Al Jazeera Journalism Review

Activist outside image
ALEPPO, SYRIA: War photographers and journalists like the one depicted here on September 10, 2017, must reflect the truth about what is happening - and not leave out the 'bad' bits about the 'good' guys. [Mohammad Bash/Shutterstock]

Beware of activist journalists - they won’t always tell the ugly truth

It is the job of journalists to report the full truth - even when that might cast the ‘good’ guys in a ‘bad’ light

 

About 20 years ago, I was working as the foreign news editor at a Spanish weekly magazine. On one occasion, a young and eager journalist pitched a story: She was travelling to Southeastern Turkey and wanted to offer me a feature about how military action against the Kurdish guerrilla harms the civilian population. 

As we had covered that subject recently, I suggested that she research the other side of the coin: how guerillas were pressuring the local population to support them, often pressing very young people into their ranks. 

The journalist refused flat out. She didn't deny that this might be happening, but she, for one, wouldn't report it if it was. The Kurdish “resistance”, as she called it, was already suffering so much that, in her view, “there is no need to heap more trouble on them”. So ruled out writing any news story which would present the Kurdish armed group in a negative light.

Our collaboration stopped there but I was left wondering, every time I saw a news story from some eager, young journalist reporting from remote conflict areas and interviewing people about their plight, if they were telling the whole story or if they were filtering out information which might “heap trouble” on the political groups fighting against a powerful regime or military forces.

Right now, the European media is full of stories about the heroic resistance of Ukrainian soldiers, often told by reporters who have made a huge personal effort to get to the frontline. We don't need to give credibility to Russian state-controlled media to ask the question: do they tell us all we should know, or do many of them consider their work as part of a solidarity campaign with a country invaded by a powerful and ruthless neighbour?  

“A war always puts you into a difficult spot regarding neutrality. First of all, because you see things that are going to impress you heavily, like civilians bombed in Syria - or the morgue of Harkiv, where I was just hours ago”, says reporter Lluis Miquel Hurtado by phone, speaking aboard a train in Ukraine. “You look at that and you have to make a big effort to keep neutral”. 

On the other hand, he concedes: “Everybody who arrives at a war already has some political position, be it about Kurds in Syria or about Ukranians. And then, in a war, even writing in a neutral way might get you in trouble with one side. In Ukraine, you can be quickly labelled a spy just for doing your work.” 

“There is a human tendency to move along the narrative of the ‘good’ guys and the ‘bad’ guys, without seeking the many shades of reality”, says Laura Fernandez Palomo, who has been covering Middle Eastern countries for a decade. “In the case of Syria, some journalists definitely chose not to write news about the process of ideological radicalisation going on inside the militias which had been until then a rightful and legitimate opposition force against a ruthless regime.”

Too often, she adds, “we fall into the bad habit of not talking about bad things done by the ‘good’ guys; this might be happening right now in Ukraine, where, as we know, a Neo-nazi militia is part of the armed forces.”  

There are different reasons for it, says Hurtado. “Supporting a popular opinion is always easier than supporting an unpopular one. In the age of social networks, trying to please your followers comes as a natural thing. Of course you'll also work more easily if your boss is happy with what you say, but the pressure of your media outlet is often the least important factor: your boss generally pays you because he or she wants to have a professional journalist in the field and they mainly will approve of you if you show neutrality. 

Too often, we fall into the bad habit of not talking about bad things done by the 'good' guys

 

“It's most of all in social networks where you fall into the trap of being flattered by followers who want you to express a very specific position. And there is more than one journalist getting carried away and crossing the red line over into activism,” adds Hurtado, who has covered the Syrian war and the Kurdish conflict in Turkey for the past 10 years. “There are even some reporters who have this specific position and they only write for their followers, without caring about the rest.” 

Of course, biased reporting is often the result of a lack of information. In the classroom, journalists are told to always include contrasting opinions about a given subject, but whereas it might be easy to call a government and an opposition spokesperson from your office, getting a quote from “the other side” might be next to impossible when you are reporting from Aleppo or Kiev. A general disclaimer by Damascus or Moscow that “all are terrorists or Nazis” isn't a very useful piece of information either. 

“Here we are under pressure”, admits Hurtado. “In the hospitals they tell you not to inform people about how many dead and injured you see and you can't speak about troops moving around. When you have so many limitations, you can end up just parroting official statements.” 

In other cases, ignorance comes into the picture: many of the foreign correspondents flocking to Syria in 2012 and 2013 had never been to a Middle Eastern country before and might have mistakenly thought that radical attitudes from the groups which were turning into Al Qaeda affiliates were just “local culture” instead of a political process which gave rise, finally, to Daesh. 

But others probably tried to avoid “heaping trouble” on the people who seemed to be on the right side of history. This must be seen in the context of a conflict that has stirred an ideological debate widely beyond the frontiers of Syria. 

Speaking about jihadists among the rebels might have felt like validating Assad's claims that all of the opposition were just “terrorists”. This is still more visible in another highly polemic conflict - that of Palestine - where battles are still fought, but no longer won, on the battlefield - with victory and defeat frequently decided by public opinion, which ultimately means by newspaper front pages. 

Many foreign correspondents, who find themselves surrounded by a strong Israeli propaganda machine, feel that their mission is to counterbalance a one-sided coverage. In this situation, underlines Palomo, who has spent several years covering the conflict for the Spanish news agency Efe, many colleagues chose not to write about corruption in the Palestinian National Authority, nor about the hardships people were subjected to by the Hamas movement. They feared that writing about these subjects would make Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation and colonisation appear less legitimate. 

It is important not to get sucked into this fallacy, says Palomo. “We should stop following the narrative of absolute concepts, good and bad, black and white,” she says. “We should be honest about what we see is happening, with no other goal than reflecting reality. Conclusions might be drawn later in debates and we can even do it ourselves, writing an opinion column. But when reporting news, this is not our job. We cannot bend reality to adapt it to a specific narrative.” 

By not informing our viewers and readers about foreign fighters pouring into Syria from other countries, she adds, we failed to explain what was really happening in Syria. “We will now fail to explain what is going on in Ukraine if we leave certain Ukrainian militias out of the picture. Our job is just to throw light on what is happening, showing the many shades of reality.”

Ilya U Topper is a Spanish journalist specialising in reporting on Mediterranean countries

 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera Journalism Review’s editorial stance

 

More Articles

What happened when I asked ChatGPT to write my article

It got quite a lot right, and quite a lot very, very wrong

Anam Hussain
Anam Hussain Published on: 22 May, 2023
Shireen Abu Akleh’s forgotten murder

Over the past year, many in the media profession in the US have deliberately chosen to forget the assassination of their colleague

Mitrovica
Andrew Mitrovica Published on: 11 May, 2023
The correspondent's job: Ask people, don't tell them

Should foreign correspondents and their media organisations ever take a stand on another country’s political divisions?

Ilya
Ilya U Topper Published on: 8 May, 2023
Why won’t Zimbabwe’s media report truthfully on the Gold Mafia?

When it comes to government corruption, mainstream media only reports what the government tells it to - as can be seen by their response to a damning Al Jazeera documentary

Derick M
Derick Matsengarwodzi Published on: 16 Apr, 2023
A ‘culture of fear’ - the scourge of racism in UK newsrooms

Always ready to expose prejudice and hypocrisy within political and social elites, the bosses of Britain’s newsrooms have completely failed to address their own

Aidan
Aidan White Published on: 9 Apr, 2023
Is the media responsible for the Auckland violence?

The media is failing to adhere to well-founded principles of journalism in its coverage of transgender issues. Violence is the result

Nina Montagu-Smith
Nina Montagu-Smith Published on: 27 Mar, 2023
How do we decolonise journalism?

It is our place as journalists to lead the way in challenging oppressive social and political structures - here’s how to do it

Haroon Khalid
Haroon Khalid Published on: 14 Mar, 2023
Turkish media is trapped under the rubble

Turkey has suffered one of the gravest humanitarian disasters in its history, but still the media cannot seem to disengage from political polarisation

Yusuf Göktaş Published on: 2 Mar, 2023
Climate journalism is growing up

Environmental coverage is moving on from panic-inducing warnings about global warming to the more constructive, solutions-based approach of climate journalism

Abeer Khan Published on: 27 Feb, 2023
Why are British police arresting journalists?

UK police forces increasingly regard criticism from the media as a ‘war on policing’. Journalists are being harassed, accused of crimes and arrested as a result

Rebecca
Rebecca Tidy Published on: 23 Feb, 2023
Covering a natural disaster - a time for credible and useful journalism

How should journalists set about covering the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria without adding to the trauma of victims? 

Aidan
Aidan White Published on: 7 Feb, 2023
When will this epidemic of dead and dying journalists come to an end?

Journalists are being targeted and killed in greater numbers than ever before. What will it take to get our leaders to act?

Nina Montagu-Smith
Nina Montagu-Smith Published on: 25 Jan, 2023
Has the media enabled a new age of scientific misinformation?

Social media and complex AI newsroom tools have produced a toxic environment in which dangerous misinformation is flourishing

Safina
Safina Nabi Published on: 23 Jan, 2023
‘Border jumpers’ and ‘spreaders of disease’ - how South African media incites racial hatred

The evidence that mass violence and vigilante killings have been sparked by the media in South Africa is undeniable

Danmore
Danmore Chuma Published on: 16 Jan, 2023
Julian Assange is no hero among journalists

A record number of journalists are languishing in prisons around the world, yet Assange is constantly held up as a poster boy for this type of injustice. There are far more deserving candidates

Nina Montagu-Smith
Nina Montagu-Smith Published on: 10 Jan, 2023
Is it time to ditch the word ‘fixer’?

A large part of the work associated with foreign correspondents is actually carried out by local journalists who are rarely credited - they work in the shadows

Ana
Ana P Santos Published on: 22 Dec, 2022
Morocco was the World Cup feel-good story we needed

Scenes of players frolicking on the pitch with their mothers were more than enough for me

Soraya Salam
Soraya Salam Published on: 19 Dec, 2022
In appreciation of sports journalists

The common perception of sports journalists as mere entertainment reporters is far from the full story

Nina Montagu-Smith
Nina Montagu-Smith Published on: 15 Dec, 2022
Sexual harassment in African newsrooms is a scourge on journalism

Well over half of women journalists in Africa have been subjected to sexual harassment, abuse or victimisation in news rooms. It’s time to crack down

Philip Obaji Jr
Philip Obaji Jr Published on: 12 Dec, 2022
Drone wars have removed our ability to report the horrors of conflict

What is the future for journalism in the ‘third drone age’? Full of manipulated news, most likely

Pauline Canham
Pauline Canham Published on: 8 Dec, 2022
America and Israel are partners in denial of justice for journalists 

Both countries have a disgraceful history of disregard for the rights of media staff who are the victims of violence, particularly in conflict zones

Aidan
Aidan White Published on: 27 Nov, 2022
On Zimbabwean journalists and American democracy

A Zimbabwean journalist invited by the US embassy in Harare to ‘monitor’ the US Midterms has been labelled a ‘Western spy’ by some people at home

Derick M
Derick Matsengarwodzi Published on: 14 Nov, 2022
Why Western media makes this football fan so uneasy

Criticism of Qatar in the lead up to the World Cup was always a given. But some of the hypocrisy on display is something else

Nina Montagu-Smith
Nina Montagu-Smith Published on: 27 Oct, 2022
The problem with foreign correspondents - wherever they may hail from

It’s good that the BBC recognises the value of not just sending white, British journalists to cover the internal affairs of other countries. But why send an Africa reporter to cover Pakistan?

Anam Hussain
Anam Hussain Published on: 25 Oct, 2022