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Front-line safety is a collective challenge

Stuart Hughes

is a BBC World Affairs producer. Twitter: @stuartdhughes

In his blog post on Monday, Stuart Hughes shared some of the industry opinions he has canvassed, from rookies and veterans, on the issue of increasing numbers of inexperienced freelance journalists heading into war zones to make their name.

Ahead of a discussion on the subject that he will chair at London’s Frontline Club on 27 February, he also heard from a range of international journalists about what is happening on the ground to improve front-line safety, and what more could be done:

The perilous lengths some are willing to go to in order to make it ‘onto the radar’ has not gone unnoticed in major newsrooms.

The Sunday Times, whose award-winning reporter Marie Colvin was killed in Homs last year, has said it will not publish material offered “on spec” by freelancers in Syria (where this photograph of Free Syrian Army fighters was taken in Damascus) “because it could be seen as encouragement to go out and take unnecessary risks in the future”.

“I totally sympathise with what the Sunday Times has done, especially in their situation, but I don't agree with it more generally,” said the Daily Telegraph’s Richard Spencer.

“I think you should make ad hoc decisions using general ethical and journalistic principles and a bit of common sense. I'm not going to commission anyone to do anything remotely dangerous unless I or someone I trust knows them and have seen how they respond under pressure.

“We vastly prefer the idea of building a continuing relationship with someone we know we can trust and use again, and anyone who has done anything that puts anyone else at risk is not going to fit that bill,” said Spencer.

Freelancers are by their very nature independent and self-sufficient. They’re usually more comfortable working outside the bureaucracy and hierarchies of large news organisations. But what became apparent in my discussions is a common desire among freelancers to move beyond a ‘dog-eat-dog’ mentality and work together to ensure the safety of everyone operating in hostile environments.

What also became clear is that a number of people are working on innovative projects to try to keep their peers safe, but are often operating in isolation.

Colleen Delaney, for example, has proposed the idea of a ‘virtual help desk’ for journalists working in war zones. “More than just safety courses done in advance, what freelancers need is support while they are in the field,” she believes.

Delaney wants “to replace the concept of a large media outlet desk with a targeted team of volunteer experts from different fields remotely assisting with advice, research, emergency help, fixer referrals and computer issues”.

The need for a more formal mentoring system also figures prominently in the minds of many. “A lot of mentoring and guidance seems to be happening by accident rather than design,” said Tina Carr, director of the Rory Peck Trust. “Many rookie journalists seem to be finding their mentors and guides in the field - experienced journalists are taking the young under their wings and showing them the ropes, reminded of the fact that they were once young and inexperienced. 

“Young freelancers have expressed surprise at this - that they would get help and be taken seriously. There seems to be a shyness amongst the young to approach experienced journalists for help, especially before going into the field,” Carr added.

Beirut-based freelancer Venetia Rainey also stressed the need for better peer support: “I think editors should be spelling out what journalists need to be doing and pointing them in the right direction.

“If young journalists are taken under people’s wings, or at least chatted to in an honest way, they might be more aware of the risks and dangers. Being part of a community is a completely free way to provide a safety net for people.”

“Competent mentors are very important,” admitted former Fox News and CNN reporter Chris Kline. “I learned that much more via osmosis, by simply watching my friend, photojournalist Peter Andrew Bosch, as he operated in Iraq.”

I can’t claim to have formed any definitive answers to the issues and problems raised by the many journalists who have contacted me in recent weeks. I am however extremely grateful for their time, their thoughts and their candour.

What’s clear is that, in a rapidly changing news landscape, all of us - staffers and freelancers alike - need to work together to find solutions which will ensure that the next generation of newsgatherers have safe and sustainable long-term careers.

You can join the discussion in person at the Frontline Club on 27 February, or contribute your thoughts using the Twitter hashtag #fcfreelance

Stuart Hughes wrote his first blog on this subject last December: ‘Unprepared, inexperienced and in a war zone’.

In this video he describes the personal trauma he suffered when he lost his leg in a landmine explosion in Iraq.

The BBC College of Journalism and the University of Sheffield’s Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) held a special briefing on journalists’ safety in London last October. Watch a video of the London symposium and read blog posts by some of the front-line journalists who attended the event:

Anabel Hernandez

Veridiana Sedeh

Galina Sidorova

Hamid Mir

Omar Faruk Osman.

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