Coverage of Terrorism

Through the night of September 11, 2001, photographer Peter Turnley took refuge in a second-floor office in a clothing store, its windows blown out by the force of the attack on the World Trade Center. As he tried to absorb what he was seeing, he documented the devastation. At dawn, he moved close to the site and fastened his journalistic eye on faces whose expressions evoke our feelings of loss. From covering war, Turnley knew that “the most important pictures…are after the battle, when one sees the human impact.”

Coverage of Terrorism: Introduction
By Melissa Ludtke, Editor; September 11, 2001: Telling Stories Visually
‘What moved me was a sense of a life being transformed by an experience in a way that there was no going back.’
A Photo Essay By Peter Turnley; Language Matters as We Try to Describe What Happened
‘By accepting language’s failure, we surrender our understanding and the complex meaning of events to silence….’
By Beverly Wall; Secrecy and the Press in a Time of War
‘If we guard our toothbrushes and diamonds with equal zeal, we will probably lose fewer toothbrushes and more diamonds.’
By Ted Gup; The Pentagon and the Press
Several ‘principles’ of coverage became victims of the war against terrorism.
By Stanley W. Cloud; The Principles of War Coverage
In 1992, journalists and the Pentagon agreed on nine principles to govern coverage.; The Dangers of Disinformation in the War on Terrorism
‘We actually put out a false message to mislead people.’
By Maud S. Beelman; President Harry Truman Enlisted Journalists in the Cold War
Are there parallels between then and now?
By Nancy Bernhard; Is the Press Up to the Task of Reporting These Stories?
An investigative journalist examines the evidence and shares his concerns.
By James Bamford; The Unreported Threat in Coverage of Anthrax
Journalists fail to focus on the longer-term dangers of antibiotic resistance.
By Philip Caper; Highlighting Antibiotic Resistance; Reporting International News in a Serious Way
Coverage needs to reflect ‘the same values that are given to reporting news at home.’
By William F. Woo; Training Journalists to Report Safely in Hostile Environments (1 comment)
‘…fire services personnel don’t go fighting fires without proper training….’
By John Owen; Freelancers’ Vital Role in International Reporting (1 comment)
With the rise of media conglomerates, foreign news has been shoved aside.
By Nate Thayer; Press Access to Satellite Images is a Casualty in This War
The Department of Defense owns and controls these pictures.
By Christopher Simpson; Recommended Sites
By Christopher Simpson; Using Graphics to Tell Stories
‘[O]nline graphics add other dimensions to the stories we report….’
By Joanne Miller; Watchdog Journalism: An Instrument of Democracy (1 comment)
Comments By Bob Giles and Murrey Marder; Asking Probing Questions in a Time of National Crisis
Are journalists asking ‘the right question?’
Journalists' Panel Moderated By Charles Nesson; Images of a Shattered City
‘…you can feel the energy and the horror and a sense of history washing over you at once.’
By Stan Grossfeld; Reporting to a Western Audience About the Islamic World
American journalists often lack training, knowledge and sensitivity needed to tell these stories.
By Geneive Abdo; Images From Another War in Afghanistan
A controversial program for Afghan ‘journalists’ produced a treasured collection of video, audio and photography.
By David B. Edwards; Revealing Beauty in the Harshness of War
By Reza; Independent Media Try to be Balanced and Fair in Their Coverage (1 comment)
Yet all parties play their ‘well-known game of intimidating the media.’
By Fazal Qureshi; Stories the Media Decide Not to Tell
An Arab American assesses coverage from his dual perspective.
By Abdelmagid Mazen; Understanding the ‘Why’ of September 11
Using the Web, Globalvision’s world news site helps readers dig deeper and broader for answers.
By Danny Schechter; America: A Bully Wreaking Havoc on the Poor
Why the Spanish press highlights the ugly side of the ‘war against terror.’
By Dale Fuchs
Curator's Corner: Reporting Clashes With Government Policies
‘The watchdog role of the press is never more vital than during a national crisis.’
By Bob Giles

Women and Journalism: International Perspectives: Introduction
By Melissa Ludtke, Editor; Reporting on Gender in Journalism
‘Why do so few women reach the top?’
By Margaret Gallagher; Worldwoman Stretches Its Reach to Several Continents
By training rural women how to tell their stories, the coverage of news changes.
By Lesley Riddoch; In Nigerian Newspapers, Women Are Seen, Not Heard
Even influential women journalists stay away from coverage of women’s issues.
By Christine Anyanwu; An Absence of Women
At newspapers in South Africa, few women are at the top. Some wonder why and ask why it matters.
By Pippa Green; Community Radio Provides Women a Way to Have Their Voices Heard (1 comment)
Rural African women are trained in the use of reporters’ technological tools.
By L. Muthoni Wanyeki; Changing the Way Women’s Lives Are Portrayed
‘Ordinary women only are considered news when something they’ve done is “bad”….’
By Lettie Longwe; ‘Who Makes the News?’
The Global Media Monitoring Project 2000 finds great disparities in news coverage of men and women.
By Teresita Hermano and Anna Turley; In Poland, Women Run the Largest News Organization (1 comment)
But critics contend that coverage of women’s news is ‘unpredictable and ignores many key issues.’
By Peggy Simpson; Reporting on War, Listening to Women
An Indonesian journalist argues that women have a ‘psychological map’ of war.
By Ratih Hardjono; Women, War and the Media
Excerpts from an essay by Ammu Joseph; Storming the Citadel of Hard News Coverage
Women report alongside men but their impact can be difficult to discern.
By Ammu Joseph; Media Don’t Portray the Realities of Women’s Lives
Business decisions and societal ambivalence in India leave many women’s stories untold.
By Sakuntala Narasimhan; Bringing Women’s Stories to a Reluctant Mainstream Press (1 comment)
At Women’s Feature Service, journalists write about women’s lives.
By Angana Parekh; In Pakistan, Journalists Maintain Women’s Lesser Status
[Journalists] ‘have a somewhat conformist approach towards women’s issues.’
By Massoud Ansari; ‘Visual Voices’: Photos From China (1 comment)
‘Women turn the camera’s eye on their own lives.’; The Varied Pace of Women’s Progress
Surveys by the International Federation of Journalists find similar challenges but contrasting results for women in different countries.
By Bettina Peters; Women Bring a Certain Look and Feeling to News
A South American journalist believes stories women cover best are what the public now wants.
By Veronica Lopez; Between the Rhetoric of Equality and the Harsh Reality
In Latin America, women journalists share experiences to find a way forward.
By Blanca Rosales; Machismo Is Only One Obstacle Women Face
A Colombian war reporter becomes involved with women’s issues.
By María Cristina Caballero; Breaking Down Barriers in the Arab Media
Women activists have shown that obstacles to progress take many forms.
By Naomi Sakr; Arab Women Media Center; Moving Coverage Beyond a Woman’s Veil
In Iran, important stories about women are submerged by inaccurate assumptions.
By Naghmeh Sohrabi
Nieman Notes: Interactivity Creates a Different Kind of Journalism
A former newspaper editor turned radio host discovers ‘a forum, simultaneously public and intimate, for digesting news and debating its meaning.’
By Tom Ashbrook; Living Treasures
By Steve Northup

What are people saying?: Training Journalists to Report Safely in Hostile Environments (1 comment)
By John Owen; Freelancers’ Vital Role in International Reporting (1 comment)
By Nate Thayer; Watchdog Journalism: An Instrument of Democracy (1 comment)
Comments By Bob Giles and Murrey Marder; Independent Media Try to be Balanced and Fair in Their Coverage (1 comment)
By Fazal Qureshi; Community Radio Provides Women a Way to Have Their Voices Heard (1 comment)
By L. Muthoni Wanyeki

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