EDITORIAL                                         December 2003

Reporting in time of war

The war in Iraq and events surrounding it have brought more sharply into focus the way the media operates in time of war and the way that those in power seek to use and control it.

It’s a cliché to say that in war the media is in bed with the government, but in this war a new term was created that brazenly advertised it – reporters were ‘embedded’ with the troops. And the daily briefings by the military in Washington made quite transparent the propaganda efforts of the US.

In Australia the role of public broadcasters presents problems for government and throws into relief the differences between the way public broadcasters and commercial broadcasters operate. It highlights also the differences in the way they are treated by government. For example, there is apparently an assumption that only the public broadcasters are accountable. Yet with the wider reach and popularity of the commercial media surely they should also meet standards of responsibility, fairness and truth. In this issue we follow this theme and take it beyond reporting on war.