2008 Woodie Awards
America, Seen Through Many Eyes
Rachel Horst
Issue date: 4/7/04 Section: Features
America's relationship with the Arab media has long been tense. On March 25, Goucher experienced that tension first hand when three distinguished journalists spoke on Iraq, America, and the views of the Middle East.
Present were Ted Clark, Deputy Foreign Editor for NPR, Donatella Lorch, director of the Knight International Press Fellowships, Hafed Al-Marazi, host of the Al-Jazeera talk show "From Washington" and Washington Bureau Chief of the program. The panel was moderated by Goucher President Sandy Ungar, also formerly of NPR. The conference was well-attended, by Goucher students, faculty, and other community members.
For the panelists, one of the most pressing aspects of journalism discussed was the evolution of modern war coverage and its effects on the public. Donatella Lorch introduced "embedding", a tactic of journalism where the journalist follows one military unit for the duration of their war coverage. Though embedding is designed to give an inside look at the war and their soldiers, such coverage is insulated and reports an take on a sort of "ra-ra" attitude for the troops rather than giving an objective look at the events taking place.
Objectivity, as was agreed by all the panelists, is the ultimate goal of any journalist. There is an advantage for modern journalism in reporting "play by play action" on the war as described by Clark, of the war as it happens. Combined with outside coverage, embedding can be an effective form of reporting, giving a humanistic tone to war events in addition to an "opening of the eyes of the American people to the horrors of war," Clark said.
"Objective reporting", then, becomes quite difficult. The journalistic consensus, says Lorch, is "we don't know who to believe ... our biggest enemy is rumors." Clark agreed that in covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, NPR journalists on the station have been repeatedly subjected to "unfair scrutiny" in regards to the coverage of both sides of the conflict.
Present were Ted Clark, Deputy Foreign Editor for NPR, Donatella Lorch, director of the Knight International Press Fellowships, Hafed Al-Marazi, host of the Al-Jazeera talk show "From Washington" and Washington Bureau Chief of the program. The panel was moderated by Goucher President Sandy Ungar, also formerly of NPR. The conference was well-attended, by Goucher students, faculty, and other community members.
For the panelists, one of the most pressing aspects of journalism discussed was the evolution of modern war coverage and its effects on the public. Donatella Lorch introduced "embedding", a tactic of journalism where the journalist follows one military unit for the duration of their war coverage. Though embedding is designed to give an inside look at the war and their soldiers, such coverage is insulated and reports an take on a sort of "ra-ra" attitude for the troops rather than giving an objective look at the events taking place.
Objectivity, as was agreed by all the panelists, is the ultimate goal of any journalist. There is an advantage for modern journalism in reporting "play by play action" on the war as described by Clark, of the war as it happens. Combined with outside coverage, embedding can be an effective form of reporting, giving a humanistic tone to war events in addition to an "opening of the eyes of the American people to the horrors of war," Clark said.
"Objective reporting", then, becomes quite difficult. The journalistic consensus, says Lorch, is "we don't know who to believe ... our biggest enemy is rumors." Clark agreed that in covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, NPR journalists on the station have been repeatedly subjected to "unfair scrutiny" in regards to the coverage of both sides of the conflict.