Dynamic coverage of war in Gaza

For a long time journalists feared the implications of new media. The profession is too important to let fall to the whims of inexperienced bloggers and citizen journalists with little or no regard for standards, after all. But bloggers and citizen journalists offer a perspective and innovation that has been absent from traditional media. Some media critics have pushed for greater collaboration (Barnes, 2012) so the public can benefit both from the insider perspectives of citizen journalists and the standards of traditional journalists. And I must admit, considering my own apprehensions as an old school journalist, when it happens in just the right way, it works and it works well.

Global Voices, for instance, is a cooperative of more than 800 writers, analysts and online media experts who report on the news from a unique perspective, taking advantage of new media and citizen journalists while adhering to ethical standards common in traditional journalism.

“Global Voices has been leading the conversation on citizen media reporting since 2005. We curate, verify and translate trending news and stories you might be missing on the Internet, from blogs, independent press and social media in 167 countries,” states their about me section. 

Screenshot of Global Voices’ about me section.

In their Editorial Code, they vow to be accurate, identify sources whenever possible, admit mistakes and correct them, never plagiarize, avoid stereotyping, encourage meaningful conversation, avoid conflicts of interest and minimize harm. The code was inspired by the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. 

Screenshot of Global Voices’ Editorial Code.

And their work demonstrates their adherence to journalistic values, with new media engagement and innovative use of technology. Their coverage of the war in Gaza, for instance, covers a variety of angles, utilizes new media tools and embraces citizen journalism — all in a blog format. 

One story, Israel, Gaza, War and Data — The Art of Personalizing Propaganda, published on Aug. 4 features data visualizations demonstrating that our preconceived beliefs about the area are dictating what we are consuming and whether we are being fed pro-israeli or pro-Palestinian news.

Screenshot of the Global Voices story Israel, Gaza, War and Data — The Art of Personalizing Propaganda.

“The better we get at modeling user preferences, the more accurately we construct recommendation engines that fully capture user attention. In a way, we are building personalized propaganda engines that feeds user content which makes them feel good and throws away the uncomfortable bits,” the article accompanying the visualizations states. 

Looking specifically at the war in Gaza, the article and visualizations demonstrate that news which makes us uncomfortable is being filtered out and we are seeing news consistent with our views rather than differing view points. 

It provides evidence in looking at what English-written news is being disseminated, like the news that an Israeli strike was deemed “disgraceful” by the UN, but of which there was little mention in Hebrew-written news.

This story uses data analysis, visualization, blog-style writing, citizen Tweets and general news analysis in an objective and informative way, following basic journalistic guidelines. They have other articles that provide us with more detailed information on the war in Gaza, but this one provides us with valuable information on how we are perceiving the war, how our own behaviors are feeding into the propaganda machine and further polarizing the issue. It helps arm us with the knowledge to be critical consumers of news, while helping us to understand our own power in it all.

Another story published on Aug. 5 — “Following a Ceasefire in Gaza, Infographics Show the Scale of 30 Days of Death and Damage” — uses the power of numbers to tell the story. Sometimes the numbers speak for themselves and this is one such situation. It shows that the death toll among Palestinians is 1,868, with 9,563 wounded and 475,000 displaced, 5,510 houses demolished, 30,920 damaged, 43 mosques demolished, 120 hit, 188 schools damaged and 24 medical facilities damaged. In contrast, the death toll in Israel is between 67 and 161 with 651 wounded.

Screenshot of Global Voices story “Following a Ceasefire in Gaza, Infographics Show the Scale of 30 Days of Death and Damage”

The Infographic puts into perspective a 72-hour ceasefire after 30 days of fighting. It explains that of the 67 Israelis who have died (as reported by the Israeli government), 64 were soldiers and three were civilians. It doesn’t list how many of the thousands of dead Palestinians were civilians, but notes that in that number there were nine UN officials, 16 health care workers, and 12 journalists. It also shares several other infographics that have popped up over the Internet displaying the situation visually. The other infographics detail the overall situation, the impact on the health and education sectors, and religious institutions destroyed and damaged.

The entry is targeted, focused on the raw numbers and provides relevant context needed to understand the situation. It melds new and old media concepts to create an easy to understand and engaging blog entry.

In another entry — “Photo: Watching Rockets Fly Over Gaza from Space” — is simply the republication of a tweet and photo by astronaut Alexander Gerst showing the view of Gaza from space. In this case, the entry didn’t need much context, it speaks volumes on its own. The only context they provide is that the image was retweeted 33K times. In my view this is the type of entry that legacy media tend to avoid but which new media consumers thrive on. Sometimes an image says enough with only a sentence or two. It adds to the other coverage being provided and a view from another angle, literally. 

Screenshot of Global Voices entry “Photo: Watching Rockets Fly Over Gaza from Space”

Global Voices lives up to it’s name, but it isn’t just focused on the individual. By reaching in to tell personal stories and pulling out to look at the whole situation, while utilizing the best of traditional news and new media practices, they are getting closer to complete understanding of global events than media that don’t embrace both in the same innovative way. By distributing their content in a blog format, with many contributors, utilizing an inviting and conversational writing style — they are attracting viewers and readers from the new media generation while fulfilling the demand for substantial news. They are also demonstrating that they can do all of those things without sacrificing journalistic values and ethics. And they are doing it absent the traditional news business model, as they are a non-profit organization that receives funding from other civically-minded organizations. And they are staying true to the open nature of the Internet by licensing all of their content under a sharable Creative Commons license, focusing on translating news into multiple languages and supporting digital activism around the world so the masses can have access to key information on their communities and the world at large.

Screenshot of Global Voices’ Manifesto

References:

Barnes, C. (2012). Citizen journalism vs. traditional journalism: A case for collaboration. Caribbean Quarterly, 58(2), 16-27,179. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1237145950?accountid=3783