In The Line Of Fire
01 March, 2006
Britain's Ministry of Defence has made a formal declaration that journalists and civilian media facilities will never be targeted in combat zones. However, the MoD has admitted that accidents have happened in the past, and may be unavoidable in the future. It added that journalists often find themselves in trouble because of a lack of understanding and preparation for combat zone reporting, and says that journalists entering war zones should receive full training beforehand.
The MoD also warns that the nature of war zones creates severe dangers for journalists "resulting from misidentification, weapon systems failure or mal-location." It adds that beyond their duties under the Geneva Conventions, British troops are in no way obliged to protect reporters or media installations any more than other civilian operations. Furthermore, it stresses that risks for independent or non-embedded journalists may be even greater.
Guardian reports that the declaration in the MoD's book on press relations comes after intense lobbying by journalist rights groups led by the International News Safety Institute. The INSI welcomed the announcement: "I believe this is the first time a major military power has inscribed in its bible of media-military operations important procedures to help make war coverage safer for journalists ... We would like to see other militaries follow this lead," its director Rodney Pinder told the Guardian.
The Iraq war has been the deadliest for reporters and their support teams in recent years: Over 100 have been killed in the past two years.
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