In the post I did yesterday about the Vatican's Youtube channel, I linked to a video clip in which Pope Benedict XVI talked about the modern means of communication being at the service of the truth. In that interview, the Pope used the phrase "a dialogue of truth" to characterise the work of the media.
The print media have always contained an element of dialogue - through the "letters page" - but this now seems very limited when compared to the interactivity of electronic media.
Since listening to the phrase "dialogue of truth" I have called to mind two aspects of media coverage of the recent conflict in Gaza that might be considered good examples of this. The Times newspaper were consistent during the conflict in their reporting of the use of white phosphorus shells by the Israeli forces in built up areas, and held to it. Their reporting described clear evidence to support their story. This prompted the Israeli's to "investigate" in the days immediately following the ceasefire. I put the word "investigate" in speech marks because photographic and video evidence readily available on the internet, quite apart from the reporting in the Times, seems to counter the glib denial of the Israeli's reported here.
The other aspect is the reporting by the BBC of an incident in which Israeli soldiers are alleged to have shot three Palestinian children as they emerged from sheltering in a building, carrying white flags. The BBC reporting is summarised in this page, from the From our own correspondent programme on Radio 4. Previous coverage from the BBC news website (this from memory) reported that the BBC correspondents had verified the story from independent accounts by family members, and that the evidence had been passed to the Israeli authorities. The Israelis appear so far not to have responded to the particular case.
There is an interesting element of dialogue in both these stories. They are a world away, too, from the "investigative reporting" that simply chases down a story to to get a headline, or to get someone in a position of power or influence.
1 comment:
I wonder if the BBC's challenge to the Israeli authorities described in this post, and a wish not to do anything that would give the Israelis an excuse to dismiss it, lies behind their declining to broadcast the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal?
I rather hope the BBC hold to their decision - other broadcasters appear to be willing to give the appeal ample air time; and the BBC's reporting from Gaza appears to have been done carefully and extensively, so that it would be shame to see it undermined after all the hard work on the ground has been done.
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