Post on 19-Jan-2017
Prof Charlie BeckettPolis, LSE
Reporting terror:The journalistic prism
• No point seeing editorial choices in isolation• Ethical and ideological decisions made under
extraordinary pressures• Increasing divide between irresponsible and
responsible journalism• Codes & guidelines useful, but regulation
probably irrelevant
Limits of the research
• Highly western centric• Newsroom perspective prioritised• Not a survey or representative• Commissioned as a provocation, not
prescription• Part of a series of reports on media and
terrorism commissioned by Democracy Fund from Tow Center, Columbia
Findings:Newsrooms are struggling
• Widespread concern that journalism around terror is spreading fear and confusion
• Journalists are struggling, especially in breaking news, to cope with accelerating news cycle, event complexity and increasing multidimensional nature of media environment
Helping the terrorist?
• Danger that journalism is spreading confusion with lack of verification, accuracy and context
• Danger of reinforcing prejudices and stereotypes
• Danger of helping terrorist in their goals, harming security and increasing recruitment
Powerful platforms
• Digital platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google etc) are increasingly where people create, share and receive information on terrorism
• They lack ethos, skills and editorial capacity of news organisations
• They are still negotiating their relationship with news media
Problematic platforms
• Platforms increasingly filter and shape news flows around terror
• They have the dilemma of wanting to be open platforms but seek to protect users against offence and face demands to prevent incitement
• Still provide immense opportunity for greater access and more sophisticated mediation
Recommendations
• News organisations (and platforms) need detailed guidelines
• Needs an iterative, reflective process of self-critical appraisal
• Internal communications & deliberation around guidelines and practice must be across all platforms and active even during breaking news
Better right than first
• News organisations need better systems of verification including third party agencies
• Principle of ‘better right than first’ needs to be enforced across all platforms
• News media needs to prioritise trust based on reliability over speed
Think
• Journalists need to think harder about their language and framing of stories
• They need to think harder about proportionality, scale and relevance
• They need to think again about herd mentality and stale forumlae
Better reporting
• News media needs to seize opportunities of:• public participation• New technologies eg data visualisations• New platforms that can access different
demographics and more diverse audiences
Better platforms
• Need to work more closely and openly with news organisations and prioritise best journalism
• Need to increase internal editorial capacity and work more with ‘honest brokers’
• Need to accept their editorial responsibility and their wider social role (greater than news media’s)
Other actors
• Politicians need to lead on more restrained, resilient and inclusive language and less reactive policy-making
• Other authorities, such as police, need better and more transparent communications
• Other stakeholders, such as community leaders, need stronger voice
Contacts
• C.h.beckett@lse.ac.uk
• @CharlieBeckett
• http://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/coverage_terrorism_social_media.php