PressEthic

Yahoo annonced on Monday that it had hired war correspondant Kevin Sites to cover wars throughout the world for the news section of its website. The webpage is already available online. It features a big picture of the journalist smiling, while posing with three armed soldiers. According to the website, "Sites will carry a backpack of portable digital technology to shoot, write, edit, and transmit daily reports from nearly every region of the world".

Lloyd Braun, head of Yahoo's media group, explained the concept to Reuters: "I'd say the toughest audience to get right now in news is the 18-to-34 year olds -- almost all of the network and cable news programs skew older than 50". Lloyd Braun said to Reuters: "I think that younger demographic is going to find this appealing". So that's it: war can be entertaining in order to attract young people. The story is not really the war, but the journalist who strives to cover it.

I think that this kind of coverage gives people a false perception of what is a war, without providing them with the news they need to know. Covering the battles is only part of reporting wars.

Let's consider the war in Iraq for example. If they want to be properly informed, people need to learn about a lot of issues: Is it likely that the secular government of Saddam Hussein has links with Al Qaeda? Is it possible that it has stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction? Considering the ethnic composition of the Iraqi population, is the establishment of a democratic government an achievable goal? Will the war reduce terrorism or on the contrary spread it? Considering the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, is there a risk that the war could spread to other countries? What would be the impact on the US and world economy?

Those are very difficult questions and I do not think there are any clear and obvious answers. Those questions are often boring and probably not appealing to the young. But aren't those questions worth being tackled in the media? Isn't it the role of the news media to help people make up their mind about such an important issue? Aren't those questions more important than "Who is winning on the battlefield?" or even "How does it feel to fight a war?"?

To be fair, the Yahoo website shows some concerns about ethics. In the paragraph entitled "our mission", it says: "with honest, thoughtful reporting we'll strive to establish Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone as a forum for information and involvement". Nevertheless, I do not think this website will be an example of what good journalists should do to cover wars.