PressEthic

In an interesting opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, Susan D. Moeller and Moisés Naím, explore the role of Politkovskaya’s traditional style of journalism with new media.

There is no doubt that new technologies are changing the way all of us get and understand information. The trend is toward actively "searching" for what one wants to watch, read or listen to rather than passively taking in whatever editors or producers select.

The fascination with the transformational effect of all this makes it easy to forget what is essential to the information process: traditional "old media" messengers such as Anna Politkovskaya. Or the two German journalists killed in Afghanistan the same day. Or their 75 colleagues who have died so far this year in 21 countries, and the 58 who died last year, according to the Paris-based World Assn. of Newspapers.

The World Association of Newspapers tracks media workers who’ve been killed worldwide.

The Committee to Protect Journalists also has a list, dating back to 1992. For 2006, they have a lower number, reporting 32 deaths . It appears that the discrepancy arises from the fact that they limit it to journalists killed specifically for their work (excluding those killed in accidents or crossfire, etc)

Of course, you are equally dead whether you were targeted or not.

But Moeller and Naím make the point that targeted killings speak directly to the power journalists have to expose information some would rather keep shuttered.

Like the slaying of Politkovskaya, these killings illustrate that it is the messenger that matters. Insurgents, criminals, terrorists and corrupt politicians understand very well that it is the months or years of digging by professional reporters, many of them supported by traditional news organizations, that will expose misdeeds.

On the other hand, the internet makes those “inconvenient” stories much harder to disappear since distribution is instant and global.

Of course, new technologies expand the ways in which media can provide public service and, at times, also amplify the effect of the professional investigative reporters.

Ask Londoners about the political power of cellphone pictures of the terrorist subway and bus bombings uploaded to the photo-sharing site Flickr, or ask residents of New Orleans about the power of blogs covering the failed relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina, or ask Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) about the half-life of remarks broadcast via YouTube that many deemed racist.