Abstract
This chapter presents a framework for narratives of war news in consideration of Galtung's war and peace journalism theories. News narratives are discussed in the light of BBC's ethical principles of war journalism. Additionally, transformation of war journalism with the advances in communication technologies is analysed. The method of research is through review of literature and interviews in depth. Five war journalists were interviewed. These five Turkish journalists witnessed five different eras. Ergin Konuksever is the oldest war journalist in Turkey. He was reporting the news from Cyprus Peace Operation in 1974. İsmail Umut Arabacı is the first journalist to announce ‘Operation Peace Spring' live from the border. Cem Tekel is the editor and war journalist who joined the operation. Coşkun Aral is an international Turkish photographer and war journalist. He won SIPA PRESS award in 1977 with his photograph of 1st May National Labor Day. Kerim Ulak is an A Haber editor and journalist who joined the operation. His news about the operation turned out to be fake.
TopShort History Of War Journalism
“Information is a strategic factor in the foreign policy of states and it is considered as soft power” (Yalçınkaya, 2008, pp.29-56) Today, those who have information qualified as stronger and as a result, the media has become an important medium for the governments to be informed and it has to be retained. While televisions are transferring information to the public quickly and effectively, social media, whose functionality has increased recently, has increased this speed even more. In line with technological developments, field journalism has started to be very expansive, fast journalism. Conflict/war journalism is the area where field journalism is most effective for the public. However, such field journalism practices in critical regions cause much controversy about truly enlightening the public.
Mete Çubukçu, a war reporter who participated in the conflicts/wars in the Balkans and the Middle East since the 1990s, tells that the concept of equal journalism to the existing parties has recently been lost: “We should not report journalism as a national issue. Everyone started to report as if they were more biased. The journalist's job is to get closer to the truth, even under difficult conditions. The parties must be approached at a distance ”(Mete Çubukçu, private meeting, 2 December 2019).
While journalist Mete Çubukçu states that the most difficult parts of conflict reporting are nationalist feelings and emotional and ideological belongings, the criterion of objectivity that he emphasizes supports the policy of the BBC in England's Falkland War. One year after the Falkland War, which began on April 2, 1982, with Argentina's invasion of the Falkland and South Georgia Islands, Baroness Thatcher criticized the 'chilling use of the third person' in bulletins that referred to 'the British' rather 'our soldiers'. In her autobiography, she said that “Many of the public (including me) did not like the attitude particularly of the BBC and I was very worried about it”. “BBC guidelines instructed reporters to remain neutral during the campaign with statements such as ‘we should try to avoid using ‘our’ when we mean British.’ We are not Britain. We are the BBC”(www.telegraph.co.uk).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Black Propaganda: That is propaganda to knowingly and willingly denigrate someone.
Disinformation: Writing the news story deliberately in the wrong way.
Narrative: The structure has a beginning and ending.
News: Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent events.
War Reporter: Who participate in conflict/war area and transmits news from the battlefield.
Misinformation: The person who spreads wrong information in the concept of misinformation does not know that the information is wrong.
Fake News: That containing inaccurate information.