladesh Observer 107 Civil Society view on media responsibility in conflict reporting: 107 Dr Hafiz G.A Siddiqi Vice Chancellor North South University Bangladesh 5 Media Reporting: Armed Conflict & Violence Competition and infrastructure leapfrogging - a bane or boon 111 in conflict reporting: Ms Pamela Philipose, Senior Associate Editor, Indian Express, India Is self-regulation necessary for media in war without borders? 115 Mr Kesara Abeywardena, News Editor, Daily Mirror Sri Lanka The relationship between media and the security forces 117 during conflict: Ms Faida Faruk Senior Journalist Maldives Do journalists continue to be impartial observers in present conflicts? 119 Mr Reazuddin Ahmed Editor, The News Today Bangladesh Panel discussion followed by Question & Answer 126 Valedictory Session 131 Chair: Mr. Finn Ruda, Head of Mission, ICRC, Dhaka 131 Address: Dr. Shaikh Abdus Salam, Professor and Chairman, Department 131 of Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Dhaka Address: Ms Mridula Bhattacherya, Director General, Press Institute 132 Of Bangladesh Guest of Honour: Mr. Fida Kamal, Attorney General, Bangladesh 133 Supreme Court, Ministry of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Address by Chief Guest: Dr. Ifterkher Ahmed Chowdhury, Hon’ble 134 Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Concluding address: Mr Vincent Nicod, Head of the Regional Delegation 137 South Asia, ICRC 6 Editor’s Seminar FOREWORD History of Journalism in South Asia is old and treasured. With the passage of time, journalism has diversified multi fold. Media that came into existence to do the basic job of disseminating information to the society is now playing a domineering role in the development of the social order amid new-fangled challenges. In the 21st century, media has turned into the most important tool in spreading the knowledge to the masses about politics, education, development, reforms and about the role of stakeholders in difficult situations. Media now is the strongest and quickest source of information, bringing-in instant news into the drawing rooms, offices, streets and even to the mobile phones. With this fast lane travelling of news, society harbours huge expectations from the media. However, with the infrastructure leapfrogging and advanced technology, the relationship between the viewer/reader and the journalist has been distorted to some extent. The viewer now wants instant results and expects media to play an executive as well as a policing role. Media groups grapple with conflicting priorities of journalistic probity verses commercial interests in their day-to-day functioning. The mushrooming of 24X7 news channels has further complicated the realm of media ethics. Undoubtedly, owing to both external and internal factors, media is not living up to its expectations and has much diverted from its original purpose i.e. being the disseminator of information. In addition, the competition within the print, the television and the internet media has raised new array of problems that need to be dealt with urgently. Media persons covering conflict or violence at ground zero are worst affected by the current problems engulfing media. The number of media causalities in present scenario has been reported to be a much bigger number than the number during World War II according to the worried media welfare agencies. In some conflict- ridden places, it has become difficult for the media persons to reach on the spot and cover the story. Here again the issue is what protection media gets so that it can report back fearlessly and truthfully from such places. In view of these new developments, the ICRC in association with partners conducted the second senior editors conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh to look at the issues of media protection, its obligations and the new challenges it’s facing. Senior editors from reputable print and electronic media groups from eight South Asian countries debated on the role of the media in reporting of the conflict and the protection they require while reporting. 7 Editor’s Seminar The proceedings of the two-day conference that had four sessions have been documented in this report so as to assess the views of the editors and thus enlighten readers including media persons about the issues discussed at the conference. This document also aims to spread the knowledge of the challenges faced by the media to the new generation in the media so that they can learn from the experience of their seniors. Those who are planning to go to the conflict areas for the coverage should know what is the role and responsibilities of the media and what constrains are there in the field, and how to cope with them. Lastly, the report also deals with how important it is for the media persons to know about the Geneva conventions, the international humanitarian law, the human rights law, the customary law and the media protection laws. The panel discussion has been able to give some of the answers. If you need any further information or books on the above-mentioned laws, feel free to contact ICRC documentation centre in New Delhi or visit the website: www.icrc.org. It has all the relevant documents. Hopefully this work will trigger further intellectual debate and studies on the issue in focus thereby throwing up some practical measures to tackle better the problems faced by the media when covering armed conflict. Philippe Stoll / Surinder Oberoi ICRC, New Delhi Note: The views expressed by the speakers are their own and are not necessarily the views of the organisers of this workshop. 8 Media Reporting: Armed Conflict & Violence PREAMBLE International