AJMI - Doha

Al Jazeera Media Institute has concluded “Journalism in Times of War” Forum after two days of discussions streamed across its digital platforms, coinciding with World Press Freedom Day. Participants explored challenges of reporting in conflict zones and transformation of journalism in an environment full of conflicting narratives and widespread propaganda.

In her speech, Eman Al Amri, the Director of the Institute, emphasized that the forum comes amid rapid transformations in journalistic work, particularly in war zones where on-the-ground realities intersect with complexities of media landscape. She noted the growing challenges facing journalists and institutions, explaining that organizing the forum reflects the Institute’s commitment to fostering in-depth professional dialogue on issues that have become integral to daily journalistic practice, especially in the light of ethical responsibilities and indications of World Press Freedom Day. She added that wars have become a constant feature of news landscape, with multiple narratives, a growing number of content producers, an accelerating flow of information and increasing misinformation, all of which demand higher levels of accuracy, awareness, and verification from journalists.

The forum featured several panel discussions. The first, titled “War Coverage: Field testimonies and experiences,” addressed balancing between reporting and professional safety, human storytelling, stakes of live coverage and analytical journalism during conflicts. The second session, “War Coverage and Ethics Question,” focused on limits of ethical judgment, particularly in dealing with images of victims, public space considerations, audience pressures and journalists’ biases and their impact on coverage credibility.

Alongside the forum, the Institute also organized a workshop on open-source investigations, covering techniques for verifying images and videos, identifying location and timing, detecting manipulation, tracking spread of misinformation, distinguishing between real and fake accounts, and building journalistic investigations based on such sources. In addition to a second workshop on verifying AI-generated content to provide participants with key methods to identify original versus AI-generated material through practical examples and verification tools.

On the second day, a session titled “Do sources shape war news coverage?” focused on the role of official and military sources, issues of propaganda use, place of open sources and risks of journalistic leaks. A second session, “Has Gaza changed the concept of war coverage?” explored the unique nature of covering genocide, the role of citizen journalism, and the possibility of changing professional standards in light of this experience.

As part of the forum’s activities, the Institute also hosted a webinar titled “Human story in journalism,” to provide participants with essential knowledge and tools for storytelling, particularly in war contexts.

The forum drew more than 150,000 viewers across digital platforms, in addition to over 250 participants in a “Human Story" webinar held alongside the event.