MEDIA: The Perils of Being a Journalist

Journalists need to carefully consider when the risk of following a story outweighs the benefit of securing a story, writes Alan Davis, special projects director of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in his blog at the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project site.

Reflecting on the recent kidnapping and subsequent release of a prominent Filipino broadcast journalist and her crew in the southern part of the Philippines, Davis said: "The line between getting into serious trouble and getting back home with a good experience and story is a very fine one."

Below are excerpts:

Of course risks are all part of the business we are in. But as the security consultants who train journalists on hostile environment courses tell us -- risks must be known, measured and manageable. Journalists must remain in control of their own movements and decisions and avoid delegating their own security to others.

Another thing that safety training teaches us is that there are no leaders and no followers when it comes to your own personal security. Individuals are autonomous and there should never be any pressure to ‘go along’ because colleagues or competitors are. There is no shame in staying out of harm’s way.

At the same time it is right and proper to salute those who keep us informed from difficult and dangerous areas.

The ABS CBN crew was criticized for not liaising with the military upon arrival in Jolo –but journalists should always remain wary in such instances in case they are used as ‘bait’. Equally and much more so we need to be very, very careful in dealing with groups with no known agenda beyond that of sowing fear and terror. In general – though not always – it is usually safer to cover groups with political or territorial positions. People who called themselves The Sword of God (Abu Sayyaf) are obviously driven by a religious ideology that suggests they should only ever be approached with extra special care.

To read the complete article, visit http://rightsreporting.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=458&Itemid=123.