They are selfless, brave, passionate – a salute to war’s unsung heroes

 

Even as life is slowly returning to normal after COVD-19, the war in Ukraine has cast a fresh shadow worldwide. More than a month has passed since blasts woke Ukrainians early morning on February 24. Air-raid sirens, bombings, shelling, explosions, the sound of breaking glass, long moments of silence… every day since has been like this. Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced, thousands of buildings destroyed. It has been a story about fire and death. President Zelensky’s defiant, unshaven face in daily video addresses from Kyiv has inspired and rallied ordinary Ukrainians. 

 

Among those who died are journalists. Award-winning American journalist Brent Renaud, 50, was fatally shot while reporting outside Kyiv. Renaud was reported to be working on a Time Studios project focused on the global refugee crisis. Pierre Zakrzewski, a cameraman for Fox News, was killed as was his Ukrainian colleague Oleksandra Kuvshynova. They were reporting outside Kyiv in the Ukrainian village of Horenka. Zakrzewski, 55, an Irish citizen based in London, had been working in Ukraine since February. Kuvshynova was serving as a consultant for Fox News in Ukraine, helping the network’s team navigate the area, gather news and speak with sources. A report by the Washington Post says that in December, Fox gave Zakrzewski the company’s Unsung Hero Award for helping evacuate Afghan citizens who had worked for the network along with their families last summer.

 

In an article, ‘The work of local journalists in war reporting has gone unnoticed for too long’ for The New Statesman, Sophie McBain says readers and TV viewers are rarely aware of the behind-the-scenes work that makes it possible for a reporter to fly into a new country, or a new warzone, and report with accuracy and authority. Almost all international journalists depend on local producers or “fixers”, who are often journalists themselves and can share their contacts and knowledge, as well as help translate the local language and culture. Their job is crucial, and it is often under-recognised – fixers’ work often goes uncredited, they are paid less than international journalists and have fewer opportunities for job advancement, and they often shoulder greater risks. 

 

Jack Shafer, Politico’s senior media writer in his column says the incentives for war reporting are hard to resist… journalists can’t hide the seductive draw of the bloodworks…they love war. Shafer makes some interesting points with reference to journalists and readers/ viewers:

 

War sells. The news business has learned from experience that when war arrives, news interest spikes. Because it deals with life and death, war finds a pre-sold audience, and as long as combat lasts, the audience sticks around. 

 

War exploits Journalism’s negativity bias. Journalists are well-known for their negativity bias, their editorial predilection for misery and disaster. Journos love floods and hurricanes; plane crashes and oil spills; and human stampedes and mass starvation. For your average journalist, a love of war is simply the highest expression of their negativity bias. Negativity bias makes destruction easier to write about than creation. Any editor will tell you the audience for mayhem is always bigger than the audience for kindness.

 

War advances careers. After surviving a tour of duty with honour, especially TV duty, a reporter can expect the career boost of a promotion or job dangles from competing outlets. Newspapers that previously declined to return your emails will now discover new interest in you.

 

War is a force that gives us meaning. The hardest job in journalism is to make the audience care. War has a way of blotting out other stories and becoming the only story. 

 

Readers and viewers covet “good news” stories about generosity and forgiveness. But few topics outside of war can attract a large, loyal audience for long, especially if the lines between good and evil have been drawn. Part of the appeal of the Ukraine war for both journalists and the news audience is that those lines are stark, allowing the audience to respond emotionally to the depiction of heroes and villains the clash creates. Journalists may love war, but so does the audience.

 

Let us spare a thought for the people who have died in the Ukraine war and for those who have lost or have been separated from their loved ones.