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Photojournalism and Conflict Sensitive Reporting in the Age of New Media

16.12.2014 - Paris, France

Amman, Jordan

© Frédérique Cifuentes

UNESCO holds a 5-day training course for young photojournalists in the Arab region, Amman, Jordan, October 19-23, 2014

Photojournalists perform their jobs in varied surroundings – from awards ceremonies and sports events, to political rallies and violent conflicts. They have the ability to tell a news story through images. However, this vital role needs to be undertaken with care and expertise. 

As conflicts persist, UNESCO identified the need to provide professional training to photojournalists in the Middle East. A 5-day workshop on Photojournalism and Conflict-Sensitive Reporting in the Age of New Media was organized with 17 young photo journalists from Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, Libya, and Jordan. The training held in Amman, Jordan, on 19-23 October focused on enhancing the skills of inexperienced to mid-career photojournalists working in environments such as conflict zones and emerging democracies. 

Today's photojournalists do not only need the ability to tell a story in an image, they are also responsible for editing and developing their pictures, preparing them for publication and ensuring that they have portrayed their subject matter ethically. These obligations highlighted the necessity for a workshop dedicated to conflict sensitive reporting and ethical approaches to working as a photojournalist. 

The training centered on five main areas: best practices in photojournalism, conflict sensitive reporting, computer skills in editing photos, ethics, and the role of new media. Over the five days, the trainers and participants developed their own work to better comprehend these concepts. Initially, participants were familiarized with the conflict sensitive reporting: the need for well-researched, factual and non-biased reporting without contributing to conflict. Following, theoretical aspects of the course were put into practice in field exercises.  Participants were provided with guidelines that are fundamental to the understanding of conflict, conflict resolution and the news media’s role in these situations. 

Another main area was photo-manipulation. Participants were asked the question: to what degree is this practice acceptable? The emergence of digital photography offers new realms of opportunity for the manipulation, reproduction, and transmission of images. This has inevitably complicated many of the ethical issues involved in photojournalism and these need to be addressed and understood.

Technological advances, such as affordable and widespread phone and Internet connectivity, have given the media access to people on a global scale, now, media have the ability to reach the most remote places. However, new media, social media, smartphones and Photoshop, etc., have created huge aesthetic, ethical and professional dilemmas in the field of photojournalism (for example, the verification of source materials). These topics were analyzed during the 5-day intensive training course. 

This activity is part of a larger UNESCO project: “Promoting an Enabling Environment for Freedom of Expression: Global Action with Special Focus on the Arab Region” funded by the government of Sweden with the aim to support UNESCO’s promotion of freedom of expression and its corollaries, press freedom and freedom of information in the Arab region. 

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