Re-thinking Media: Responsible Reporting on Humanitarian Crises

The session discussed ‘responsible journalism’ and how the term ‘objectivity’ needs to be rephrased in relation to reporting on war zones. Secondly, panellists discussed the role and impact of emerging new technology in giving a voice to the voiceless. With the advent of social media, ordinary people can now broadcast what is happening on their devices with the same clout and authority as seasoned reporters and journalists. But ‘do ordinary people know how to operate objectively and pose the right questions?’ Thirdly, panellists debated as to whether international news media organisations have become too reliant on NGOs to receive information from areas of conflict. Operating in this realm, speakers pushed forward the failure of credibility in the media due to manipulative journalism.